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Mindful Travel, Belize, and the Food of the Gods [photo slideshow]

Kate Morton is cradling a glass of red wine in her hand, comfortably slouched in a chair on the wooden deck of her lodge. We are surrounded by thick, steamy jungle in a remote corner of Central America and Kate is perfectly at ease in the humidity. I, however, am soaked to the bone and swatting mosquitoes that don’t seem to notice my host. In between smacks to my own neck and face, I drink Belikin stout from a cold, black bottle which is sweating as profusely as me. This is Read the rest


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Travels Abroad: Adventures in New Zealand’s Lake Wanaka, Mt. Cook, and Fox Glacier [photo slideshow]

As a recent graduate from the University of Colorado, I was faced with what some might consider a challenge: finding a job and “starting” my life. I found a job, actually three—working part time for elephant journal, serving at the Lazy Dog, and catering weddings on the weekends. People would often ask me, “so you graduated college and this is what you do??”
A while before graduation I decided to take a different path than most people. I knew I always Read the rest


Raising the Bar: Bobo’s Oat Bars are Half Power, Half Dessert, All Delicious.

Processed food has a bad reputation, thanks to Twinkies and Spam. So it’s refreshing to see a whole new crop of food bars that are easy and energizing, but also nutritious. Bobo’s Oat Bars walk the middle path on the continuum between cookie (tasty, not so healthy) and powerbar (packed with athletic-inducing nutrients, not so tasty). Small and square, they’re a perfect fit for the side pocket of your Camelback, school lunchboxes, or your car glove compartment. Here’s how Bobo’s rates on the questions most vital to foodbar lovers everywhere: Read the rest


Bored? Why not Kayak down the entire East Coast?

Check this out, great fun blog, great fun peeps: 

Old Quarry Campground

“For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.”- Amos 4:13 

Via Bethany Cox; Subject: Epic Adventure!

This may be shameless promotion but I thought since you were fun outdoor people you may be interested in this:

My husband and I are on a kayak trip right now down the east coast Read the rest


Eco Winter Sports: A guide to greening your winter wonderland activities

My excitement for snow fun increases more and more by every degree the temperature drops.  I have been a snowboarder for years, and I can’t wait to hit the slopes, but it wasn’t until recently that I started to realize the impact my day up to the mountains had on the environment.  Driving from Boulder to the mountains is an easy getaway, but that 400 miles round trip drive, as well as the snow making and energy used by the mountain resorts have a bigger impact than one would think.

Here are some tips to green your weekend getaways in the mountains:

First, it is important to look into your resort choice as well as your snow gear.  You can research a resort that runs all their operations on wind energy.  And check out snowboards and skis designed with sustainable materials.

Lodging: A typical mountain resort uses Read the rest


The Oil + Water Project. Videos.

We’ve met these gents a few times over the years.

Watch the last one with the speech courtesy Patrick Stewart, possessor of the greatest voice in history, who describes the Oil + Water boys as perhaps the greatest home movie ever, guys who had a green vision and wanted to have some fun along the way. Videos: Read the rest


Coolest Children’s Birthday Party: Learn how to Climb (& eat Pizza & Open Presents) at The Spot Climbing Gym (or your local climbing gym)

I climb regularly at my local bouldering gym, and every other day there’s 20 happy children climbing the walls, learning how to boulder and rope their way to the heavens Read the rest


In Boulder? Here’s what to do with your weekend: Adventure Film Festival.

Bringing together environmental-responsibility with those who (climb) rock(s), live on the edge (of cliffs), surf or kayak or do anything crazy beautiful. Organized and founded by elephriend Jonny Copp, Adventure Film respresents a great hope—that

Read the rest


Buddhism and Sports, via Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Here’s an excerpt of a talk about competition (as it applies to how we live our daily lives) from a Buddhist perspective from one of the foremost Buddhist teachers in the world, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche—fluent in English, raised in America, son of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (a pioneer of Buddhist in the Western world) and an accomplished sportsman in his own right.

For the rest, go to Sakyong Mipham’s lovely web site (link at bottom), where you’ll find quotes, articles, videos, books, schedule: 

 

Easy Come, Easy Go

I’ve always loved sports—horseback riding, golf, running. I once asked my father, Chogyam Trungpa, what he thought about football, since it’s a sport that didn’t exist in Tibet. He answered, “They’ve been winning and losing the same game for a hundred years.” Read the rest


Ease your Aches, Tend to your Bruises with Peaceful Mountain’s Arnica. (Review)

“The Hippie Bengay” via Dave Rogers, from the Holiday 2008 issue

Like many Boulder-ites, I overdo exercise—so I’ve been intimate with arnica for years. The day after I got this stuff I went over my handlebars, getting one of those deep bruises that make you limp like you were stabbed with a pencil all the way to the eraser. Read the rest


Yoga Instructor: Malaurie Barber of Lotus 7

Age: 35
Hometown: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Studio: Lotus 7, Gold’s Gym
Times: Thursday 9am and Monday 7:30pm @ Lotus 7, Tuesday 6:30pm and Thursday 10:30am @ Gold’s Gym
Style: Hatha/Forrest and Kundalini
Email: malaurie@twinight.org

We happened to stumble upon Read the rest


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Living Off-The-Grid

Mycol giving a presentation at www.indigogreenstore.com workshop

(all photos by Michael Levin www.zoobird.com unless otherwise specified)

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination”  —Oscar Wilde

Living off-the-grid means living without public utilities like electricity. People who live off-the grid may not depend on municipal water, sewage, or natural gas. It also can mean you’re self-sufficient in various ways. There are many third-world citizens who have lived off-the grid for generations. Some people choose this alternative lifestyle to save money. It’s also a way to lower your environmental footprint.

Michael “Mycol” Stevens lives off-the-grid just north of Gainesville, Florida. I met Mycol at a Fall planting workshop called “Fall Harvest Fest” hosted by our local green store, Indigo. He gave a talk about his experiences with self sustenance, organic living and his alternative lifestyle in general. He invited me to his place after the talk.

Read the rest


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Review: Osprey’s Halo Daypack is 70% Recycled, Comfy and Cool (Though No Longer Made in the USA).

Review via Blake Thomas & Waylon Lewis, from the Holiday 2008 issue.

Over the course of the year I have been hiking so many times, each time better than the last. Whether long, short, steep or narrow I took this Osprey Halo. It’s so comfortable, I forgot it was there! A longtime eco manufacturer, Osprey recently caved to price competition and moved their manufacturing to ‘Nam Read the rest


Bicycle Commuting

(photo by Michael Levin www.zoobird.com)

Why bicycle commute? Save money on gas, relax your environmental footprint and just have fun in general.

You might have reasons not to bicycle commute like “I can’t run around sweaty at work”, “It’s not feasible to ride the distance to work”, or “I’m in no shape to bicycle commute” if you don’t commute already.

With a little planning and ingenuity you too can join the ranks of the commuters or forge our own trail and be a code hero.

Read the rest


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Winter’s coming…if you ride a bike, and own a dog (like 87.63% of my hometown) time to invest in a…dog trailer.


Dogs (as opposed to mini-dogs, and cats) live to run. But, when you stop while riding a bike, during any season, it’s literally illegal to leave ‘em unchaperoned for even a minute. And, esp come wintertime, they can’t run too hard, for too long. Choice? Drag ‘em by the neck and get arrested by the karma police, or the normal police, or…buy a dog bike trailer. Read the rest


Book Review: Explorers of the Infinite, by Maria Coffey

Maria Coffey explores how extreme sports soothe a spiritual nerve for elite athletes. From alpinists and astronauts to swimmers and sky-divers, Coffey reveals athletes’ addiction to a fear-inspired, single-mindedness that banishes normality and welcomes mystical moments. Or maybe Dean Potter just suffers from a dopamine deficiency? Read the rest


Veloswap in Denver, an eco annual ritual. Via Dave Rogers.

Based on the facts that fifteen thousand people paid $8 bucks to go buy used or last seasons’ gear, I’d say that people in Denver like bikes—Road, BMX, Mountain, Commuter, Unicycles and Vintage were all well represented. Read the rest


Alpinist, quality climbing magazine, goes out of business.

I was at prAna last night for their Scapegoat party—chatting with Beaver about elephant going online 100%, got some good advice, chatting with huge rock climber Dean Potter about…Alpinist magazine going out of business. He asked me about it, figuring as a magazine nerd I’d know something, but I’d only heard a week before and knew nothing. So, two google clicks later, here’s the scoop:

In an echo of our recent e-nnouncement, as well as that of Backpacking Light (with thanks for tip to Pat Smith) well-loved Alpinist is indeed closing Read the rest


“Enlighten Up!” Yoga does cynical cigarette-smokin’ New Yorker Nick Rosen.

Update: “Hi Waylon, I hope you are well and your latest issues hit the stands! Next week I am heading to the west coast to present “Enlighten Up!” at the San Francisco International Documentary Festival. We are only there for two showings: Saturday, October 25, 5:00pm; Tuesday, October 28, 7:15pm…”

 

Yogaing to a theater near you!

Nick Rosen’s a longtime pal who we’d be honored to count among our best elephriends—only he’s always jetsetting around the world working on climbing films, so we only ever very rarely see his scruffy wiseguy self. A new movie—in which he’s the star—is all about yoga in today’s world, and the effect it can have even on a smokin’ drinkin’ cussin’ cy-nick.

I caught this film—along with 800 other yoginis (heaven, yes) recently at The Boulder Theater, where I joined 10 buddies and devoured organic tamari popcorn and Sunshine Wheat with lemon…and was blown away by the movie, which is equally rug-pulling for those who think yoga is new agey materialistic yuppie bullshit and those who say Namaste with a straight face. Go see the movie if you’re in SF, if you’re not copy and paste this url

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/10/elefilm-enlighten-up-yoga-does-nick-rosen/

and forward to your SF friends—they’ll owe you one.

Watch the movie trailer:

Read the rest


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Bouldering Therapy 101: Robyn Puro conquers ‘Thriller’ (and herself) in Yosemite National Park [Climbing Sequence: Photo Slideshow].

“Bouldering Therapy” via Robyn Puro, from elephant journal’s Holiday 2008 issue. Photos by Paul Barraza

I’d finally cut ties with my corrupt, evil, horrible, poisonous boss and was eager to rid my home-office of negative juju. I wasn’t entirely sure how I had gotten myself into that situation, but “the mindful life” it was not. My days had been full of angry phone calls. My mistake was viewing the job as a challenging project to take on; their mistake was hiring me to serve as a scapegoat for their relative incompetence.

Putting in my notice relieved me of the elephant sitting on my chest, but there was a good bit of residual dung to be cleaned up. I rearranged my furniture, flung the windows open and blasted jazz through my stereo speakers in hopes of shooing away the memories. In a last ditch effort, I wandered around my house waving smoldering sticks of incense through the air like an orchestral conductor. Still, I felt contaminated. The aftertaste had not only seeped into my living room, but settled into a corner of my soul. 

So, desperate, I opted for self-help therapy—the kind I know best. I booked a flight to California, to go bouldering in Yosemite National Park. Read the rest
















    1. Eight Camping Recipes: the Classics. [via NWF]
    2. The Dhamma Brothers: East meets West in the Deep South
    3. Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope: my latino vote
    4. A Boulder Newbie with a LOHAS Background Explores Naturally Boulder Days 2008.
    5. Alice Walker's Letter to President-elect Obama.
    6. "Yes We Can" lifted Obama's campaign, back in the day. And now, "It's a New Day." will.i.am does it again.
    7. Lifting the "Body Burden": How to Fight Toxic Exposure and Protect Your Home from Dangerous Chems
    8. Photos of Obama, Biden and Families as They Wait for Election Night Results.
    9. Mayor Bloomberg’s Controversial Planned Plastic Bag Fee in New York City.
    10. Truthout: Ted Kennedy's Healthcare Manifesto to Obama. Washington Post.
    11. Thank You: a community saves elephant journal dot com from the brink.
    12. Izembek National Wildlife Refuge: (another) road to nowhere?
    13. Book review: Defining Moments in Science
    14. Duke Chronicle: Youth voters tune in, turn out in 2008
    15. Al Gore New York Times' Op Ed to President-elect Barack Obama: Energy - Global Warming = Economy.
    16. Two Rape / Sexual Assault incidents in Boulder in last week. What to do to stay Safe.
    17. UPDATE Olbermann video: Redefining Marriage is a Good Thing. As Racism ebbs, Bigotry flows. [Three States strike down Gay Marriage, a black lining on last night's silver clouds] [Jon Stewart: "Free at Last, Free at Last—whoah, where you two goin'?!"?
    18. Boulder's Starfish: what's eco jewelry?
    19. Green Team! I don't find it funny, but 9,000,000 viewers can't be wrong. Video.
    20. Christian Science Monitor: a more partisan Palin returns to a poorer Alaska; convicted Senator Stevens promises pork, reelection victory in recount.
    21. 55% of Youth Voted in 2008—a low number that somehow is most since 1972. Generation O.
    22. The Oil + Water Project. Videos.
    23. Mary Taylor's Eco-Kitchen: GMOs, Hybrids and Heirlooms.
    24. Obama Family wants a Rescue Puppy? Video.
    25. Want to Feel Good? Do Good. [Volunteerism video via Good Magazine]
    26. Can't decide? Use GoodGuide!
    27. Brush with Fame on Election Day
    28. Polar Bears are going Extinct. Video. [WWF]
    29. Crocs Santa Cruz slip-on shoes are elegant but convenient, relaxed.
    30. In Boulder? Here's what to do with your weekend: Adventure Film Festival.







  • The Dhamma Brothers: East meets West in the Deep South

    The Dhamma Brothers: East meets West in the Deep South