On March 21, during Canada Water Week, yoga practitioners from across the lower mainland are invited to the banks of the Harrison River to connect with the watershed. #MyWatershedMoment aims to engage yoga communities and inspire tangible actions toward protecting local watersheds.
Watershed Watch Salmon Society is collaborating with The WaterWealth Project, Actively Creating an Exceptional Society (ACES) and local yoga instructor Cynthia Berger to host this event and inspire action through meditation.
Yoga and the dialogue around conservation ecology have many commonalities. We are beginning to understand that spiritual and physical well-being — quality of life — is closely linked to nature’s well-being.
Yoga instructor and ACES member Cynthia Berger is pleased to be part of My Watershed Moment, “Collaborating with like-minded folks to raise awareness around water issues is vital and we hope to inspire people to really think about water and to value and care for it. It's been said that water is to earth what blood is to the body and waterways are likened to arteries and veins in living beings. With this in mind we need to deeply consider how we treat it.”
“Many of us live in a society characterized by urbanization; however our physiological functions are still adapted to nature,” said Lina Azeez, engagement coordinator for Watershed Watch, “this means there is a lack of harmony between what our bodies need and our everyday high paced environments provide. It shows in our stress levels and our overly stimulated nervous systems.”
The answer? Spend more time outdoors, in natural spaces, to slow down these highly stimulated, stress inducing functions and allow the body to heal.
“Understanding the links between human well-being and the health of forests and its potential for improving healthy lifestyles is invaluable. The message is simple yet effective – maintaining healthy, dynamic ecosystems ensures our long term health and vitality.”
My Watershed Moment along the Harrison River brings light to many different pressures in the local watersheds, such as continued gravel extraction from the river, quarrying along the mountain slopes, approvals for water bottling plants, and more. These actions have direct impacts on water flows, ecosystem connectivity and water temperature which in turn impacts the spawning sites of local salmon populations and their overall health.
WaterWealth Acting Executive Director Ian Stephens calls this “an opportunity to appreciate the holistic benefits we enjoy from healthy, abundant watersheds.”
To learn more and participate in a yoga class on the banks of the Harrison River, come out to My Watershed Moment on Saturday March 21st from 1 – 3pm at the Kilby Provincial Park, Harrison Mills in the beautiful Fraser Valley.
For more information contact Lina, lina@watershedwatch.ca or 604-537-2341. Please RSVP as parking is limited. Visit our website: watershedwatch.ca and find us on Facebook, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and Twitter @WatershedWatch_.