siken's published blog posts

Motivated Magazine - Being Impeccable With Your Word

Jul

“Be impeccable with your word”. So writes Don Miguel Ruiz in his landslide spiritual enlightenment bestseller, The Four Agreements. Make your word mean something. I am not always impeccable with my word, although it is something I understand the importance of and strive to honour. I have... more

Motivated Magazine - Authentically Me

Jul

Here is an unsettling idea: We are not who we think we are. Most of us go through our entire lives wearing a series of masks. We have different ones for different occasions. The mommy mask, all-smiling and eternally patient; the expert mask that we put on when teaching or advising; the... more

Motivated Magazine - Exercise Your Risk Muscle

Jan

The greatest risk I have taken in my life, I took unknowingly. Fourteen years ago I became a parent, and when I did, I risked my very happiness on my children's lives. The moment I took my baby boy William into my arms, my whole world shifted. I knew from his first breath, that he... more

Moderation: The Key to a Fun and Healthy Lifestyle

Sep

5000 fitness professionals gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this past weekend for the canfitpro International Fitness and Club Business Conference and Trade Show. You have never seen so much colourful workout gear in your entire life. The hotels in the surrounding area were... more

Motivated Magazine - Enough

Nov

Fear is a perfectly useful emotion if you’re being chased down the street by a snarling Doberman. It triggers the release of adrenalin, pumps blood away from non-essential tasks like digestion, and narrows our focus so that the only thing we become aware of is survival. Fear is our... more

Motivated Magazine - Sign Posts to True North

May

At eleven years old my father, my siblings, and our Maltese cross, "Bimbo" (yes, right name, long story) trekked across Canada from Ontario in a silver Volvo sedan prone to overheating. When we eventually arrived in Vancouver, I stood in front of the Vancouver Clock Tower and announced to... more

Motivated Magazine - Holding On While Letting Go

Dec

I am Silken. I am woven of the varied experiences of my life: alternately the wire that tangles together to create a steel cable or the fine threads that create the most exquisite of silk scarves. Each event, each fleeting observation, each subtle betrayal, crushing disappointment and... more

Today's Parent Magazine - Community Park Spaces

May

I was recently in Hong Kong, a crowded city of seven million. And yet, amid the thousands of high-rise apartments pressing one against the other with laundry hanging from windows, I found community parks — open spaces where young people meet to play basketball, older people find a place... more

Canadian Health and Lifestyle Magazine – The Power of Family Play

Sep

We experienced her passion as she crossed the finish line to win an Olympic medal under seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Today, Silken Laumann channels her strength and determination to impact the quality of family life through physical activity. Silken shows us how play can bring... more

Parents Canada – Are You Raising an Olympian?

Jul

Vanessa Loewen’s day starts at six A.M. As she crawls out of bed to complete the homework she didn't have time for the night before (she had been competing at BC's provincial swimming championships). Today she will leave school and head straight to the pool where, with a group of 25 other... more