Wellness

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Svadhyaya: Meditation Techniques for the Sacred Journey of Self-Study

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Svadhyaya: Meditation Techniques for the Sacred Journey of Self-Study

At the core of Svadhyaya lies the act of self-reflection. Through inner reflection, we gain insight into the tapestry of our thoughts and emotions, and how they play a role in our habits and experiences. All over the world, where yoga and mindfulness is practice, including right here at Nectar Yoga Retreat on Bowen Island, BC, we face our vulnerabilities, our joys and our sorrows, with a sense of clarity and acceptance. Encountering ourselves demands courage, a willingness to stay in the present, and with fully open eyes to witness our complexity and paradoxes. 

Picking Dandelions: When to Harvest and How to Make Dandelion Root Coffee and Dandelion Tea

Picking Dandelions: When to Harvest and How to Make Dandelion Root Coffee and Dandelion Tea

While all parts of the plant are edible, each should be harvested at specific times for optimal flavor. Here’s how to get the best leaves, roots, and flowers from your dandelions.

Drinking a coffee substitute made from dandelion root benefits you by providing a nutritious hot drink without caffeine.

Nectar Yoga on Bowen Island Explores Burdock Benefits, Recipes, and Spiritual Meaning

Read below to learn more about Burdock, including:

  • What Burdock looks like

  • How to forage for Burdock

  • The versatility of Burdock and why it's often recommended by herbalists

  • A profile of what burdock root tastes like

  • Various methods for preparing Burdock at home, including five nourishing (and delicious) recipes, including a Burdock Root tea recipe and how to make kinpira gobo (braised Burdock Root).

  • and more

Plant Medicine: Forest Bathing and the Trees of the Pacific Northwest

Plant Medicine: Forest Bathing and the Trees of the Pacific Northwest

The roots of trees have two key jobs (among many, many others), to anchor the tree to the earth, and absorb nutrients and water from the soil. As humans, our “roots” and foundations are our anchor points as we grow.

We grow stronger when nurtured with healthy food, relationships, lessons, feedback, and reflections. Though our roots are weak from a lack of coping tools, unhealthy relationships, poor nutrition, etc., we struggle to grow. 

Trees, in particular, quietly offer many lessons from which humans can learn much. The David Suzuki Foundation created a thoughtful list to inspire perspective.

Pines on Bowen Island | Pine Tree Identification & Uses

Pines on Bowen Island | Pine Tree Identification & Uses

Pine trees, belonging to the genus Pinus spp., stand as stalwart guardians in the forest network. These evergreen conifers, characterized by their needle-like leaves and distinctive cones, possess an enduring visual and fragrant allure. Their presence is woven intricately into the fabric of our ecosystem, offering both tangible and intangible gifts to the environment and its inhabitants, including here at Nectar Yoga Retreat on Bowen Island.

Moss on Bowen Island: Types, Ecological Roles, Spiritual and Indigenous Uses

Moss on Bowen Island: Types, Ecological Roles, Spiritual and Indigenous Uses

Mosses’ diminutive size belies their resilience, tenacity, and ecological significance. Mosses are essential for retaining soil and moisture (as much as 40 times their weight), preventing erosion, and providing homes, insulation, and sustenance for various organisms in their ecosystems, including at Nectar Yoga Retreat on Bowen Island.

Beyond the Benefits of Stinging Nettle: A Herb with Environmental, Medicinal, and Spiritual Significance

Beyond the Benefits of Stinging Nettle: A Herb with Environmental, Medicinal, and Spiritual Significance

Known for its stinging leaves, Nettle is a herbaceous perennial that offers a myriad of benefits ranging from environmental rewilding to medicinal uses and even spiritual significance. Nectar Yoga Retreat’s wellness blog also includes lesser known fun facts, and three nettle tea recipes that do wonders for our complexions and general vitality.

Oyster Mushrooms on Bowen Island: Identification, Ecology, and Spiritual Meaning

Oyster Mushrooms on Bowen Island: Identification, Ecology, and Spiritual Meaning

Beyond appreciating them in cooking, what are oyster mushrooms good for? Pleurotus varieties are saprotrophs that are involved in providing nutrition to its ecosystem as a primary decomposer of wood, especially deciduous trees, and beech trees in particular, though here in the Pacific Northwest, oyster mushrooms are also seen growing on dying hardwood trees. Their saprophytic function benefits the forest by returning vital elements and minerals to the environment in forms that are usable to other plants, other organisms, and general soil biology.

The summer solstice is one of the most significant moments in the seasonal calendar, the longest day of the year, the peak of light, and a natural invitation to pause and receive. 🌞 Join Andrea on June 21 for an evening community ceremony to mark
June is a month of two energies. This month's practices begin in Gemini season, working with the shoulders, arms, breath, and nervous system, before the solstice shifts everything on June 21. Swipe through for an overview of what June holds, and head
Celebrate the arrival of summer in the warmth of a community summer ceremony at Nectar Retreat Centre. The Summer Solstice marks a special time to honour the sun and receive the generosity of Mother Earth. Led by Nectar's creatrix, Andrea, this gathe
June is a month of transition, Gemini into Cancer, and the longest day of the year on the 21st. Swipe through to explore what's coming up at Nectar on Bowen Island and online through Nectar at Home. 🌿 Explore more upcoming events through the link i
This summer, what if you gave yourself permission to reconnect with yourself? The Artist's Way is a 13-week guided journey hosted by Andrea Clark on the Nectar at Home platform, and it might be exactly what you have been looking for. 🌿 Following th