Well-Balance Fitness & Body Work

Personal Fitness Training (in-home option available), Flow Yoga, Personalized Yoga training, Fitcamps, Circuit, Mom & Baby, StrollerFit, Prenatal classes, Aromatherapy Massage & Reflexology.

Finding Your Parenting Zen (and Strength) with Yoga

Editor’s Note: Good morning. Today we have Marcie Dumais discussing one of my passions – yoga. Here she is:
As parents, the wellness of our little people is top priority – making sure they have nutritious meals, stimulating activities, exercise, time outdoors, caring role-models, quality education and so on. We devote a lot of time and [...]

ecoLife Solutions

ecoLife Solutions is committed to helping clients find solutions they need to create safe, healthy, eco-sustainable households & workplaces. We show you how `greening up` can be very simple, cost effective & educational for your family or business!

The Fit Family – Building In A Routine for All of Us

I have to admit that working out these days is like pulling teeth – for a couple of reasons.
Still trying to figure it all out, it looks like I have a combination of adrenal fatigue and thyroid issues wreaking havoc on both my energy and my stamina. I’ve given up on the regular doctors and have [...]

Fit Family – A Forced Reset of Family Priorities

I never find it a good thing when you head to the doctor, get some blood work done, and they call you for a follow up that starts with “Come on in today.”
That’s what happened to me in mid-December. I knew I wasn’t feeling good. I thought it was general malaise, some un-checked emotional goo, [...]

The Fit Family – In The Groove…Getting Motivated to Move

Editor’s Note: Whoa is it ever wet out there! This late Fall rain is absolutely crazy, definitely time for hats. If you missed it, be sure to check out our piece from this morning on scoring the coolest hats in town HERE. Now, it’s time for our fitness update. Stay dry!
Getting fit is an uphill [...]

The Fit Family – Creaky Bones & The Death of Procrastination

Editor’s Note: Happy Monday. If you missed our early post, check out our review of Roylco’s fossil rubbing plates HERE. Meanwhile, we are slugging through finding our workout groove:

Oh how uninspiring we find ourselves these days. Ken and I both agree that we have mental blocks when it comes to long term fitness. But, really, [...]

The Fit Family – The Flu, Frustration & Funk

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in The Fit Family – the OBE year-long adventure from flab to fit. Robin and Ken are here today in diary style talking a bit about how the process is taking shape. They need a boost. You may want to send some love their way today. It’s ugly [...]

The Fit Family – Week 1, The Harsh Reality

Editor’s Note: During the week here at OBE, you’ll now be getting a morning AND an afternoon post with some fun new features and timely coverage of community events in which Our Big Earth is involved. Our morning post today was a product review on gorgeous wooden Waldorf rainbow stackers. Check out the review HERE. [...]

Family Fitness – Safety Keeps You Fit on the Trails

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today we’re hanging out with Equilibrium Lifestyle Management owner Sarah Seads as she gets us geared up for long Spring days out on the trails or at the beach.

After this crazy Winter, I know I’m totally excited to get back out there and spend some quality time working out and [...]

Moms in Need Seek Affordable Fitness Trainer

As parents, we will do almost anything to ensure that our children are healthy and well cared for.
We do whatever it takes to get them to eat their veggies, give them creative/ play time, and make sure they get adequate sleep and exercise each day.
Our priority is to give them the best possible start, all [...]

Fit Pregnancy is Possible (and fun!)

How are your New Year’s resolutions going?  Did you manage to start eating healthy, exercise daily, be good to your family, and meditate all while living in the NOW?
We all know how hard it is to keep promises to ourselves.  It can be even more difficult to set goals and achieve them while you are [...]

Parent Wellness – Trading Tots for Time

Editor’s Note: Happy Thursday. I am so excited to introduce Comox mama of two Marcie Dumais and her wise parenting ways as she shares her take on parenting and taking care of ourselves.
I am legendary in the “can’t ask for help” universe – some weird mental health issue that I apparently need to take some [...]

KidSports – Big Fun, Build Skills with New T-Ball

Editor’s Note: Good Morning! It may be still be Winter, but all signs point to sunshine and outside fun – including T-BALL REGISTRATION, which begins Monday morning (Feb. 16) at the Lewis Centre, Comox Rec and Happy ’s Source for Sports (on Sixth in Courtenay).
That also means there couldn’t be a better time to [...]

Snow Sled Walks in the Comox Valley

Every day, it’s the same question: “Mommy, when is it going to snow? Santa won’t come if it never snows.”
While I’m sure kids in warmer climates would definitely debate the merits of her theory, our daughter could not help but find herself bundled up and ready to hit the hills the last couple of days [...]

Seal Bay Nature Park Beach Trail

There are a few special spots in our collection of adventures that spark imagination and make the tiny person buzz uncontrollably at the mere mention of a potential day spent.

Seal Bay Nature Park and its winding, lush, bit of a butt-kicker wander down the Main Beach (Don Apps) Trail to one of the most beautiful [...]

Summer NeighbourWood Walk No. 4 – Fanny Bay

Note to self: wine with the girlfriends after a long day on the trail is excellent fun at 9 p.m., not so excellent fun at 6 a.m.:)

A small group of super intrepid walkers made it out to our fourth NeighbourWood Walk yesterday, which took us to the far south end of the Valley and a [...]

Paradise Meadows

With the wet, cold, L-O-N-G Winters we’ve had the last couple of years, we can only hope that Summer lingers a bit longer than usual.
Personally, I hope the sunshine puts in some overtime this year so we can spend some long days wandering the forest of Strathcona Provincial Park taking in the absolute magic that [...]

Mom & Baby Yoga

BB (Before Baby) my relationship with yoga constituted the primary focus in my life.
I discovered it in early 2002 while recovering from a lengthy illness, when I needed the space to focus on physical well-being in a quiet, centered way. What I discovered was the doorway to a healthy head that began with working out [...]

The Northeast Woods & Hand Trees

This is the second in our 4-part series of Spring walks that include insider details and activities to pair with some of our favourite trails around the region
Check back in every Sunday in April for a new walk and some fun tips to get the family outside enjoying the season together.

Wow, it’s gorgeous outside, [...]

Spring Training for the Family

We are hitting the beach and the trails while the sunshine lasts today.
So, local fitness guru Sharon de Goede is here to chat about getting outside and getting moving with the family now that Spring has sprung!
Here she is:
Give yourself a shake!
The ole body is STILL there, still working for you, but have you prepared [...]

On The Rocks climbing gym

Derek Kwan is here today with the scoop on a cool, relatively new climbing gym in Campbell River.
I very much appreciate Derek’s contributions to the site, not only for his plainly Dad perspective, but also for offering up some great scores in the fun locales department.
Without further delay, here’s Derek:

A friend of mine has proclaimed [...]

The 8-Step Plan to Make Family Fitness Stick

Editor’s Note: I feel moderately guilty posting this today. We’ve done plenty of hiking, beach-walking and generally outdoors loving the last week. But, you can bet that has also included plenty of sleeping in, snacking and lounging around blissfully in need of doing absolutely nothing.
But, upon return, I will be hitting the pool hard, the [...]

Making New Year’s Resolutions as a Family

I have one resolution this year, to make 2008 the year of the strong, healthy family.
For us, that means physically, emotionally, financially and socially. One very serious tall order that appears at least mildly overwhelming.
But, as an overall goal, I’m thinking it’s right on target. So, that’s what we’re going to focus on here [...]

Family Fitness – The No-Excuse Excuse

It seems so very appropriate that, on a day when the weather man reveals that we are supposed to get 50mm of rain and that crazy wind action that is a solid island Winter storm, Comox Valley Kids debuts its new Family Fitness column.
Once a month, local fitness expert, Vanier track coach and nationally-lauded running [...]

Pools, Skating Rinks and Climing Gyms in the Comox Valley

The Comox Valley is home to a wide range of public sports facilities including skating rinks, pools and recreation centres that are in the process of expanding as the Valley continues to grow.
The Comox Strathcona Regional District maintains local public pools and ice rinks in Courtenay, Comox and Campbell River other than Glacier Gardens ice [...]

Kayaking Tofino

I know, I know. All of you were expecting Dr. Ivey today, and I planned on it – I promise.
But, the lure of the beach, the crisp of the air and honestly my unwillingness to think about anything other than where I’m at while on vacation means Dr. Ivey’s debut will have to wait until [...]

Family-Friendly Trails in the Comox Valley

Finding the safe, accessible and fun family trails on the North Island is no small task.
With plenty of trails to choose from, it’s the details on what works and what doesn’t that are often missing. Check here for a list of family-friendly trails around the Comox Valley and Campbell River regions.
SAFETY NOTE: Bears, cougars [...]

Nine Fall Comox Valley Family Walks (Rain or Shine)

This may seem like a silly topic on such a GEEEEEEEOOOOOOOORRRRRRGeous day.
But, I’ve had a whack of requests lately to pull together a single list of family-friendly walks that are do-able in all sorts of weather.
So, here it is.
9. The Courtenay Riverwalk including the Courtenay Estuary Loop: This is by far one of the most [...]

Rainy Day Survival Guide – Hit The Pool

I used to dream of pools.
Big ones, that would take me what seemed like hours to swim the length of.
Diving for pennies.
Bobbing like a buoy.
Sneaking a trip to the snack bar to eat Tangy Taffy until my teeth fell out.
Except for the Tangy Taffy, pretty much nothing has changed.
So, when we jumped in and got [...]

Getting Back to the Workout as Parents

If you are one of those women who gained like 25 pounds while you were pregnant and lost it all within a few months of giving birth, I salute you for recovering so nicely.
For the rest of us, it’s hell.
Actually, I did only gain about 28 pounds while pregnant with the tiny person. But, I’d [...]