Cover of Hip Tranquil Chick: A Guide to Life On and Off the Yoga Mat by Kimberly Wilson

I never realized how much the practice of yoga aligned with sustainable living until I flipped through my reviewer’s copy of Hip Tranquil Chick: A Guide to Life On and Off the Yoga Mat. Yoga, according to author Kimberly Wilson, is all about balance, not abstinence. The hip tranquil chick lives passionately and mindfully, seeks to simplify rather than accumulate, and gives graciously of herself and her resources—all while spreading tranquility and exuding what Wilson calls “a chic consciousness.”

Here’s what Wilson says about contentment (samtosha), one of the five foundation yogic dos:

The hip tranquil chick views challenges as opportunities and cultivates a sense of gratitude for lessons learned. Being content does not equal complacency. It does mean, however, that you savor the present moment and accept situations and people for what they are. By being in the present moment, you will be able to let go of past regrets and future worries by focusing on the here and now. Living in a state of contentment means that you don’t lose sight of the big picture, but that you allow yourself to revel in where you are at this moment. The satisfied state ensures freedom from the struggle to keep up with the Joneses.
Modern girl scenario: When bombarded by the media’s idea of what clothes, car, or beverage you need to be happy, reflect upon all you have with a sense of gratitude and satisfaction.

And here’s the 101 on a yogic don’t, the lack of moderation (brahmacharya):

Even though the hip tranquil chick has a devout love of passion and a desire for succulence, she knows when enough is enough. Avoid overindulgence, recognize that all good things can become a crutch, and constantly seek the middle path. When practicing yoga, both on and off the mat, seek balance, simple indulgences, and surrender the “addiction” when a problem is detected.
Modern girl scenario: Seek moderation by indulging in small doses, especially in sensual cravings such as chocolate mousse, soy chai lattes, sex, shopping, and yoga.

Part yoga how-to guide, part self-help manual, Hip Tranquil Chick is a breezy read that shows us how we can take care of ourselves and our planet with style and panache. (Spiritual centering and physical toning optional.)

It doesn’t hurt that you can look cute doing it, either. I feel more relaxed already.

Graphic from the United Nations

Learn more about International Women’s Day here. Please consider giving to one of the many women-related projects at Global Giving to help end the grievous injustice to women and girls everywhere.

Air pollution boost risk of heart disease in older women

More proof the government is trying to kill us: Shrubya’s (I just came up with that, you like?) brain trust, in its infinite, God-kissed wisdom, wants to take lead off the list of toxic air pollutants. Lead exposure, if you didn’t know already, can severly harm the nervous system, damage the brain and kidneys, and cause miscarriages in pregnant women. Fill out and send an online letter to the EPA to let them know this is a TERRIBLE IDEA. Like electing-George-W.-Bush-president terrible.

Screenshot from Darfur is Dying

What’s going on in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan?

The CliffsNotes version from Save Darfur:

Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.

António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.”

The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.

The situation in Darfur became less abstract to me, shameless child of the MTV generation that I am, when I started playing Darfur is Dying, a simulation “game” online that I realized (after obnoxiously whinging how hard it was) isn’t a game to the 4 million people in Darfur.

Another creative strategy in response to the crisis: Eyes on Darfur, a collaborative effort among artists and crafters on Etsy.com to raise money and awareness for the people of Darfur. All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. Of course, it’s always more pragmatic to donate directly to the charity of your choice, but if you’re going to buy something anyway, it couldn’t hurt to make your purchase count.

Chekhov’s pick of the litter: kitty toys made from recycled sweaters (and stuffed with organic catnip) for the “tree-hugging cat”.

And if you’re an American Express-card holder, you can donate your points to Refugees International (a three-star Charity Navigator charity), which provides “humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world,” as well.

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1. Even Third-World Farmers Get the Blues

Screenshot from Think Before You Pink

It’s October, which means it’s time for the Corporate Group Wank for the Cure, brought to you in several selfless—but ever so sassy—shades of Pepto pink.

Says I Blame the Patriarchy:

If you were to ask any space alien—who happened to be dropping by on its way to the Delta Quadrant—about breast cancer, it would undoubtedly tell you that, according to its personal observations, the primary symptom of the disease is a dramatically increased propensity to sprout pink teddy bears, pink visors, and pink rhinestone jewelry. Of course you and I know that infantilizing misogynist teddybear rhinestone pinkness, cancer-o-normative though it may seem, is actually just one of the most successful campaigns in the history of marketing gimmicks. Thanks to unprecedented support in terms of cash and selfless volunterrorism, breast cancer is currently the most popular disease in America. …

But where’s the activism? The ostensible focus of all this pseudo-philanthropic pink jockeying is a kind of nebulous breast cancer ‘awareness’, rather than any serious effort at prevention or investigation into what actually causes breast cancer in the first place. Furthermore, once all this ‘awareness’ has produced, via mammography outreach programs or self-exam propaganda (both masquerading as ‘prevention’), a positive diagnosis, there’s not any great push to secure treatment for underserved women.

In other words, when you think of a breast cancer ‘survivor’, you don’t picture a poor black grandmother living in squalor without health insurance (and you certainly don’t imagine a woman who, because of sensible research efforts, never got cancer in the first place.) The Breast Cancer Brand woman is a pro-patriarchy white chick: middle-class, straight, virtuous, concerned with maintaining her femininity, and married with two above-average kids. Ordinarily she’d be content with her life as the unassuming, unpaid family caregiver, but she’s forced by circumstances to be plucky, brave, and heroic.

Something Twisty didn’t bring up is the cost of the marketing blitzes behind these sudden fits of altruism. According to Think Before You Pink:

In a 2005 PR Week article, 3M touted that its 2004 breast cancer awareness effort, involving a 70-foot-tall ribbon made of Post-it Notes in Times Square, reached more than 3 million people and increased sales 80 percent over expectations. The article reports that 3M spent $500,000 on the marketing campaign (no actual numbers on profits were released), but only gave a little over half of that amount ($300,000) to the cause.

Well now.

The point I’m trying to make is, unless you’re buying something you would have purchased anyway (instead of being strong-armed by the nefarious Pink Juggernaut), forget about squirreling away those yogurt lids and make an online donation directly into the coffers of the breast-cancer organization or charity of your choice, instead. And, really, will flashing your poorly lit knockers on a cheap $19.95 Webcam do anything other than titillate, dehumanize, and objectify? Don’t wait up for me to get back to you on that one.

Another kvetch: Men get breast cancer, too. But I’m guessing the white male supremacists of the world aren’t ready for the celebration of full-on man boobage quite yet.

Wimps.

Photo by Inaldo Perez/AP Photo

From AP: “Bra straps bootstrap fair-trade business.”

The tiny beads look delicate: shades of pale pink, blue and green hand strung and sewn together to form dainty straps for lingerie.

But they’re stronger than they appear, much like the women who spend hours hand making them in South America for Strappity-do-da. The fledgling business is a labor of love started by a woman desperate to help her husband’s family get out of poverty in Colombia, a developing nation with a bloody, violent history marked by drug running and guerrillas. …

Styles’ mission is more personal: She aims to educate and empower the struggling women in her husband’s homeland.

“The whole reason that we’re doing this is to build the women up, starting in this one little community and to grow that out,” she said. …

Styles had been haunted by Colombia’s poverty for years. In Cali, a city of 1.6 million, her sister-in-law’s home overlooked a river filled with sewage, garbage and rats.

But in the straps, Styles suddenly saw the chance to change things, at least for a few women.

Since then, Web and trade show orders have steadily grown. Styles’ husband, Octavio Gaviria, and an employee help pack $29.99 pairs into tiny white boxes to fill Internet orders, and the straps sell in some high-end boutiques. So far, they’ve sold about 2,000 pairs.

Each box has a tiny card that explains Styles’ effort, also explained on her Web site. She wraps the tale of her mission to help the family in every sales pitch, including online: “Their spirit lit a fire under me to find a way to help.”

Now, Styles and partner Christine Kett are trying to get the attention of a large retailer such as Victoria’s Secret. …

Kett and Styles say that while money can be measured, the self-confidence the work creates cannot. The empowerment, they hope, will spread.

“Having that one woman do this it creates the base. It’s for their families, it’s not just for her, and it just keeps going,” Kett said. “It keeps going and keeps growing as more orders come in. We’re helping more and more families. One at a time.”

The 3 Rs of sustainability—reduce, reuse, and recycle—are ordered by their importance, i.e., it’s better to reduce your personal consumption than it is to reuse something, and it’s better to reuse a product than recycle it. So before you blow your next paycheck on a spree at The Container Store, look around your home (and recycling bin) for storage receptacles, such as plastic takeout containers and apple-sauce jars, that will do the same trick as the most expensive tupperware. Personally speaking, we’ve been buying dry food products, like flaxseed and rolled oats, from the bulk-foods section of our organic supermarket, and then storing them in large, air-tight yogurt containers and jars. You’ll be rescuing some extraneous packaging from the waste stream and saving some green in the process! (Just remember to label your containers to prevent furrowed brows down the road.)