Virtual happiness: social media as friend, not foe

By Jacqueline Delange

Almost a decade ago, Che Kothari sat in the glow of his computer, searching for a connection. ICQ, the Internet’s first instant messaging service, consumed the screen. He recalls how that technology changed the way he interacted with the world.  

“I would stay up all night. There was no phone bill. It was free. It was my way of communicating and staying in touch,” he said. “In my mind I had already seen the potential.”

The service, whose name is a homophone for “I seek you,” was integral in the creation of Kothari’s Bohemian Ethic music festival, which took over Guelph’s downtown square in 2001. And as technology has progressed, so has his vision.

T.O. writing workshop whips my creativity into shape

By Jacqueline Delange

Being a creative writer takes work -- just ask David Bester, facilitator of Toronto's Start Writing program, and, well me.

I've been getting a feel for the workshop as research for my upcoming 'creative boot camp' article. The article will discuss how creative workshops empower writers and get them out of their ruts so that they can grow as artists and individuals. 
 
This evening I sat in on one of the Start Writing workshops and learned a thing or two -- primarily that writers are made, not born (contrary to popular belief).

A different path to health

By Jaclyn Desforges

Meghan Telpner is the picture of health.

As a professional nutritionist, she spends her days teaching cooking workshops, helping clients develop healthier eating habits and riding a bicycle around her Parkdale neighbourhood. At age 31, she's often mistaken for a teenager. But her life hasn't always been this way.

"There were a lot of days when I was too sick to go to work, or had to leave work to go to various doctor’s appointments, because I was dealing with this beast inside of me," she said.

That beast was Crohn's disease— an inflammatory disease of the intestines that causes abdominal pain, digestive problems, weight loss and has been linked to colon cancer. While Telpner had suffered symptoms since high school, the disease came to a head at age 26 while she was working in advertising.

"I was going to the gym before work, so I was getting up around five every morning and working out really hard on cardio machines, then coming home, getting dressed, eating really quick breakfasts and going to work for the day until about eight o’clock at night,” she said. “I would come home at night and sort of crash.”

Empowering all sizes to do yoga

By Michael Gibbons

When Cora Clearwater first started taking yoga classes, she stayed at the back of the room.

“I stayed in the back because I know what people think. I know when I walk into a room… there’s a prejudice,” she said. “It automatically comes to the surface without anybody talking about anything.”

Clearwater, 63, has been heavy for most of her life. But that didn’t stop her from living an active lifestyle. As a youth, she enjoyed doing physical activities like playing basketball and pole-vaulting.

“There were a lot of things I could do that I wasn’t supposed to be able to do as a large person. So yoga was kind of the next step,” she said.

“I started looking and started talking to people who are large about exercise and why they weren’t exercising. They weren’t exercising because they were embarrassed.”

Helping mothers find their joy

By Jaclyn Desforges

A group of women sit around a table. There's a tray with tea and some homemade oatmeal cookies. The facilitator turns off the lights.

"We're going to do some basic breathing and focusing on the room," she says.

She guides the participants through a short meditation session, hoping to get their minds off stress, errands and what they're going to make for dinner. She wants to start the class off with everybody relaxed-- but the sound of children shrieking in the next room is a little distracting.

On Oct. 27, it's a typical day at the Oakville Parent Child Centre, a place where moms and dads can connect with other parents and access childcare and information. It's also the first day of Find Your Joy: An Adventure in Finding Out Who You Are, a course for mothers navigating the difficult emotions that parenthood can bring.

The facilitator is Anne Peace, a former public health nurse who now works as a life coach. Using the principles of positive psychology, she developed the class to help mothers create some space in their lives for themselves.

"It's an opportunity for moms to get together, to place feelings, experiences and events in their lives. (A place) where they can share, where they can talk about what it's like to be a mom," Peace said. "And also to move through the difficulties.”

For the moms in the class, those difficulties often centre around figuring out who they are now that they have kids -- especially if the reality of parenthood isn't quite what they expected.

Anger Incorporated workshops a "gift" to mad men

By Jacqueline Delange

Some say that men are from Mars – a volatile, fiery planet. But beneath a furious exterior lies a vulnerability that is often overlooked.

Rex Hagon, a 62-year-old business communications consultant, knows this all too well. He recalls a childhood filled with anger towards his mother, who enforced oppressive rules on him.

“I would get frustrated and go off in a cupboard and hit the wall because I felt that my yelling was not working,” he said. “[I was] taking some pride that I was breaking some plaster inside my cupboard, but at the same time feeling a lot of shame with it, like I’m sure this isn’t the right way to be handling this.”

According to Dale Curd, a Toronto based psychotherapist and counsellor, Hagon’s dilemma is not uncommon.

Exercise and Happiness

By Michael Gibbons

Dan Taylor can remember the exact moment when he knew he had to make a change in his life.

“I was actually working in a school at the time and there was a gym class coming in,” he said. “I saw this little itty-bitty kid do 50 chin-ups and I thought, ‘Man, I’m a big guy and I should be able to do that, but I can’t.’ So that’s when I started going to the gym.”

Taylor, 24, works as an electrician with the Toronto District School Board.

At his heaviest, he weighed 310 pounds. Once he started exercising regularly, he lost almost 70 pounds.

Now Taylor feels healthier and happier, which he attributes to his new look, but also his newfound sense of determination, which has bled over into other areas in his life.