User:Shannon Cowan
From EcoReality
Hello this is Shannon Cowan, a unique and passionate soul. (My maiden name is Binns (aka Binnsy, or Dharmatma Kaur). I am blessed as a mother of Sienna Cowan
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Introduction and Intention
I am deeply committed to creating a life that feels "natural" in my core, and from which I may derive my basic needs - physical & spiritual & intellectual health. I perceive that these needs are not entirely met by the existing urban lifestyles that I have been leading the last 31 years, and I acknowledge the paths that I have taken to learn the wisdom of the Earth and many other teachings that have created for me an inner vision of living in community, sustainably, in a non-urban setting.
My intention is to contribute my self, my individual strengths and energy toward creating and sustaining an ecovillage that encompasses my values, and supports my beliefs. These values and beliefs are deep and I give them a lot of meaning in my life -- but they are not easily summarized here. Moreover, they are better understood in the context of this community by viewing the GROUP Values, which represent my individual contribution to the larger whole. I could say in this moment my values are: respect for life and diversity, loving relationships, giving of self for the greater Whole Self, sustainable nourishment (self, group, children), ecological resource regeneration and respect for the Earth spirit, lifelong learning, awareness and spiritual growth, food/health security.
Who Am I?
I am part of an original family of two loving parents Rick and Judi, and a younger brother Jeremy. In my 33 years of experiencing my reality in this lifetime, I've cultivated gratitude and awareness, and especially appreciate all the learning and teachings that relationships have to offer. I now consider myself part of many families of intersecting lives. In the city of Vancouver, I have lived as part of a community of intentional friends and family, including my partner James, my baby (Sienna, born April 13, 2006) and my brother and sister-in-law Jeremy and Jill. I also associate myself with a community of learners at UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems and UBC Farm Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, with a community of yoga practitioners in the tradition of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and as part of a community of phytomedicine/ethnobotany researchers, aboriginal health researchers and herb growers/researchers. On a global scale, I see myself as part of a community of healers, consciousness-raisers, and Earth stewards.
I have lived here in Vancouver since July 2002, when I moved here to begin a dream job at the University of British Columbia (Assistant Professor of Agroecology and Plant Science in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems). This dream is part of my larger dream of learning to live sustainably in community and in active protection of natural resource regenerative processes. In this vision, I also see myself being part of systems of lifelong learning and teaching, and learning to be accepting, loving and giving both with loved ones and strangers, or people with whom I have difficulty. I have learned that often the people we find it hard to speak to or be around are those from whom we have the most to learn about ourselves.
So, my family has expanded, and continues to change as I grow.
History
As a young child, my relationship to myself began as one of striving to be "the best I could be" at everything. This was part of learning to be an individual in my family, and of being in relationship with my mom, dad and brother. I would describe myself as a very dedicated sister (often called "my other mom" by my brother in those days), a daughter who tried to please my parents, and a caring friend to many. I was a girl who enjoyed concentration and focussing on tasks that could be accomplished and shared with others. I always have enjoyed playing, and especially playing with the tools of music and sport at my fingertips.
I studied classical piano for 15 years, and various percussion and drum instruments (in ensembles mostly) for a combined 7 years. Sports and skill activities I have enjoyed (and some I have instructed are in italics) include:
- swimming
- running
- gymnastics
- dance (ballet, belly)
- basketball
- waterpolo
- canoeing
- kayaking
- wilderness tripping (canoe, kayak, hike)
- hiking
- minimum impact camping
- wild plant collecting
- nature taxonomy and ecology
- plant medicine preparation according to various traditions
- plant chemistry
- story-telling and ethnographies
- dramatizations and play-acting
- being a leader in group activities
- problem-based learning pedagogy
- principles of agroecology (theory more than practice so far)
Skills Elaborated
I have been a student of Kundalini yoga (and other forms of yoga) for the last 15 years, and I have been teaching Kundalini yoga (certified by the Kundalini Research Institute KRI) since 2001. I have a certificate in Phytotherapy, a certificate in bilingualism (French-English), and a Ph.D. in Biology. My Ph.D. thesis dissertation is entitled: The taxonomy, phytochemistry and biological activity of the genus Echinacea (Asteraceae), published in 2001 by the University of Ottawa, Canada. I also have a B.Sc. degree from the University of Guelph, Canada. I have worked summer jobs as a gardener for the Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario as well as a student horticultural labourer (i.e. parks and traffic island gardener) for the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I have also been a summer camp counselor for four summers. I have organized and experienced a 42 day wilderness canoe trip in Canada's Yukon and Northwest territories, and into Alaska. It was 1800 kilometers and included paddling most of 6 different rivers with one other person in one canoe. It was a journey through the heart and mind, as well as a journey through some of the remaining truly "wild" lands on this continent.
Possibilities I am Creating
- Generosity
- Health and Success
- Acceptance - to me, this is being with "what is" rather than resisting it...yet striving to express and create change where I am called to do so for the sake of evolution to sustainability
- Vulnerability
- Loving Family and Relatedness
- Compassion
Philosophies and Energy I do not Support
Books I Recommend
Food Wars by Lang and Heasman, Earthscan. This approaches the primary (conflicting) paradigms at work in our global food systems today, and attempts to integrate knowledge from all disciplines that are implicated in the understanding of a concept of a sustainable system of global food security and health. It is predicated on a model of health that depends on physical nutrition, social health and ecological health. It successfully demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of different models of food systems, from the perspective of their abilities to achieve balance in this model of health (considering policy, economic and ecological factors fairly equally). This is a book stacked with recent statistics, although it is slightly biased from a more Euro-centric perspective. I recommend it highly for all those interested in learning ways to create and promote sustainable systems on the planet.
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan The Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan
These two works together are a powerful and accessible encapsulation of the realities of the food system from seed to human health and wellbeing. They appreciate and expound on the ecological worldview, while exposing the industrial and 'life science'paradigms in the western world's approach to food production and consumption and resulting public health. Not to be missed for those seeking to understand how to create sustainable, peaceful and nourishing personal and community foodways.
