Hello friend, and welcome to Ahimsa Blog, a 4-week social media campaign. Depending on how this campaign goes, I may continue after it is done. My name is Skylar and I am the voice behind this blog. I thought it would be best to start out this campaign with an introduction and talk all about my journey towards veganism and sustainable living.
First of all, I’d like to clear up a question that is probably going to be common: What does “Ahimsa” mean and what does it have to do with veganism and sustainable living? Here is a definition of Ahimsa from the Oxford Dictionary: “In the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist tradition, respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others. The word comes from Sanskrit, from a ‘non-, without’ + hiṃsā ‘violence’.”
It is part of Yamas (external disciplines), one of the 8 limbs of yoga and is a guiding principle for yogis. Even if you don’t practice yoga, Ahimsa is a popular term among vegans, and it’s not hard to see why given the definition. In fact, myself along with many other ethical vegans have “Ahimsa” written in Sanskrit or otherwise as a tattoo. It’s a great reminder of why we do what we do (or don’t do.)
So, now that that’s out of the way, I’ll get into more about me and my journey towards this lifestyle. I am 20 years old and was raised and currently reside in Saskatchewan, Canada. I have 4 pets: a dog, a cat, and 2 hamsters. I live with my boyfriend and we are currently both students. I am a business marketing student, which is the whole reason for this campaign. Nonetheless, vegan and sustainable living is something I am extremely passionate about.
Even since I was a child, I was curious about vegetarianism. I have always loved animals and was able to make the connection to the food on my plate. It never sat quite right with me, but I came from a line of farmers and grew up around animal agriculture. Especially in the Canadian prairies where I live, it is very normal to eat a lot of meat. However I did not understand why some people chose not to consume animal bi-products, and I did not understand the effects of animal agriculture on the environment (something I already had little care about.)
I finally took the small leap when I was 14 years old to cut red meat from my diet. I continued to eat poultry and seafood for the next 2.5 years, until one day I decided to give up meat entirely. Something I noticed was that I felt a lot better without eating meat. I used to get debilitating stomach aches after a meal, and I did not experience that at all anymore as a vegetarian. I was no longer dizzy when I stood up from a lack of iron. My diet consisted of lots of vegetables, grains, meat replacements, eggs, cheese, and vegetarian-friendly junk food. It wasn’t a healthy diet by any means, but I was already feeling so much better.
Only 6 months later I decided to cut dairy from my diet. It didn’t bother my stomach as it does for a lot of people, but I heard dairy was unhealthy and it would clear up my skin. As someone who has suffered from acne since I was 10 years old, this was appealing to me. I was also learning about the cruelty of the dairy industry. Cutting dairy didn’t do much to improve my skin (oh well!) but I still didn’t miss it. A few months later I gave up eggs, too. At this point, I considered myself vegan. I don’t know the day or even what month this happened, but I believe it was about 3.5 years ago. Although I am not a health professional of any kind, I do consider myself to be well-versed in the topic of veganism.
Climate change is a topic we are seeing in the news more and more every day. As awareness regarding the effects of climate change became more mainstream, this is also when I began to care, maybe about a year ago. The zero/low-waste movement is a relatively new concept for me, so bear with me as I am just learning about it, too. I will use this blog to document some of the changes I am making and share any helpful sources I find.
I have noticed so many positive changes in myself since becoming vegan and living a lower-waste lifestyle. Groceries and anything else I buy are less expensive, I don’t have to put in much effort to maintain a healthy weight, and cooking is a fun challenge as I try to make my meals vegan, delicious, and low waste. But even if this lifestyle didn’t bring me any of those things, I would still choose it because I don’t feel okay with eating animals and animal bi-products, and I want to respect the earth and its resources. It’s not something I plan to preach on this blog, though. Even if you aren’t vegan, this blog is still for you. Ahimsa Blog is for anybody who is interested in living a more healthy, sustainable lifestyle. This blog is made to be a non-judgemental source of information and entertainment.
I want to thank you for reading my first blog post, and I encourage you to interact with my content throughout this campaign. I would be elated to answer any questions or hear about your own journey along this lifestyle as well. You can check out my Instagram (ahimsa.blog) and Pinterest (contactahimsablog) for more content.
Until next time!
Skylar
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