January 1, Byron Shire EchoArticlesJohn Ogilvie a story of recoveryDee Tipping At this time of year there are many of us considering what our new years resolutions are going to be eat less, drink less, exercise more, not a matter of life or death but a life style change for the better. However, for many their choice of a lifestyle change is a much more serious one in fact quite possibly a matter of life or death and there are many in our community who have had to face this reality. John Ogilvie is the founder of the
byron yoga centre
based in Byron Bay, Australia. He is also an exresident of The Buttery. Before entering The Buttery John had been struggling with addiction issues for many years, in fact since his early teens. He survived several overdoses and an attempt to take his own life during his years of heroin use. Methadone was not a sustainable option for me as it was only a bandaid to some of the deeper life issues I needed to address to stop self medicating with drugs. said John John finally made the choice and entered The Buttery Residential Therapeutic Community in at the age of , where he was able to gradually adopt life style and spiritual changes to live a sustainable, drug free life. As well John was also able to renew his passion for Yoga through classes at the Buttery. Twenty years later this has led to him being one of the foremost teachers of yoga in Australia. Basically, along with hundreds of others like myself now in recovery, I owe my life to The Buttery, said John In gratitude to the work of The Buttery and the new and clean life he has been able to lead John has maintained his commitment to The Buttery as a board member. He is also a donor and sponsor of events. His ongoing commitment to health and wellbeing led John to establish The Byron Yoga Centre. The Centre runs daily classes for enthusiastic local and visiting yoga students, recently John and his colleagues have embarked on presenting and developing a series of very successful Yoga Teacher Training courses attracting people from all round the world. Through his Yoga centre John has also encouraged many ex-Buttery residents to take up yoga classes to maintain their wellness and keep focused on their recovery. Indeed some ex-residents of The Buttery have taken this opportunity to train up as Yoga teachers enabling them to embark on a new career path where they in turn can teach others the benets of Yoga. Yoga is an integral part of The Buttery Therapeutic Community program, it not only helped me to realise a new passion and focus for my life years ago as a resident but continues to be an important part of The Butterys approach to health and healing, said John. With this in mind I am very grateful to our teachers and associated teachers who have agreed to take part in staging a One Day Yoga fest this Saturday, January 5 at our Centre in Belongil with proceeds going to The Buttery. Classes and workshops are and full day pass starting at 6.am. Program information www. byronyoga.com or visit the Centre for a hard copy program. Dee Tipping is a fundraiser for The Buttery.PTYRural groups want Council to halt the suburbanisation of the Byron hinterlandsNino MacDonald Last year, a coalition of rural progress associations was formed from Federal, Main Arm and Coopers Shoot, along with representatives of the Coorabell and Eureka communities, in order to lobby Council to consult with hinterland communities as part of its review of the Byron Rural Settlement Strategy BRSS. Of particular concern is the ongoing BRSS rural land release program and the issue of new Community Title CT developments in the hinterland. Council has still to explain how these hinterland areas came to be identied in the rst place, given that the draft version of the BRSS put out on public exhibition and approved by the community, excluded new CT development in the hinterland but then included them in the strategy itself without further community consultation. There is a clear consensus in our communities opposing new CT developments in hinterland areas. Federal and Main Arm have already been prised opened, with more development to come, and Coopers Shoot, Eureka, and Coorabell have been similarly identied. The issue is not development per se, but rather the model of development new CT, which we consider socially, economically and environmentally inappropriate for these areas. New Community Titles are encouraging land speculation, and creating suburban style, gated and clustered subdivisions. They are located on unsafe, substandard roads far from higher order services and shops they are in areas of prime agricultural land and high conservation value and as in Main Arms case, situated at the head of the sensitive Brunswick Valley water catchment, in a ood and bushre prone area. Locating new CT residential development far from a towns services is no longer a part of current strategic planning. The Far North Coast Regional Strategy states In the future rural residential development will be located close to existing centres, avoiding areas of signicant environmental and landscape value, and signicant natural resources including high quality agricultural land. NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor has publicly expressed his concerns over the BRSS I have written to Council Byron Shire urging it to ensure that any review of the BRSS addresses the location of future rural settlements and ensures they are in appropriate locations I have particular concern over the long term effectiveness of the Community Title scheme. He has also requested that Council take into consideration issues raised by the Main Arm Residents Association at a meeting held with him recently in Sydney I do understand the issues you have raised and I have written directly to the Mayor of Byron Shire Council requesting that they take these issues into consideration as part of the review of the rural housing strategy. Not withstanding repeated requests to be included in the review from the hinterland groups, nothing has happened. This is not surprising considering meaningful community consultation in the Shire generally is at an all time low. But it is a concern, considering it is the interests of the existing community that should be given priority. If Councillors are unable to represent the interests of the community, then they should step aside at the next election and let those who have community interest at heart take their place. Nino MacDonald is the coordinator of hinterland progress associations opposing CT developments.Yoga Pilates Training AcademyYOGALATESpure organic fusionAnnual Teacher Training Distant education certificate courses with 5 week face to face prac Yogalates Teachers Association. Recognised by Insurance companys and health funds RetreatsWorkshop International best selling and award winning DVDS - Videos Books available on line or phone to orderCastor oil tick treatmentTicks are around at this time of year so its a good idea to know what to do. Firstly place a good dob of castor oil
on the tick. Leave for a minute or two, and it should come out easily, as the castor oil seems to suffocate the tick. Castor oil is also reputed to draw out any toxins injected by the tick. After a few days, if needed, a little more castor oil can be dabbed on to relieve any itching. Castor oil is also very good for the removal of thorns, splinters, stings, anything that needs drawing out. Good for animals also if the tick hasnt been in for too long.Byron Bay Email Ph
