Feel Good Guru

Your green commute just got charged with a bat cave load of cool - a whole new class of personal transport invented in New Zealand as the simplest way to get from A to B with the aid of a machine small enough to go anywhere with you in the city.

YikeBike ($4450) goes 10kms on a 30-minute electric charge, will carry you upright at 25kms/hr, and folds up into a little 10kg package you can sling over your shoulder so you can keep it close when you go indoors. Take the stairs, though, cause you’ve just missed out on the exercise you used to get on your 10km pedal to work…

YikeBike = Totally groovin’ with the woowoo! Check out the vid~

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“You never change something by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Buckminster Fuller

British banking heir and “environmental daredevil” David de Rothschild, otherwise known as “Eco Bruce Wayne” is challenging us to consider our waste as a resource. With 12,000 plastic bottles and some cashew glue, he’s built a catamaran he hopes to sail from San Francisco to Sydney, an 11,000 mile journey inspired by the 1947 journey of the primitive raft, Kon-Tiki. (more…)

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February is *love* month. Chances are good we’ll be hosting a L.O.V.E. Cafe in the Venice garden right around V-day - drop us an email if you’d like an invite. We keep ‘em intimate, so V-day is a perfect day to bring your lover or friend to the Local. Organic. Vegan. Evolutionary. Cafe Underground where sweet jasmine, quenched by the days of rain and emboldened by a full one of sun, breathed into being her fullest expression, all pink blossoms and perfume and nectar for the bees. Yes, it’s a heavenly affair best shared with kindred spirits.

If you can’t make it to the L.O.V.E. Cafe for V-day but you want an eco-sexy gift idea, here are our top 10, from hand crafted natural fiber stockings to soaking au naturel in a hotspring: (more…)

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“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” Buddha

Is there someone in your life who simply glows with an aura of radiant good health? Do you have a friend or acquaintance who flows with boundless energy, great physical presence and an endlessly positive attitude?

Perhaps this description fits you? Perhaps you’re the one who wakes up every morning fresh and enthused to tackle the challenges of the day. You laugh often, accept what the day brings with a smile, react to events with positivity and a can-do attitude, and have the endurance and stamina to stay present until bedtime. You sleep like a baby and dream sweet dreams, then awake with renewed inspiration for another glorious day on the planet… (more…)

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This family in suburban Pasadena has its own homegrown revolution going on. They’ve turned every square foot of their front yard, driveway and back yard into food growing farmland. They have citified farm animals, a truck that runs on vegetable oil and an outdoor solar shower. They have no jobs other than the growing of food. They are totally groovin’ with the woowoo.

Formerly social misfits, they now sell their “local” produce to high end restaurants, host children’s educational programs and throw happenin hippy neighborhood potlucks, complete with free entertainment and good vibes.

Though they talk about it being a “frugal” way of life, it is also obvious that it’s a healthy one. Check’em: (more…)

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Oprah Winfrey, Food Inc., and Brammo Enertia among recipients

For Immediate Release

VENICE, CA, January 18, 2010 - The first annual Feel Good Guru WooWoo Awards were held on Sunday at a private function in Venice California, attended by artists, filmmakers, and environmentalists.

Winners included; Oprah Winfrey for “Social Change Wizard”, feature film Food, Inc. for “Consciousness-Raising Communicator”, electric motorcycle Brammo Enertia for “Shiny Thing”, farmed animal sanctuary Animal Acres for “Animal Angel”, and The Great Klondike International Outhouse Race for “Mirthful Gathering”.

Additionally, the “Hero Of The Year Award” was presented to activist Mark Horvath of Invisible People TV, in recognition of his tireless efforts to help shine a light on homelessness throughout America. The award included a $500 cash prize from corporate sponsor Arpix Media.

Presenters at the awards ceremony included United Nations-affiliated Dream Project founder/author, Kelly Sullivan Walden (”I Had the Strangest Dream”), filmmaker/director Allan Moyle (”Pump up the Volume”), music impresario Johnny Brower (”1969 Rock And Roll Revival”), and author/historian Ritchie Yorke (Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, John Lennon).

The show was opened with the official “Dropping of the Sword” - the plunging of a 27-inch sword down the esophagus of world-record-holding sword swallower, Brett Loudermilk of the Venice Freak Show. Additional entertainment was supplied by Albuquerque, New Mexico based artists Fast Heart Mart and Venice boardwalk street musician, Joey.

The WooWoo Awards make extensive use of technology and social media, using Twitter.com as a call out to online voting site Esurveyspro.com, live internet broadcast on Livestream via livestream.com/fggtv, and Skype, which allowed presenter Yorke to to appear live from Brisbane Australia.

Moira Nordholt, founder of Feel Good Guru and the WooWoo Awards says,

“If we could bottle the enthusiasm, compassion, creativity and love of all our participants, nominees and winners, the world would truly be a better place.”

The WooWoo Awards celebrate people, ideas and things that make the world a better place.

FeelGoodGuru.com is an online destination for wellness and optimism.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT CAN BE FOUND HERE.

AND HERE.

Contact: Ron Proulx
(310) 450-8034

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If you’re a regular visitor to FGG, you know that we love people who are doing good for the world. Our recent naming of Mark Horvath as our Hero of the Year sparked a great idea that we’d like to share with you and invite you to be a part of.

We’ve created the WooWoo Awards to focus attention on people, ideas, and things that help make the world a better place. And we’ve decided to honor Mark at the First Annual WooWoo Awards with our “Feel Good Guru Hero of the Year WooWoo”! (more…)

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I joined Twitter just over a year ago not knowing much about it but recognizing its enormous potential as a zeitgeist discovery tool. I immediately set out to find my tribe, and met some beautiful souls - beauty in 140 character spurts. I soon craved more “social” from my social media, so decided to reach beyond my monitor for some human-2-human contact with my followers and the first “Tweetuplift” - a tweetup with a positive purpose - was born.

I invited my followers from Twitter in the Los Angeles area on Christmas Day 2008 to bring leftovers down to the beach to give to homeless people. Michael Liskin called it “flash philanthropy” after ten people showed up in the pouring rain to give food and raincoats to some cold and hungry people. In my mind a higher purpose for Twitter was affirmed. (more…)

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I have a friend who does his Christmas shopping in July. He’s a flight attendant, so when he’s in India and finds a gorgeous Pashmina he can’t pass up, he picks several up, brings them home, perhaps gifts one to his mother-in-law in July and tucks the others away until December. Come Christmas day, each of his girlfriends is blown away by his thoughtfulness. I mean who does this, right? Not I, and probably not you.

I actually opted out of Christmas shopping years ago and I can confirm that it’s extremely liberating… (more…)

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I’ve taken up painting in the last couple of years. Mostly just to doodle personalized “thank you” cards, but also to use a different part of my creative brain and for the sheer joy of playing with fun colors. It occurred to me the other day as I was slopping paint all over a piece of cardboard, making a mess beyond rescue with too much color, that less is so often more in art.

I’m very attracted to zen-like works with a single color or stroke on a white canvas, yet it’s so difficult to put the brush down after just one stroke, isn’t it? I got to comparing art to life and made the simple connection that in life, as in art, restraint is a powerful tool. As we charge full steam ahead into the holidays, restraint can be invoked often in the supreme interest of keeping Santa belly at bay. (more…)

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I went for a long sunset rollerblade this evening past the pier, past the temporary big top of Cirque du Soleil, past fast-moving bikes and skateboards, north until the sun touched down on the ocean just over my left shoulder. I try to do this at least a couple of times a week because we only have a finite number of sunsets.

I love how everything slows down for those few minutes while people take in the magic of another day ending, the sun melting into the horizon, the sky slowly turning beautiful hues of orange and purple. Smiles between strangers come easy as people seem to forget for a moment their worries and witness together a miracle. (more…)

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He who binds himself to joy, does the winged life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies, Lives in eternity’s sunrise. William Blake

When the high-pitched shrill of an ambulance’s siren blares past me on the road, I usually recoil; startled, concerned. But on the evening the siren blared for me, I neither saw the flashing lights, the stretcher, the oxygen mask, nor heard the gasping of the surrounding crowd. In fact the anxiety that had been building within me for days was curiously gone. There was no more reason for concern… I had floated up.

Read more of Kelly Sullivan Walden’s inspirational story: (more…)

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As some of you know, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on “Feel Good Fast - 21 days the Feel Good Guru way - your plant-powered seasonal guide to a cleaner, greener, leaner lifestyle”.

I’m excited to be able to finally offer this to you after doing the cleanse for years at the turn of each season!

The book will be released in early January, first as an e-book. You’ll be able to order each season separately, or the entire year in one complete doc. It includes the full-on how-tos, photos, menus, recipes, shopping lists, inspiration, motivation, and a special treat ~ tips and tweets from you! What do you do to feel good fast? Tweet @feelgoodguru with your best feel good fast tips using the hashtag #feelgoodfast. I’ll publish the best of them with a link back to you! (more…)

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Aim higher than you thought you ever could. Aim higher than your family or masters or teachers or gurus ever expected. Aim higher than you can imagine because truly, everything you can imagine is real. That’s The Secret. Picasso said it sometime in the early 20th century and didn’t charge a dime…

I’m no angel but I try my best to be a decent human. I consider myself both a teacher and a seeker; someone with a lot of great groovy life experience and someone with a lot to learn. I make mistakes, I treat people badly and I can be as self-absorbed as the next person. (more…)

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Though we Chuppies don’t need a license to perform a kind act, we’d enjoy the pure pleasure of spreading and tracking our unexpected acts of kindness through this cool new website where we get a code, get a card, do something sweet for a stranger and pass it on.

Imagine if someone in front of you in line at your health food store paid for your pumpkin and gave you this recipe for Curried Pumpkin and Coconut Soup. You might be mildly suspicious until they produced this card with a code that says “You’ve been Kinded. Pass it on.” You’d laugh, hug your new friend, accept the gift gracefully, then record the act of kindness on kinded.com for all the world to be inspired by - and keep the card handy until you get your own opportunity to be sweet to a stranger. It’s cool to be kind.

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Attention salad lovers and Chuppies! Now you can have your dressing without the doubt. Finally! A salad dressing that tastes great and is actually good for you!

Omega Vinaigrette is the first dressing to combine the health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids and all organic (not just 50 or 60 or 70%, but 100% organic) ingredients.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to reduce inflammation, reduce high blood pressure, boost our immune system, and even help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Omega Vinaigrette is the new baby of personal chef, Nate Romo, who felt the void in the market for a dressing that would not only be tasty and satisfying, but could also be nutritious and eliminate the need for supplements.

It’s seriously healthy and seriously de-lish, and so far comes in 4 scintillating flavors: Omega Ranch, Omega Citrus, Omega Balsamic and Omega Ginger. You’ll want all 4 and not just for salads. Pour ‘em on pinto beans, slather ‘em on stir-frys, go on, dip yer dosas!

Order ‘em directly from Nate, then ask your local health food store to give up some of their shelf space to this most worthy of vinaigrettes.

With dressings this good and this good for you, you’ll never have to say “dressing on the side” ever again.

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What? Veggie Trader dot com

What?? A new site that allows you to buy from or exchange fresh garden produce with your neighbors. It’s a hookup site for wayward surplus veggies. So far just in the US, but it’s newly planted and growing like a late summer zucchini.

How’s it work? Like Craigslist. Sign up, list your excess, post what you’d like to trade it for, search for other home growers within a radius of 1 to 100 miles, hook up, make the trade or purchase, go home happy, no food wasted, community created.

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Sandy Dempsey, founder of The Dreaming Cafe and an enthusiastic participant in Feel Good Fast is offering a 4-week online journaling for self-discovery workshop. She’s a Feel Good Guru with pen and paper, and she’s got a deal for FGG readers! Check it:

Discover the power of positive journaling and journaling for self-discovery ~ Sandy Dempsey

I’ve been journaling for almost thirty years. Journaling has been my constant companion. All of life’s ups downs and everything in between lives in my journals. I have stacks of them. They are wonderful documentaries of my life. (more…)

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We’re flyin’ the Feel Good Fast flag here at Feel Good Guru cause it’s fall and we’re on day 3 of the autumn edition of “Feel Good Fast” and yes, we’re feelin’ good!

Unfortunately it’s too late to join us this time around, but we’ll be going again on the 2nd of November, just after the indulgences of Canadian Thanksgiving, ending just in time for American feasting.

In between, we’ll have some amazing plant-powered feasting with friends at the LOVE Cafe Underground in Toronto and Venice Beach and we might even be shootin’ an episode or two of “One Meatless Meal”. Stay tuned!

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Now that labour day’s over and the party days of summer are behind us, it’s time to put away the beer cooler, dig out the running shoes, get our cleanse on, and spend some time reinventing ourselves and planning our brilliant future. Don’t you feel the fresh start groove comin’ on?

There’s no better time in the year to initiate major personal change. Autumn beginnings carry great momentum, which is why we’re so excited at Feel Good Guru to embark on our quarterly 21-day cleanse. But before we begin, I wondered if there might be some feng shui techniques that could give us a little kick start into our fresh start…some good woowoo that would enhance our energy and help propel our cleansing success to even higher levels… (more…)

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