Yoga Pose of the Week: Bharadvaja's Twist

Here's a pose that stretches the spine, shoulders, and hips; Massages the abdominal organs; Relieves lower backache, neck pain, and sciatica; Helps relieve stress; Improves digestion; And strengthens the lower back! Wow!

1) Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Shift over onto your right buttock, bend your knees, and swing your legs to the left. Lay your feet on the floor outside your left hip, with the left ankle resting in the right arch.

2)Inhale and lift through the top of the sternum to lengthen the front torso. Then exhale and twist your torso to the right, keeping the left buttock on or very close to the floor. Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor to keep the lower back long. Soften the belly.

3)Tuck your left hand under your right knee and bring your right hand to the floor just beside your right buttock. Pull your left shoulder back slightly, pressing your shoulder blades firmly against your back even as you continue to twist the chest to the right.

4)You can turn your head in one of two directions: continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at your feet.

5)With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, using the push of the fingers on the floor to help; with every exhalation twist a little more. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat to the left for the same length of time.

I grabbed this pose and description from http://www.yogajournal.com/, check it out for more!

Dave Barnes Art At Salts!

We're very excited to have a new artist showcased at Salts. His name is Dave Barnes, and he uses a wide variety of materials to create his masterpieces. Recycled elements, faded colours, layered/collaged backgrounds, and sand~papered imagery all play a part in this process, along with the use of bold observational line and memory dissolved Rockwellian imagery.

We have nine of Dave's pieces exhibited at the store, along with some prints! Please stop by and check it out!

You can also see more of his art and learn more about him on his webpage: http://www.davebarnes.ca/home-pg.htm

What Makes Organic Clothing Organic? Information on Organic Cotton Certification.

Organic this and organic that is all the buzz these days, but what exactly makes clothing organic? Salts Organic Clothing is made with certified Organic Cotton, not regular cotton. Many Bamboo, Soy, Tencel and Hemp fabric blends are made with regular cotton, not organic cotton. Certified organic fabrics are certified by several governing bodies depending on where they are from. It all starts with the fiber that makes the organic fabric. Salts Organic fabrics are certified by the Control Union World Group formally called SKAL. Some state and governmental bodies also have their own certifying bodies that certify Organic Cotton from their area. Certification processes and procedures may vary depending on the certifying organization, but the underlying values are the same. The organization IFOAM, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement is currently in the process of Defining Organic Agriculture in less than 300 words that will encompass all the objectives of organic farming.

The CUWG or SKAL can certify the fiber or the yarn. All organic land used to grow organic cotton must be treated organically for 3 years in order to be certified. To be treated organically the field must not be sprayed with any pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. Crop rotation, manure fertilizer and other earth friendly farming techniques are used instead. Organic Cotton for organic clothing is now grown in 18 countries but still only fills .01% of the total cotton market in the world. According to 2001 statistics the largest producers of organic cotton was the United States, India, Turkey and Peru.

Simply put, organic clothing is made from fabrics that were made from yarns that were made from Fibers that were grown on certified organic fields. These fields are gentle on the environment which has advantages to humans and nature alike. Many small farming villages have faced health struggles due to chemical use on cotton fields. Nature can only dilute and disperse so much chemical until it will begin to affect us all. We will all begin to notice these chemicals it in our food and water supplies eventually. Buying Organic Clothing is one way that you can be gentle on the earth.

Sincerely,
Salts.