Body Mind Spirit Fall 2010

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DANIELLE POPE

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

Virtual Zen

Technology turns Zen into a meditation free-for-all

By Danielle Pope

T

he first time I tried meditating online, it was 6 in the morning. I sat there cross legged in my pajamas in front of my laptop and stared at the live-action screen, bleary-eyed, wondering: now what? On the monitor, a man in black robes sat blissfully on a wooden porch, sunshine peeking over some trees, the only motion a slight breeze flicking through his fabric. I waited for a speech, for a gathering of figures, for anything—but all there was to do was sit. Then, I was nothing but fidgets. Later, perhaps after I went to my first in-person Zen meditation practice, I discovered just how powerful the act of sitting silently with others really is—and what a unique experience virtual Zen can be. Eshu Martin, abbot of the Victoria Zen Centre, was the man in the black robes—and the person behind eZendo, a revolutionarily new form of Zen meditation that combines live-action video footage with an online chat room. That translates into people from all over the world coming to sit together in one “room.” And while the practice is done silently and alone, it still holds a great sense of community. “Developing eZendo was one of those great mistakes—I was looking for something different, but stumbled upon

this, and it’s been profound,” says Martin. “It’s been a really successful way of meeting so many needs in the community, and the effects of that are quite tangible.” Martin, 37, who has been the abbot of the centre for five years and has been practicing for 16 years, says that he was looking for a way to broadcast his talks in an online format (what would later become the Living Zen podcasts on iTunes), when an associate turned him onto conference software. One thing lead to another and, last April, eZendo was born. Since then, people from as far as Nunavut, England and Australia have been joining in on the Victoria morning sits—and it’s just the beginning. “One of my main missions has been to make Zen more accessible to the population,” says Martin. “People are very hedgy when it comes to religion these days, and it’s hard to know what’s credible, so you have to have as much transparency as possible. More and more we are seeing journals, scientists and counsellors speaking to the positive effects that meditation holds—no matter what form it comes in—but still so many ask, where do you go to do that?” The where became clear to Martin after some senior members of the Zen centre could no longer come to weekly sits due to health constraints, and when other members moved away but still wanted to participate. mondaymag.com

Elta Brown, 78, has been a member of the Victoria Zen Centre for 20 years, but was no longer able to attend sits due to health reasons. She has, however, been participating in eZendo since its start, and says that for her it’s an essential way to keep the benefits of meditation in her life, as well as have some time to spend with the abbot. “The online Zen sits are perfect for me, because I’m an early-morning person and can use my meditation bench at home,” Brown says. “Of course, sitting online is not as effective as sitting in-person, but I love to feel part of the group still, and watching how the community is expanding.” Brown says sitting with the group in eZendo also inspires her to keep it up, and work harder at what she’s doing in her off-sitting time—whether that’s bringing serenity and calmness to her life, or lessening her worries. “I always find there are things in my life that need work, but nothing has helped me like sitting,” she says. “You just sit there and breathe, but it really works—especially if you do it everyday.” Another former member, Roy Blackwell, moved to Vancouver a number of years ago to start a business venture. Blackwell missed his Victoria Zen community deeply, however, so he was thrilled when he heard that eZendo was beginning.

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“I had been looking for a group in Vancouver I could sit with, but it was really hit-and-miss,” Blackwell says. “Now, with the online sits, I can still see some old names I recognize—with a lot of new ones too—and it brings back this great sense of community and belonging to my life.” Blackwell says he does miss the post-sit visiting he used to do at the Zen centre (posting comments on Facebook isn’t quite the same, he says). However, he believes that between the online sits and listening to the Living Zen podcasts, he’s still able to get some of the best parts of the centre in his life—not to mention the meditation itself. Martin says he has been amazed by the positive feedback he’s received since starting the podcasts and eZendo—people from all over the world have sent him messages of thanks and have told him how deeply his words have impacted their lives. “It’s just mind blowing to think that here I am, in Victoria, and there have been over 100,000 downloads of my talks. Now, I’ve given maybe 350 talks a year for the past eight years, which is a lot—but that’s still not 100,000.” For those who think meditating in front of your iPhone or listening to a Zen talk through your earbuds sounds too new-age, get ready for the next step: Martin has recently been introduced to Second Life, a free online 3D virtual world where users can “socialize, connect and create” using voice and text chat. From strip clubs to churches, the site now includes a Zen temple, where Martin (in real life) has been asked to come and speak. Now, Martin has created his own avatar—a 3D, slightly more pixilated version of himself—and plans on speaking to this world of avatar meditators. “The biggest thing this has brought up for me is my ideas around community, and what it really means,” he says. “There are people who can connect with this world on Second Life who perhaps couldn’t due to mental or physical disabilities that would have made it difficult or impossible to attend.” Martin also points out how every generation develops its own definition of community, and he

DANIELLE POPE

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA PREMIUM VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENTS

Eshu Martin: have iPhone, will meditate

feels that, in order for organizations to succeed, there must be an understanding of society’s changing ideals. “Fifty years ago, if you saw a church you liked, you’d stop by and visit it. Today, if it doesn’t exist online, it doesn’t exist,” he says. “Young people want to be able to preview things to get a sense of what they’re in for. And it’s important to respect that if you want to draw people in.” Even Martin doesn’t believe that online efforts can ever replace the mystical calm of sitting in a room full of peowple, but he says it can also be quite humbling to see the effects of reaching the wide world. “Right now, in Canada, there is no authentic way to train in Zen practice—you have to leave the country. What we can do, however, is open these ideas up to people who would have never been able to experience them before,” he says. “Social media is a very democratic process—people instantly turn to what they’re interested in, no strings attached. You have no control over it; you just have to experience it.” Which, in itself, is MY LI MY LIIFFE, MY HEAL HEA TH, TH MY HAPP HAPPINE INESS • I AM IN CO CONTR NTROL OL OF MY HEAL HEALTH TH • BE BE MY MENT ENTOR, OR, BE MY IIN NSSP N SPPIIZen. M

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The Victoria Zen Centre is located at 4970 Nagle Road in Sooke, though free community sits are also offered through UVic Interfaith Service every Tuesday night at 7pm. Contact 250-642-7936 or office@zenwest.ca for more information.

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MONDAY MAGAZINE - OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2010 15

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

JOYCE GILLESPIE

Head Start Indian Head Massage can take you from lifeless to lively in 60 minutes By Jill Lang

E

very day we’re hit with some kind of challenge. True, how we deal with these challenges is how we learn—but many of them have the potential to render us lifeless, causing all sorts of dis-ease in the body. This is where the world of alternative therapy can help to heal us, or, at the very least, ease our suffering. Indian Head Massage, an alternate form of massage therapy also known as champissage, clears blockages in the body’s energy channels and is said to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Bliss Prema, Victoria’s leading IHM practitioner, claims IHM can spark people back to life. “I would say that Indian Head Massage has the power to be transformational,” says Prema as we lounge on a white couch in her white and uncluttered condo. “I’ve watched transformations happen within one massage.” Prema’s cozy condo resides in a new-age character home in the heart of Fairfield. Her home is mostly white and clean, yet the wood floors and spiritual insignia make it warm and welcoming. “The heart chakra is the meeting ground for the lower three chakras and the upper three chakras,” she continues. “Indian Head Massage is all about the heart meeting the upper three.” Basically, you get all the stress-reducing benefits of a physical massage but IHM has the added benefit of balancing the upper four chakras, thus connecting the heart with the divine. In simple terms, this means Indian head massage is the secret to The Secret; IHM bridges the gap between we fearful humans and the universal law of attraction. Historically, Prema says babies in the east were given IHM and were then taught how to give the elusive head massage by age four, with IHM later being formalized as an alternative healing method by a blind man in India. Prema learned his style of massage, but after giving IHM herself for some time, she felt that the massage was missing a key element. “I call it Indian Head Massage: the Prema Method, because I incorporated the heart.”

Sunday, November 7th

A Prema massage lasts about an hour, and you sit upright in a chair instead of laying horizontally on the belly or back. In this seated position, the root chakra is connected to the chair (substituting earth energy), and the crown chakra is connected to the universe. This earth-universe connection immediately enables prana and apana—downward and upward flow of healing, life energy—to flow up and down the sushumna, from root to crown. (The sushumna, central nadi or energy channel in the body, houses the seven main chakras and is roughly located along the spine.) After our introductory chat, Prema tells me to take off my shirt and wrap my upper body in a white fleece blanket, leaving my shoulders exposed. She then leads me to the foyer where a chair with a white cushion waits patiently for my root chakra. Paradise for my perineum, I think as I sit down and adjust the blanket. Sunshine spills in from three window-enclosed walls. Once me and my perineum are comfortable, Prema makes me smell and choose from three unidentified oils, of which I choose relaxation. Before Prema starts the massage, she asks my permission to seek assistance from Bliss Prema soothes the author’s weary mind my spirit guides. I say, yes, of course; I want this massage to kick the Universe into submission. (Get your asses down here, guides. Let’s attract abundance and prosperity ASAP!) Prema leaves the room and my eyes are blasted The talking ends shortly thereafter at which point Prema begins with intense rays of colour as I fix my gaze on a to knead, probe, rub and tap my upper back and chest, arms, green plant. I want to have a conversation with the shoulders, fingers, neck, head, ears and face. I feel like a little girl plant about how much I like the colour green, but as she gently plays with my hair. Despite my intense state of relax- I resist at the sound of footsteps and turn to see ation, I notice our breath has become synced. When the massage Prema approaching me excitedly. She asks me how I feel and relays visions and is over, my body feels complete like it does after a well-structured communications she gathered during the massage. yoga class. It seems Jill at 60 popped onto her psychic radar, and apparently Jill is funny and has no grey hair. Keep having fun, ancient Jill whispers. Before we part ways, Prema hands me the bottle of relaxation oil and instructs me to have a shower in rock salt and hang out in nature. “You might notice colours are amplified,” she says. (That explains the plant.) After my Indian Head Massage, Moss Street looks like a painting as I skip down the sidewalk towards my car. I don’t know if anything has changed, but I do feel playful and relaxed—lively, even. M Bliss Prema lives in Victoria with her daughter and husband. She teaches yoga, teaches and gives Indian Head Massage and is a certified Reiki master. Visit www.blissprema.com for more information about her or IHM.

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A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

Yoga for everyone, and every charity By Jill Lang

F

0HOTO BY 2UMON #ARTER

rom the outside looking in, Victoria is home to some of Canada’s most fit and wealthy people. Yoga is one of many activities people engage in to stay fit, but with most studios charging $100 or more for monthly memberships, yoga isn’t an option for everybody. In response to those less fortunate, many studios in Victoria now offer “karma yogaâ€? classes, Bikram Yoga Saanich owners with reduced drop-in fees (as low as $5), and Bikram Abbey Boon (left) and Anastasia Cyprus Yoga Saanich is leading this karmic yoga trend in its hot room . . . Bikram’s torture chamber, so to speak. For those not up on their yoga basics, Bikram’s Moksha yoga is also a branch of hatha that stems hot yoga (named after founder Bikram Choudhury) from the Bikram tradition. MYV hosts a regular is a branch of hatha yoga, and is thought to be karma class on Friday nights too, to service the particularly effective because the heat helps to flush downtown core. MYV donates approximately $300 toxins out through the skin and facilitate deeper monthly to the greater good of the lower Island stretching. Bikram yoga is a fixed sequence of 26 surf community. (Those who thrive on the cooler postures and two breathing exercises, and each class side of the moon will be happy to learn that roomruns for approximately 90 minutes. temperature studios also offer karma classes. Check Generally, Bikram studios around the world have out West Side Yoga in Esquimalt, Moksana Yoga at least one fundraiser a year where monies raised Centre downtown, or Hemma in Fairfield.) are donated to the legacy fund of Chaudhury’s guru, With Friday night and a crisp winter fast Bishnu Ghosh. For the first six months it was open, approaching, it might be nice to give your wallet Bikram Yoga Saanich donated all monies raised from a rest and roast your rump in a hot yoga room. Friday night karma classes to the Bishnu Ghosh You’ll take home the added benefit of cleansing and Trust Fund; in the spirit of keeping business local, detoxifying the body, from bones to skin, finger tips however, BYS owners Anastasia Cyprus and Abbey to toes. And you can feel good about supporting a Boon decided to expand donations from Friday’s local charity. M sweatapalooza to other charities in Victoria. “The students together are raising between $500 Visit bikramyogasaanich.com for more information and $1,000 a month, and we’ve been open for on karma classes and causes, and see yellowyogi.com almost two years now,â€? says Boon. for a full listing of studios that offer karma classes in BYS donates to UVic’s Shinerama campaign, Greater Victoria. the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Minerva Foundation, <VaaZgn:kZcih 6YY XjaijgZ id ndjg a^[Z among others. (Cyprus and Boon still honour Ghosh’s trust fund with proceeds from the month of July.) Each year, the studio hosts a “hottest day of summerâ€? fundraiser in support of the Mustard Seed and a kitty-karma class on Christmas Day in support of a local animal shelter. Memberships are also given away as door prizes. “November is diabetes month, and we’re prob-)8 \ -).',% \ -53% ably going to do something for Movember, too,â€? says Cyprus. “Most of our students work or go to school, and com4HE !RT 'ALLERY OF 'REATER 6ICTORIA PRESENTS A DYNAMIC EVENING OF ing to this studio is a big ART MUSIC COCKTAILS AND PERFORMANCE INSPIRED BY $ANIEL ,ASKARIN´S part of their social lives. We try and make what SOLO EXHIBITION !GNOSTIC /BJECTS THINGS PERSIST we do at the studio fun for students.â€? (How do %6%.4 .OVEMBER ÂŻ PM 0!24.%2 other Mile Zero chari!DMISSION AT THE DOOR \ MEMBERS ties get on BYS’s donation roster? “Contact us,â€? says Cyprus.) Charities also approach $ROP )N 4OURS Moksha Yoga Victoria. “Our karma funds sup2ETURN OF THE 3AMURAI 3ATURDAY /CTOBER PM port local organizations -INIATURE !RTS OF #HINA AND *APAN 4UESDAY .OVEMBER PM that work with environmental issues, Island food sustainability and wellness,â€? says Lena Simmons, co-owner of -OSS 3T AGGV CA MYV. “Currently we are working with Surfrider to keep Jordan River public.â€?

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MONDAY MAGAZINE - OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2010 17

L RAYN DA I DA N NO • • CE • •

J oy !

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

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M o Ba de r l Hi let n p Ho Fl a •I m p • F mpr enc • B loo ov o • R elly r Ba (f u D rre • J or oldst anc er a e • A zz dan ce fri rs ) ca n

D is co ve r

GoodLife Fitness founder David Patchell-Evans focusses on living right

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F

rom the outside, it appears that David Patchell-Evans (known to most people simply as Patch) has it all—founder and owner of GoodLife Fitness, the largest chain of fitness clubs in Canada, a five-time Canadian rowing champion, author of two books, a sought-after motivational speaker, a top-10 recipient of the most-admired corporate cultures award, and has fiancé Olympic champion rower Silken Laumann by his side. Underneath his success lies a different story, one in which meeting personal challenges has allowed him to continue his quest for all Canadians to get fit. Catching up with Patch wasn’t easy—I managed to land him just before his recent speaker series on “Fitness in Canada” and his duties as sponsor for the Victoria Marathon. It was here at a coffee shop in Victoria where he shared bits and pieces of his incredible story and why fitness became such an important part of his life. A natural athlete, Patch was all set to start attending the University of Western Ontario when a motorcycle accident nearly crippled him. Rather than being labelled an invalid for life by doctors, Patch started physiotherapy—and, inspired by the athletes he saw working out, decided to push himself harder and started seeing results. When the insurance company offered $1,000 a month for life because of his injury, Patch needed to decide his next move—he could take the money or work hard to get better. “That was a lot of money back then. But I decided to be responsible for myself; I gave up the money and kept working out . . . this experience started my fascination with exercise and how it could change lives.” Life took another tragic turn when, fresh from winning medals at the World Rowing Masters championships, Patch woke up one day and found something wrong. “I couldn’t move the sheet because it was too heavy . . . I looked at my hands and overnight each finger had become bigger than a cucumber.” Due to the sudden onset of a painful form of arthritis at age 32, he went from wearing size 13 shoes to size 16 in order to squeeze in his ballooned feet. He explains that it felt like “being on fire everywhere in my body. I went from being this totally fit, vibrant, strong guy to not able to carry my gym bag. I couldn’t even turn the key to my car . . . I had to use pliers. All of a sudden, I understood what it was like to be old . . . understood what it was like to be infirm, to be out of shape. I had a clue what it was like to carry 100 pounds more and not be able to do anything.” This experience affected the way he ran his business—changing the name from #1 Nautilus to GoodLife because he “wanted something that told people where we were taking them.” In another turn of events, Patch’s daughter was diagnosed with autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder. He uses a positive therapeutic approach with her that also works well with GoodLife Fitness. “In business, you are taught to look for things that are

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In life or in business, David Patchell-Evans is always up for a challenge

wrong, but when I started focusing on what is right, my business started taking off. The success of GoodLife stems out of that.” Using himself as an example, Patch’s lived experiences give him insight on helping and genuinely caring about other people. When asked for one thing people can do right now to become fit, Patch answers, “Don’t dwell on what doesn’t work; focus on what does work—what body parts work today. Congratulate yourself for thinking about exercising—congratulate yourself for the little things that count: using stairs instead of the elevator or using one less sugar in coffee.” Patch himself doesn’t dwell on what isn’t working; rather, he seems to shrug it off, focusing on the positive. His face lights up when the topic turns to Laumann—the athletic duo met while on a children’s fitness panel, as each have their own children’s charities. They both share a passion for helping children and the ability to overcome adversity—Laumann herself made an incredible comeback after a brutal rowing accident in while training for the 1992 Summer Olympics to win a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. It’s easy to see why people consider Patch such an inspiring speaker; hearing how he turns his own challenges into opportunities and his continued struggle to stay fit and healthy inspire us inspire us—especially with two clubs right here in Victoria—to get moving. M See goodlifefitness.com for more about Patch’s work. Locally, GoodLife can be found in the Bay Centre or in Vic West at 655 Tyee Road. Canadian Institute For Enneagram Studies CIES The Enneagram is a map that guides us to peaceful integration within our bodies, hearts, and minds. It points us to what is beyond our bodies, hearts, and minds, to what is always present – our Essential Nature - our souls shining through. Our Essential Natures can become hidden by our egos, our personalities. We can feel lost, physically tight, and distressed when this happens. You are invited to join us as we explore into our personalities and body structures to that place of freedom, alive presence and heartfulness.

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250 389 0669

Info: admin@canadianenneagram.ca; 250.588.9221 www.canadianenneagram.ca Cartoons © 2004 Penny J. Whillans. All Rights Reserved

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MONDAY MAGAZINE - OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2010 19

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

The Bay Centre gets the good life.

The Whole Health Conference is good for what ails you

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ll the tea in China is never going to pay for a health-care system in Canada. The reason is because we don’t have a health-care system; we have a disease-care system in our country.” So says Anthony W. Martin, a clinical naturopath, nutritionist and chiropractic physician who’s been practicing for 37 years. “You don’t have to go to medical school to take control of your own health. You can make changes. Today there’s so much information out there.” Dr. Martin will be at this weekend’s Whole Health Conference presenting his knowledge and the techniques he’s developed at a workshop about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder where light pressure can cause pain in muscles, ligaments and tendons. “Information leads to choices and that’s why I think things like [this conference] are tremendous opportunities for people.” There aren’t just going to be doctors in the house, however. Craig Noble, an award-winning filmmaker will be screening and discussing his documentary, Tableland, and partaking in a local meal with conference attendees. The film documents the two years he spent living and working with farmers, chefs and other food producers, getting his hands dirty and learning the trials and tribulations of producing sustainable food on a small-scale. “I think for a holistic health conference, it makes a lot of sense to include diet and issues of food production and consumption; it just fits into a larger understanding of health in general,” says Noble. “Tableland is about eating healthy and taking responsibility for the choices you make and just being aware of making those healthy decisions for you and your family.”

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A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

Art therapy can open up new realms of insight By Otiena Ellwand

A Fraser Institute study that tracked the trends and peoples’ attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine in Canada between 1997 and 2006 found that, “In 2006, nearly three-quarters of Canadians—74 percent—had used at least one alternative therapy sometime in their lives.” It comes as no big surprise to Colleen MacDougall, the executive director of Natural Health Practitioners of Canada, that during that same year, the study found that British Columbians “visited a provider of alternative therapy most often” out of all Canadians. It makes sense that this conference, said to be the first of its kind in Canada, is being held in Victoria. MacDougall says this city was the obvious choice because of how progressive people are here with respect to natural living. “I think we’re seeing a greater need from the public in wanting to take responsibility for their own health and welfare, and understanding more clearly what natural health is and how they can integrate it into their regular health and wellness program,” says MacDougall. Her hope is that the conference will raise the profile of alternative forms of medicine and inform people of how well these methods work in healing the human body and preventing disease.

Colleen MacDougall

“There’s a major paradigm shift that’s going on. It’s the first time really in recorded medical history where people know more about nutrition, vitamins and supplements than their doctor does,” says Martin, which is why he says a conference like this is a great opportunity for the public and health care professionals. “These practitioners are getting up to snuff, educating themselves and keeping their training up. It will be a huge advantage to them and the public demands it.” M The Whole Health Conference runs October 29-31 at Victoria Conference Centre. Prices range from $5 to $75. Tickets available at the door.

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f you were to ask a group of people to take a sheet of blank paper and turn it into something artistic, you’d get a lot of different responses. Some would shrug, think it was a stupid game and leave; others might rip the paper up, fold it, twist it, scrunch it or step on it—and, in turn, each would create something interesting and completely unique. While doing such an exercise may not tell you much about yourself, this could provide an art therapist with a lot of telling details about your psyche. The Canadian Art Therapy Association describes art therapy as a combination of traditional psychotherapy techniques and the creative and expressive process of making art. Using a variety of materials to create art is a therapeutic process in itself and one that enables individuals to express their feelings, thoughts and experiences on paper that they wouldn’t have been able to articulate otherwise. “I was at a mask-making workshop and I was astonished at the amount of information that the mask I made gave back to me about myself,” says Dawn Olson, who was inspired by this experience to pursue art therapy as a career. She recently graduated from the BC School of Art Therapy here in Victoria and opened her own practice on Fort Street. Practiced on the young and old, in one-on-one or group sessions, at psychiatric hospitals and in prisons, there’s a growing understanding that being creative can be healing. Art therapy can help people with all range of issues, from serious mental illness and trauma to helping someone resolve a conflict or feel better at work. “It’s effective because it lets people release their feelings, look at it, explore it, integrate it and move on,” says local art therapist Liza Miles. Finding the meaning by reading the art is the therapist’s job. Trained in symbolism, Miles reads the client’s art by looking for things such as reoccurring shapes and symbols, like if a tree has foliage or roots, and how those images evolve. “Art can take you to a very deep place,” she explains. “We know something but we haven’t thought it and then all of a sudden it pops up there on paper, the danger is what it may unleash . . . Sometimes the client will paint something that they’re not really ready to process yet, so we have to make sure we contain it because we don’t want to re-traumatize them.” Miles stresses the importance of working with art respectfully and letting the client guide their own self-exploration. Art therapy is not just about making a collage or splashing paint on paper and then analyzing it; it is, in many ways, similar to going to see any regular therapist. “People imagine that it’s just about feeling good about doing art and being creative,” says Olson. “I don’t think they really realize the degree of training that it might take to be an art therapist and how clinical it can be.” In many cases, the art therapist designs a therapeutic treatment programme for a client and for everyone that’s a different process. “Someone may work on the same painting for 10 weeks, or someone focuses on a scribble drawing or rough sketches and then might graduate to a full drawing, so it can be a progression,” Miles explains. In B.C., there are three art therapy schools alone—more than in any other province or territory. The BC School of Art Therapy, which shares space with the Victoria College of Art in Oak Bay, has students enrolled from all across

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Canada and even some students from the United States. The School is also in the process of setting up a partnership with a medical centre in Thailand that will provide the opportunity for exchange students between Canada and Thailand. So why is it that art therapy is so popular? The answer, says Lucille Proulx, executive director at the BC School of Art Therapy, is simple: “It works.” M

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MONDAY MAGAZINE - OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2010 21

A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

Local Nia instructor, outreach worker and burlesque star Marion Selfridge embodies the body-mind-spirit aesthetic MIKE ROSS

By Amanda Farrell-Low

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hances are you’ve probably seen Marion Selfridge somewhere before. Between taking the stage as a member of the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue, teaching Nia dance-fitness classes and her position as an outreach worker for the Victoria Youth Clinic, the lady has a pretty public profile in the community. “That’s just who I am as a person and a personality,” says Selfridge. “They do really meet different needs and different areas in my life.” Take, for example, her work with the Cheesecakes. For Selfridge, being able to leave her often-stressful job at the end of the day to head to a rehearsal where she can practice and plan dance moves, sew costumes and hang out with “a wonderful group of women” is important. “When I leave there, the work day has diminished and been put into context in my life. It’s more a container of my life instead of being all-consuming,” she says. “Also, getting to perform on stage, getting to be creative, getting to make costumes that work out Ever wonder what made Marion great? that crafty part of myself—all that stuff—and to strive towards things, that’s amazing as well.” She says her fellow Cheesecakes feel like “a group of sisters.” “We know each other so intimately. We know exactly what each the Victoria Youth Clinic as being high-stress, it’s obvious she also other’s bra sizes are and who has a can and who doesn’t,” she says has a lot of passion for her work, where she does things like manage with a laugh. “Definitely, there’s squabbles or whatever, but at the volunteers, talk to youth using the drop-in areas, hook kids up with same time we do really care about each other a lot.” appropriate resources based on their needs or just do something as If Selfridge’s role as a Cheesecake is about social fulfillment, then simple as taking someone to a doctor’s appointment. her Nia classes are more about emotional and physical satisfaction. “I drive them to anything you can imagine, things you would Selfridge discovered Nia—a form of aerobic exercise that draws hope your parent or your friend would take you to but sometimes from disciplines such as yoga, aikido, t’ai chi and various forms of you don’t have that person—or you don’t want to tell them what’s dance—several years ago while she was getting her Masters degree going on,” she explains. “Ultrasounds, colposcopies, colonoscoin social work at the University of Washington in Seattle. pies, specialist appointments—anything that, before we had my “I had just come from living in Alberta where I’d taken care of position, you’d give them a piece of paper to do something and off my mom until she died. I had sold her house and left my place, in the world they went and you’d never find them again.” While her job often means she gets to witness “all the stuff left my boyfriend. There was a lot of loss, a lot of changing who I was,” she recalls. “I was working in a hospital. I was going up that’s a result of all the crappy things in our society,” Selfridge and meeting people in oncology who were my mom’s age. There still finds the energy to not only keep up with things like Nia was all of this stuff that was so triggering, so fresh in my mind, it and burlesque, but also participate in advocacy projects, like was just crazy. I had a friend who was in school with me who was helping street youth produce a ’zine to distribute to Victoria City Council, members of the Coalition to End Homelessness and taking these classes and she suggested I go.” The approach and techniques of Nia really resonated with local property managers. She says a recent speech by 14-year-old Selfridge, so she became a certified instructor three years ago and Winnipeg-based homeless advocate Hannah Taylor—who started now teaches a Wednesday evening class at Base Lounge and at the the Ladybug Foundation when she was eight years old and has raised $2 million for homelessness initiatives—at YMCA at lunch on Fridays. the Victoria Masquerade Ball, a fundraiser for the “I don’t spend all my time Victoria Youth Clinic was inspiring, and echoed a telling people to emote everylot of her sentiments about the world. thing or get out their child“I’ve been thinking about that because that’s the hood rage, but at the same way I’ve been trying to lead my life,” she says. “I’ve time, there’s opportunities to been a cynical person, I have a political science do that,” she says of why she degree, I’ve seen injustice and all kinds of stuff and loves Nia. “It also uses those I just feel like I need to be doing something that’s subtle things of t’ai chi and yoga helping.” M and Feldenkrais, which are very much considering your body and creating wellness in it.” Marion Selfridge teaches Nia Wednesdays at 8:15pm While Selfridge describes her at Base Lounge (bellyfit.ca/baselounge) and noon Selfridge leads one of her Nia classes Fridays at the Victoria YMCA (victoriay.ca). day job as an outreach worker at

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A READER’S GUIDE TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN VICTORIA

Taking Heart Rick Hansen’s Chinese odyssey hits the big screen in Heart of a Dragon By John Threlfall BLAISE J. NOTO

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Director Michael French (right) consults with some of his Heart of a Dragon cast on the Great Wall of China

I

f you’re looking for a B.C. story incorporating all aspects of body, mind and spirit, look no further than Rick Hansen. As much a household name as his inspirational friend, Terry Fox, Hansen’s Man in Motion tour captured the world as he spent two years circumnavigating the globe back in the mid-’80s, raising some $26 million for spinal cord research in the process. And while there have been documentaries made about Hansen’s journey, Vancouver filmmaker Michael French’s Heart of a Dragon marks the first feature film about his amazing feat. Not that French is attempting to tell the entire two-year story, mind you; instead, he has chosen to focus on two days in China. “The tour was so big and so expansive that we just dealt with two days,� says French. “Those two days were representative of what they did.� They were also two days that French witnessed first-hand, when he flew in from Vancouver with a documentary film crew to shoot Hansen’s conquering of the Great Wall of China 25 years ago; and indeed, many of the people who involved in French’s documentary then also participated in this film. “The press has done a good job about telling you the story through the prism of our world—we all know what it took to cross the Canadian winter— but if you ask Rick what the best, what the toughest day of the tour was, he’d say that day on the wall in China. That was the day he went from just being a guy to being a man the world press looked at.� (And keep a sharp eye open for some of French’s original 16mm footage, now digitally treated and spliced in.) Hansen’s grueling journey aside, another important aspect to the story was the difference between the two culture’s idea of heroes. “The notion of heroes in the West and the East are quite different,� French explains. “In the West, it’s very much ‘I—I am the champion.’ But in China, it’s very much a ‘we’ sensibility, so we decided to tell this as a Western story through Eastern eyes. At the end of the film, the big decision Rick has to make is, ‘Do I take the advice of the people who love me, or do I push on alone and risk being sick and dying?’ And he listened to his friends and chose more the Eastern way of looking at things.� French notes Hansen has given his approval to the project, vetting the script and various cuts of the film. “The toughest part was having the responsibility of his story,� he admits. “While all of us knew the story and participated in it in one way or another, not until we coalesced into actually making it did the responsibility actually wear on you. He trusted us.� French also had to trust that his story rang true for those with disabilities. “People who understand disability understand that disability really means

nothing,� he explains. “They’re all people; they don’t want to be pandered to. We’ve played the film in test screenings all over the U.S. and Canada, and while it’s a story of empowerment that disabled people know, it also reminds you we’re all disabled at some point in our lives—some physically, some emotionally—and I think that’s what Rick knew a long time ago. But disability isn’t the story; the story was these people and what they did for each other. It’s about trying to achieve something collectively.� Which brings us back to China, which French feels was pivotal to Hansen’s journey. “The truth is, Rick went halfway around the world and no one really paid that much attention—until he got to China, when everything changed, and principally changed because he changed. Rick and his team were struggling on a daily basis about how they were going to do this, but as soon as they got to China they understood that if they worked collectively—like the Chinese who surrounded them—they were going to achieve it. And the results speak for themselves.� M

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