Kitchen Dance
by Deborah Borel

Kitchen Dance
 
On Sunday afternoons this past winter (this long, cold, dreary winter) my daughter Claire and I could be found cooking up some warmth and inspiration in my little cottage. Steam rising, knives clicking, voices singing we would do-si-do around one another in our kitchen dance, stirring, tasting, seasoning our bubbling pots, filled to the brim. One such afternoon, in the midst of it all my granddaughter Isabella exclaimed with realization,"I was born to be a farmer!"
 
Well, we are not farmers. We just like to play farm folk on the weekends. I do live on a few acres and love to garden and cook and engage my grandchildren in these arts. Still, her mother and I found this comment pretty funny coming from a savvy, fashionable city girl. But city folk or no, she responded to the age old ritual of the hearth, which makes each meal shared with loved ones, a simple yet profound celebration.
 
My own memories of my mother were either in the kitchen, creating sumptuous meals, or at the piano, dishing out Debussy. She came from a family of artists. And great cooks. From my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother on down to myself, my daughter and now my granddaughters, painting, playing music, writing, gardening, designing clothes or designing meals are all opportunities for artistic and heartfelt expression.
 
The home cooked meal is becoming a lost art. Racing here and there Americans have turned to empty consumption, bought on the run, eaten on the run. Fast, convenient and mindless. No fuss, no bother.
 
It is this bother, this waste of precious time, says writer Edith Schaeffer, which brings forth the most amazing results, the worth of which, is hidden from many. Her classic book, Hidden Art, examines the opportunities for artistic expression found in ordinary tasks throughout each day. It is through giving our awareness fully to each task that we discover ongoing opportunities for conscious and authentic expression, nourishing body and soul, friends, families and community.
 
As long as you are making the decision to create kitchen art, get to know a carrot. Broaden your palette of ingredients. Get to know the many, colorful vegetables in the produce section which often baffles the nice check out lady asking the ongoing question, "...and what is this?" "Why, it’s a butternut squash. Get to know one."
 
Make the choice to get better acquainted with vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains. Eat less meat. It is one of greenest moves you can make. Meat is the most resource intensive food produced on the planet, requiring huge amounts of water, grain and land. A pound of beef requires approximately 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons used for a pound of potatoes. Most meat is full of hormones, antibiotics and pesticide residue which not only pollutes the body, but the soil, air and water as well. Get to know a cabbage. It has the fiber you need, which meat lacks, to remove waste and toxins and clean up cholesterol.
 
Carlos Castaneda writes, "There is no emptiness in the life of a warrior. Everything is filled to the brim. Everything is filled to the brim, and everything is equal."

I think the same can be said of a farmer. Even a city farmer.

Let us teach our children well. To fill pots and life to the brim.

(First published April, 2008, Kansas City Wellness Magazine)


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We Are Water
by Deborah Borel

We are water. 70% of our being. This essential element makes up 83% of our blood, 70% of our brains, and 90% of our lungs. It aids in digestion, waste removal, controlling body temperature, lubricating cells and joints, and the transportation of important nutrients, minerals and chemicals in biological processes. We need it for cooking, bathing, gardening, and a nice cup of tea. Water is life.

The earth is water. 70% of our planet’s surface. 97% of this essential element is salt water. Only 2.5% is fresh water and most of that is trapped in polar icecaps or in underground aquifers. Fresh water feeds our lakes, rivers and streams enabling life upon this planet. This precious resource allows us drinking water, agriculture, transportation, recreation, electricity, a home for our scaley friends and rainbows. Water is life.

We are the Earth. If her waters are threatened, we are threatened. By 2025 the world’s population will have increased by 30% and yet access to safe drinking water will be greatly reduced. Fresh, clean water is a finite resource. Let’s preserve it.

In the Home - Begin changing your cleaning paradigm. Products do not have to burn the hair off the inside of your nostrils to be effective. There are natural ways to create a clean and safe living environment. Oprah’s favorite, Shaklee, can be found online. Seventh Generation is available in many grocery stores. Return to Green, in Lee’s Summit, offers green cleaning products and can hook you up with environmentally safe cleaning companies. Go to www.returntogreen.com.

Or, make your own cleaning products that don’t pollute, save money, and they work! With baking soda, white vinegar, lemon juice and tea tree oil, you can clean your whole home! Just go online and check out natural cleaning methods and you will find recipes that will clean bathrooms, floors, windows, polish silver, sterilize counter tops. Safe for your home. Safe for the drain.
Laundry - Choose detergents free of perfumes and dyes. Fabric softener? It’s gotta go. And those pesky dryer towels. What? Give up my Fresh April Breeze? It’s toxic. Instead, to soften add 1/4 cup baking soda to wash cycle. For cling, add 1/4 cup white vinegar to the rinse.

Yard & Garden - Stop using chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Just do it. Go organic. We are killing the birds, the bees and our soil. Run off from our perfect green, sterile lawns are killing our aquatic friends.

Conserve- Take shorter showers. Do full loads of wash.

Rain Barrels. They just sound like fun! You can find affordable rain barrels kits for your garden at the 3 Trails/Bannister Recycle Center. Go to bridgingthegap.org. Talk with Beau. Check out the Re-store, where you can get new and used building materials at bargain prices, as well as Rain

Barrels. Proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity. Go to restorekc.org.
Recycle Contaminants - Do not mindlessly pour out old paint, thinners, car oil and other toxic waste to be carried off as run off and end up in my little lake. Please. Take these items to the Household Hazardous Waste recycle center. You have to make an appointment. You can do it. Go to marc.org/Environment/SolidWaste/HHW/hhwfacilities.htm for a center near you.

It is written, "If the river flows clearly and cleanly through the proper channel, all will be well along its banks." Be well. Deb out.

(First published February, 2008, Kansas City Wellness Magazine)


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Going Green
by Deborah Borel

With love to my editor, Jeanette Schoenlaub-Jackson, 1955-2008

Jeanette is my editor. She is also my friend. I have never met her, I have never even seen her, but I know she exists. Like some bodiless holy ghost, over the phone I pray for 500 more words and she grants the boon and I am joyful in the Lord. We talk about other things than just the paper. We talk about yoga and qigong, ghost whisperers and clotheslines. Jeanette likes her sheets best after they have dried in the sun, been rained on, and then air dried again. I kind of know what she means. I have just made a returning, of sorts, back to an earlier time in my life when rows of white cloth diapers set sail in my yard. A different time not that long ago. How did I forget such a simple joy. The sheets smell great. And if you think the towels and clothes feel too rough, just put them on air fluff for 5 to 10 minutes. You will like it. It becomes habit forming. A habit involving fresh air is a good thing.

Garden talk led to the fact that she wanted someone to write a "green column." She had someone, lost someone, wanted someone to write this column so dear to her heart.

"Why don’t you write it?" she slipped in between rain barrels and ghost tales.

"Your kidding. Me? A regular commitment in 500 words or less?"

"I don’t want to pressure," she said, the third time she had brought it up.

"I..I..I...like to write articles!" I stuttered.

"Yes, I know. Long articles." she said.

"I am no expert on going green. I am just a material girl finding my way!" I protested.

"Well then, you would be perfect."

Mmm. I guess that made sense in a holy ghost sort of way.

I should relish the idea. Lao-tzu is one of my favorites, and he is one terse writer. A sage of few words yet packing a punch. Or as the pithy one would have it, "Make the small big and the few many." There. That was easy. Wisdom that could change a planet in eight words or less. We the people could make small, every day choices in our own back yard and together, create a major shift.

We no longer have the time, luxury or confidence to wait for elected officials to take the lead. We can no longer lay blame at another’s door and believe "they" are the problem. The great sage Pogo discovers this truth in Walt Kelly’s classic comic strip, "We have met the enemy and He is us." Just as true, thankfully, is the Hopi saying, "We are the ones we have been waiting for."

Blessing or cursing people. It is our choice. We have a big corner to turn. It will take the combined effect of many small actions to create a large movement. If everyone makes a few changes it will have a major impact. And the greatest impact is upon our consciousness. As we open our minds to new possibilities, small steps are followed by more and before we know it we are on a pathway that feels good and makes us want to do more and, well, feels like fun. Like sheets sailing in the breeze.

(First published October, 2007, Kansas City Wellness Magazine)


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Interview with a Taoist
by Deborah Borel

In the growing season I rise early and wrestle hoses free for the morning watering. Weeding a patch, I emerge, a bit dusty and damp and more awake. I brush off, brew a cup of oolong tea and retreat to the deck for qigong. Beneath the pine, the breeze carries songs and scents of summer, which I draw in, bringing soothing relief to body, mind and ageing joints. As I root downward, I engage the earth, in quiet conversation. More and more, I feel her distress.

This spring I started a compost pile, began toting canvas bags for local goods and wrapped a clothesline around two tree. I have been looking into rain barrels and dreaming of chickens and goats grazing the pasture. Some of these actions are overdue. Some may prove to be romantic notions that collide when the disparate worlds of cats, dog, chickens, goats, neighbors and time meet up. We shall see. As the impact of human folk upon the planet becomes increasingly apparent, I, like so many others, am examining more closely my every day choices. The wise ones would say that our troubles have come from viewing the planet as a domain dwelt "upon", rather than a living system we exist "within", an ecosystem of earth, water, air, plants, animals and man, living neighborly, together in harmony, balance and joy. Recently, I talked with Qigong Master Ken Cohen of qigong, the Tao and Heaven and Earth.

"How would you define Tao, I asked Ken one August morning.

"The word Tao means path or way. The character Tao is made up of several words, one meaning "to go" or "advance", and the other meaning "origin." Etymologically, Tao can be expressed as "the path to the origin."

"A path emerging from the origin and returning again." I said.

"Yes", said Ken, "The old ones saw this Way as the source of heaven, earth, man and all the myriad things. As the guiding principle which directs the operations of the Universe, it is "the way of nature". It’s principles, if followed, bring harmony and order to human life, therefore it is "the way of man." It is the life force running through all creation, connecting all things, therefore the Tao can be called "the path to unity."

" As it is written,"I said, "Heaven, Earth and I were produced together and all things and I are one."

"That saying is not just a philosophical concept!" he exclaimed, "When we breath in, we take in the recycled breath of every animal, plant and human that has come before us. We share the breath of Moses and Jesus and even the dinosaurs that walked the earth long ago. In turn, our breath, our imprint, is bequeathed to future generations. Therefore, from a Taoist viewpoint, there is an imperative to care for the earth."

Yes indeed, I thought. It seems we modern types have lost sight of that imperative and got lost somewhere along the way. We must have taken a wrong turn. Of late, this imperative’s cry has become a penetrating, haunting song calling us back from our Lost Weekend. It is asking us to look to the future. What does it hold for our children and grandchildren? Will they have clean water, open green spaces, honey bees or wild flowers? Will we continue on this path, allowing our appetites to consume their future? The Tao Te Ching says, ‘One ought to know when it is time to stop. Knowing when to stop one can be free from danger.’ We need to slow down, stop and turn.

"What is meant by the statement found in the Tao Te Ching, ‘turning back is how the way moves.’" I asked.

"It means a returning to the essential. To reach behind the mask and connect with the original nature. To turn away from that which does not truly serve in order to unite with that which abides."

Ken and I talked about the early Taoists who lived simple lives, close to nature. They saw, in nature, an elegance, ease and beautiful efficiency which they sought, on all levels, to emulate. ‘Heaven and Earth do no thing, and yet nothing is left undone,’ say the old ones. ‘The Way never acts yet nothing is left undone.’ Following this way of ease, one connects with the guiding principle and allows things to unfold, naturally.

"And so", I said to Ken, "the path to the Tao is less about doing and more about undoing or non-doing."

"Lao-tzu says, ‘The scholar seeks to gain day by day. The sage seeks to lose day by day.’ Via negativa!" he exclaimed. "It is the negative path that leads to the Divine. The Way to the Constant is found, not by adding onto, but by releasing that which inhibits. First century Christian, Dionysius wrote, ‘God is known by unknowing.’ It is through unknowing, or unlearning, that we break through our conditioning, our patterns, our limited constructs of reality to apprehend the Real. And then, through non-doing we ride the current of Tao and experience Wu Wei, "effortless experience."

"According to Lao-tzu, ‘Returning to one’s root is known as stillness.’ How does qigong help one still the mind and calm the heart in order to return to the root?" I asked.

"Through conscious relaxation and slow rhythmic breathing the activity of the mind slows down and the ongoing process of definition we employ to make sense of our world, is stilled." Ken went on to say that, although definitions and categories are necessary conventions for communication, over time they become fixed, limiting fresh, open perspective. "Nature has the power to break up our methods of seeing and to bring us new, into the beauty of the moment." said Ken, "Qigong helps us connect more fully with nature, with one another, with ourselves, and then join it all together into a united whole." A qigong practice has profound health benefits, says Ken, but the true purpose is connectedness. Our bodies are designed to be in a constant state of resonance with Heaven and Earth. This connection allows an optimum state of the flow in the whole being; in the circulatory and lymph system, as well as chemically and bio-electrically, even increasing our bioluminescence, or the cells ability to assimilate light.

Our resonance with the universal life force, however, can be blocked by knots of tension which create pain and disease, says Ken. Western medicine’s approach is to cut the knot. Qigong’s approach is to untie the knot. "A regular practice of qigong," says Ken, "develops deep internal relaxation and awareness." With the release of tension we connect with the universal life force and open powerful internal reserves, bringing health and vitality to the whole being. "And then," says Ken, "everyday activities become a joy. Simple things become profound."

"The sage," I said, "while clad in homespun, conceals on his person a priceless piece of jade."

"I am afraid that the value expressed in that saying is lost to many in our culture today," said Ken. "By paying attention to the surface, we have missed the depth. True happiness comes from within. And it is only achieved through a life of harmony and balance, within the individual, within society and within the natural world."

"Ken, you are coming to Kansas City in October to teach a workshop on Primordial Qigong. Please tell us about this system."

"Hunyuan Gong or Primordial Qigong is a set of gentle yet powerful healing exercises developed by one of the great figures in qigong history, Hu Yaozhen. It is cleansing, ridding the system of toxic qi, rejuvenating, bringing in fresh energy, and it is harmonizing because it creates a feeling of harmonious unity with all that is."

"And what is the significance of name, Hunyuan?" I asked.

"Hunyuan can be translated as Primordial or Source," he said. "This practice helps one connect with the Source and return to a natural state of health."

"The world needs a returning," I said.

"Yes, indeed." said Ken.

"And, we too, have returned from where we began. Thank you for sharing your insights."

And with that, we said our goodbyes. Brewing another cup of oolong, I went out to the deck and sat beneath the pine. The heavenly blue morning glories and luminescent hummingbirds vying for a choice spot on the trumpet vine all formed a multi-faceted gem I drew within. It may not seem like much to some, but it is my patch of green, my healing touchstone revealing true worth. A treasure to honor. A treasure worth saving. A treasure to pass on to my grandchildren.

(First published, September, 2007, Kansas City Wellness Magazine)


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The Roots of Yoga in Kansas City
by Deborah Borel

It was 6:30 at night, I had just taken a modern dance class, and it was 1986.

"Hey Deb, come with me."

"Where to?"

"My sister’s studio...to do some yoga."

Being a ready candidate for most adventures my dance buddy Cindy suggested, I agreed, though unclear as to how one "does yoga". An image from childhood involving Bob Barker, a steamer trunk, and a hibernating yogi, came to mind. As did dark warnings of apostasy. Deciding to widen my view, I hopped into Cindy’s car and we drove from the City-in-Motion Dance Center to 38th and Warwick. Set back from the street, nestled within a guard of towering old trees sat a little carriage house which was home to the Tibetan Buddhist Center, as well as the yoga and martial art classes of Sandy and Fred Weaver.

Sandy, Cindy’s twin, was also a dancer. It was through the dance community, in 1980 that Sandra Bleck Weaver was first introduced to yoga, studying with Ballet Master Jonathan Wattes, at the Westport Allen Center, on Central, whose old schoolhouse halls and classrooms were filled with twirling sufis, recovering addicts, martial artists, and dancers of all ages. Jonathan’s classes helped spark an ongoing tradition of yoga, as well as other healing arts at the Center, from which many fine teachers emerged, to teach throughout the city. Among them were Arielle Thomas, Barbara Anderson, Patricia Grey and Sujata Stephens. Sandra Bleck Weaver was one, as well. Her first classes were held in her home. Her husband Fred Weaver taught martial arts in the Park. When they were approached by the Buddhist meditation group, in 1985, to share the space at 38th and Warwick, they opened the Tao Academy.

I knew nothing of the tao or yoga in 1986. I followed Cindy down the path to the Warwick carriage house and entered part mud room - part dressing room - part kitchen. The walls were wainscoted, the floors wooden, and the building drafty. After shedding outer garments and shoes, I followed the other students into the main studio, a large open room with wrap around windows on two sides and props and images of the East on the others. I loved the class! We worked on rigorous standing postures, handstands and backbends with mystical names and exacting alignments and we worked so hard and stretched in, oh, so many directions that when Sandy told us to lie down for final relaxation I needed no coaxing. Ahhhhhhhhhh. And then, in the darkness, in the softness, the mysterious magic happened. I did not know that it was coming. I was not looking for it. A sweet anointing of ease moved through my being. Outside a summer storm was brewing and as the darkness of savasana was gilded with flashes of light, darkness was pierced, within, as well. A rumble of thunder brought me back and through soft eyes, I saw Sandy moving along the north wall, closing windows. Back lit by the storm, she looked like a spirit, a vision from ages past, materializing into the room. In future classes I would hear her speak of a visiting spirit at the carriage house. While teaching, she would sometimes pause and say, "now where did that come from...I must be channeling Sylvia".

Sylvia Lindsey established Lotus Place in 1950. Located in the Warwick carriage house, it was the first "authentic school of New Age Yoga" in Kansas City, as well as serving as her dwelling. Based upon the Sivananda lineage of yoga, infused with her training in ballet, Eurythmics, the Mensendieck posture method, and the teachings of St. Germaine and the White Brotherhood, she offered group classes and private training in dance, yoga and meditation at the carriage house until her passing in1985. Most of her training was with local dance teacher Dorothy Perkins and Swami Vishnu-devananda, disciple of Swami Sivananda. It was in 1979 that yoga teacher Linda Putoff , at the age of 16, first came to Lotus Place to begin her studies. She accompanied her brother who wanted a muscular physique. Linda just wanted to move, whether it be in the drill team at school, the dance studio at the Mall, or checking out yoga, at, well, the Golden Age Spiritual Center of Universal Light & Unfoldment through the Ascended Masters’ Teachings....and yoga school. Hmm. A brave soul. And open minded. "People did not understand yoga," says one long time student, "and were fearful of Eastern schools of thought." Especially here in the Midwest. It is true that in the 60's and 70's the East and West coast cultures were already finding the value in yoga and other meditation practices, but here in the heartland, for most folk, the only familiar yogi was of the bear and baseball variety. Many sectors of our culture, still today, connect yoga with the occult, or hidden knowledge, which, they believe, is sure to lead one down the slippery path to Deception.

Esoteric knowledge is not hidden because by nature it is dark and evil, but hidden in part, because of its great antiquity, emerging from a distant past. Also, ancient traditions consider this knowledge to be "hidden" from the rational mind, beyond human understanding, revealed through intuition, or mystical experience and oral teaching from which sacred texts emerge. It is because of esoteric systems that ancient knowledge has been preserved and woven through our history, within our sciences, behind our ritual, beyond our doctrines, through the sutra, chant, song, equation, epic, symbol, and dance, being kept alive from mouth to ear in order to enlighten a darkened world. And though this knowledge is called hidden, in fact, it is not hidden at all, to those who have eyes to see. For the very nature of Reality is displayed, according to ancient schools of thought, in light and sound, patterns and rhythms, in symbols and numbers, and the bodies of planets, stars and man for all to recognize and observe. The ancient yogis recognized these patterns of life flowing from the Source and created sciences around their principles. One such science is yoga.

Eileen Jagoda did not know she was looking for yoga in 1972, but while shopping at the old Mission Highlands grocery, an ad on the notice board for hatha yoga classes caught her eye . She decided to give it a try, and once a week she went to the Prairie Village Shopping Center and studied yoga with Lu Lee, whose classes were housed, for 13 years, in the lower lever of the Mall, in the dance studio of "Madora". "I was a young mother of three", says Eileen, " needing to find some peace. I loved Lus’ classes. And her savasana was the best". Yes, savasana, always a favorite. Lie on your back, do no thing, and breath. Actually, it is harder than it sounds, especially for Americans all wound up and so many places to go. Lu Lee developed her own style of yoga, drawing from diverse training, including an intensive with the "First Lady of Yoga", Indra Devri, and encouraged her students to "be present in the moment, enjoy the breath that God has given you, and be aware of all the beauty around and within you." Says Eileen of the class, "I was really so lucky to find it."

Indeed, for yoga, along with not being readily accepted in times past, was not readily found. It was not on every corner, in every gym, spa and studio, studio, studio. It was hidden. You did not find yoga, it found you, through a friend, at a party, on a notice board, drawing you to it’s earliest housings in private homes, Community Centers, and yes, even Churches. There were a number of Churches who opened their doors and provided space for some of the earliest offerings of yoga in our city. Long time teacher Suzette Scholtes, before opening her own studio, held classes in Unity Church of Overland Park for six years. Before opening 3HO house on Walnut, the Kundalinis held classes in a variety of locations, one being the Unitarian Church. And then there is Tom Jacobs, that personable, guitar toting, joyous ambassador for yoga who since 1988 has taught in sites all about town, including Second Presbyterian Church, which for 8 years, every Monday night, provided a place where yoga could be found.

Yoga found Gail Martin at a party one night, and in 1975 she found herself making the trek down highway 470 to Unity Temple to study yoga with Mildred Jensen. Throughout the 60's and 70's from St Jo to Excelsior Springs, in the downtown YWCA, the Roanoke Community Center and Unity Village, Mildred Jensen shared the art and science of yoga throughout the Kansas city area. There were no props nor mats of many colors. With only a bath towel and the voice of Mildred Jensen from her yogic dais for guidance, students worked on practices based upon the Sivananda school of yoga. Swami Vishnu-devananda, student of Swami Sivananda, was sent to the west by his teacher to spread the teachings and practices of yoga. In 1957 he founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, which offered the first hatha yoga teacher training programs in the west. Some of the first wave of yoga teachers in the States, as well as in Kansas City, came through this system.

"It was a set routine", says Gail of the class, "it was very gentle, with more emphasis upon the spiritual and meditative aspect of the work, than the physical." A basic practice included eye exercises, sun salutations, headstand, shoulder stand, backbends, seated poses, twists, and yes, one standing pose, the triangle. The goal of the practice, as with all hatha yoga classes, was a healthy spine and an abundant, free flow of energy in order to vitalize and balance the chakra and endocrine system. Linda Putoff, when speaking of her Sivananda based teacher, Sylvia Lindsey, says of the work, "There was a strong emphasis upon the energy, using postures and the bandhas (energy locks), to move and direct the Prana within". Prana, or life-force, is the subtle energy which brings life to all things. Health, vitality and greater levels of awareness are attained, according to the yogic view, with an increase of Prana and its free flow throughout the system. "One found the form of the posture through the inner alignment of energy" says Linda. "The work was directed more from the inside out with little focus upon the structure, as compared with Iyengar yoga, which works from the outside in." Ah yes. B.K.S. Iyengar, the Lion of Pune, a precise, exacting and brilliant practitioner. He is one of the world’s foremost and influential teachers, an inspired therapist, and the writer of the most widely translated and published books on yoga, the Bible for all practitioners, Light on Yoga.

Iyengar was born in 1918 to a large, poor family. Being a sickly child and losing his father at a young age, he was sent to Mysore to live with his oldest sister, wife to yogi Sri Krishnamacharya, who ran a yoga school in the palace of his patron, the Raja of Mysore. The Palace of Mysore has a long tradition of supporting the practice of yoga, and it is through Krishnamacharya that much of the modern tradition of hatha yoga has spread to the west through his students, Pattabi Jois and Astanga yoga, T. K. V. Desikachar with Viniyoga, and B. K. S. Iyenar and the Iyengar method of hatha yoga.

It may be that Iyengar’s early health challenges influenced his emphasis upon the physical aspect of yoga, seeing the physical as the foundation, the ground from which all other development, mental, emotional and spiritual can flourish. In Iyengar yoga, the search for enlightenment begins with physical awareness. The emphasis is upon strength, stability and correct alignment of the body. Through proper alignment of the physical body and breath the desired affect within can be achieved, which is the inner restructuring of the mind and emotions. And the knees are saved along the way, to boot.

Bonnie Winston pulled her car up the long driveway to the Mission Hills home of Ann McCarter, where she would join her fellow students inside, for a weekly yoga class. It was 1982. Bonnie had the knack for finding yoga throughout the city. With Lu Ellen in Prairie Village, with Sylvia on Warwick, with Mildred at Unity, and with Jonathan Wattes, at the Westport Allen Center, Bonnie practiced yoga. But it was with Jonathan, says Bonnie, that her yoga practice became more serious. Being a dancer, as well as Iyengar trained, Jonathan’s classes placed a greater emphasis upon the structure of the pose. When Jonathan left the Ballet and Kansas City, Bonnie looked for a class using the Iyengar method and found one in the home of Ann McCarter.

In the class, among others, were fellow students Suzette Scholtes, Betty Sue Spear, Sandra Weaver, Karen Schuller, Kathleen Coleton, and Gail Martin all to become teachers, themselves. It was in the 80's that Ann McCarter first began bringing senior Iyengar teachers to the city, for yoga intensives. After Ann moved, this tradition was carried on by Gail Martin and Kathleen Coleton. Kansas City was fortunate to have the talents of Sam Dorkis, John Schumacher, George Purvis, Arthur Kilmurry, Angela Farmer, and John Friend, as well as others, who, all emerging from the Iyengar tradition, shared their insights and knowledge with local teachers and students, producing a profound effect upon the our yoga community.

As have other teachers from other lineages. I wish I had the space to tell more of the history of Kundalini yoga, of Bikrim’s and how they have heated things up and the power and meditative flow of Astanga, but my editor tells me that I really must stop now, as there are many stories of yoga to share, and these are just a few.

I was in down dog, discovering my serratus anterior. It was 20005. The teacher’s deep, lyrical voice directed us to, "come down, feel the effects and absorb the energy within." After some sweet, slow breaths, I opened my eyes and gazed around the room at the mass of students and teachers present at the workshop, their faces shining. I used to know them all. No longer. From a few, hidden sites yoga has moved into the mainstream, and is available for a diverse population; for the young, for the old, for the disabled, for the strong, yoga offers universal answers for individual needs. No longer hidden, yoga has taken root and flourished in Kansas City.

( First printed in the Kansas City Wellness Magazine, Spring 2007)


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The Wonder of Tea              
By Deborah Borel

Heaven In A Cup
Set a teapot over a slow fire....
and all of your sorrows will follow the vapor
-Emperor Kien Lung

C.S Lewis once wrote, "You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." An interesting quote coming from an author whose writing style was terse and books slender. It just makes one value every last drop of goodness all the more. Immersed in a captivating tale with my tea cup steaming by my side, I can find heart-warming inspiration in the coldest of February evenings. Of late, my arm chair meanderings have shifted more to the Chinese variety; from Lewis to Lao-tze and English Breakfast to Jade Oolong. Ahhh, camellia sinensis. Green or black, a little bit of heaven in a cup. From the preparation to the final sup, the enjoyment of tea is one of those simple acts that allows us to breath in life a little more slowly and fully. A respite from comings and goings, Tien Yiheng says, "tea is drunk to forget the din of the world."

In China, where most botanists agree the plant originated, the Taoists and Buddhists enthusiastically embraced camellia sinensis and found it useful during meditation. A cup of fine tea enlivens as it calms and harmonizes the system. We feel better after a cup because we are better. As it turns out, tea has strong medicinal qualities.

In fact tea’s vital chemical compounds have many benefits for health. Studies have shown that the anti-oxidant polyphenols in tea may reduce the risk of several cancers, including gastric, esophageal, skin and ovarian cancers. Other studies have shown polyphenols help prevent blood clotting and lower cholesterol levels. Tea has been shown to boost the immune system’s disease fighting capacity of gamma delta T-cells. Polyphenols also reduce intestinal inflamation and aid in digestion. The plant nutrients, flavonoids eliminate toxins by deactivating potentially harmful free radicals. Studies have shown, as well, that tea can help stabilize diabetes, has anti-aging benefits, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and high cholesterol. Its anti-bacterial properties aid in the prevention of tooth decay. Tea contains vitamin A, B, C, as well as folic acid, potassium and manganese and in fact, rates as high or higher than many fruits and vegetables in the ORAC score which measures antioxidant potential. Along with exercise, tea can be an aid in weight loss by raising metabolic rates and speeding up fat oxidation. Drinking tea has also been found to lower stress hormone levels. No wonder one feels better and calmer after drinking a cup.

And while a cup of coffee has 100 milligrams, an average cup of black tea contains 50 milligrams, and green tea only 22 milligrams of caffeine. According to Ken Cohen, world renowned qigong master, Chinese scholar and tea enthusiast, tea contains substances that may change or mitigate the effects of caffeine. And so, though tea enlivens and boosts metal alertness, it doesn’t jolt the system.

I was first introduced to fine tea by Mr. Cohen, while studying qigong with him. I was amazed in the difference in taste, as well as the overall feeling I had from the fine, loose leaf, green tea we were enjoying compared to the varieties I was used to drinking. Speaking with Mr. Cohen recently on the telephone, I asked him how he became such a tea connoisseur. "From my own studies. "he said, "All aspects of the Chinese arts are connected with tea." According to Master Cohen martial artists, doctors of Chinese medicine, qigong practitioners and artists all drink tea to regulate the flow of qi (vital energy), creating a feeling of well-being.

Ready to go fire up the kettle? Before you do, consider trying a high quality, single estate, whole leaf tea. Although the cost will be more than packaged tea bags found at the grocery store, the difference in nutrients and taste is well worth the price, and you will get many more infusions (3-7) from fine teas. According to Mr. Cohen, high quality tea is grown in a beautiful environment, needing special soil and climate. Unlike commercial brands of packaged teas, which are remnant and discarded leaves from many regions, fine tea is grown and carefully picked by hand from one estate, free of pesticides.

The Tea Market in Kansas City Missouri, located at 329 E. 55th, is a local tea shop which carries many "single estate" green, white, oolong and black teas from China, Taiwan, Japan and India. Owner Stacie Robertson, a certified tea professional, is a great source of information and sells, as well as fine teas, accessories and brewing equipment, including teapots from the Yixing region, which are known for enhancing the taste of tea.

Like a good book, a cup of tea nourishes and leaves you wanting more. So take the time, sit awhile, enjoy.

A Few Simple Steps to Fully Enjoy Your Tea

1. Use a ceramic cup or teapot.

2. Use spring or filtered water, brought just to a boil.

3. Warm cup/saucer or teapot/lid by running under hot water before brewing.

4. Place one teaspoon tea per cup in bottom of cup or teapot (you may want to use a tea strainer or ball)

5. Fill container with prepared water, cover with saucer or lid and steep for several minutes, until the whole leaf sinks to the bottom.

Further resources on the benefits of drinking tea:

The Book of Green Tea by Diana Rosen

The Way of Qigong by Kenneth Cohen

( First printed in the Kansas City Wellness Magazine, February 2000)

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