BCBusiness

44 BCBUSINESS MAY 2019 explains that the romantic answer to the dierence between a violin and a ddle is that the former sings and the latter dances. "It's the same instrument," she says. "It's just how you play it, really, and what tradition you decide you're attached to." Last year she commis- sioned Powell River violin maker Laura Wallace to make an instrument for her. Eix has small hands, and although the size variation in a standard violin isn't huge, "because your ngers have to be so accurate, even a milli metre one way or the other can make a big dierence in how comfortable something is to play," she points out. Eix and Wallace settled on a standard violin with dimensions as small as possible and made from B.C. big leaf maple and Sitka spruce. "The cool bit for me as a scientist is that she sent me photos and let me see the process from being just a block of wood into a musical instru- ment," Eix notes. Her piano background meant she could pick up tunes by ear pretty easily, but Eix found that making a nice sound with the violin was a steep learning curve, which she is still on. "Playing not very well came pretty quickly," she condes. "Playing very well is still a work in progress." Eix takes music lessons every chance she gets. "Musicians come through town and will give work- shops," she says. "With folk music, you pay your $30, you show up at the workshop, and it doesn't really matter if you're brilliantly good at it or just a fun-loving amateur. You can take lessons from the best folks in the world." She's attended the Buddy MacMaster ddle camp at Cape Breton's Celtic Colours music festival, and the past three sum- mers she and her daugh- ter, Elise, went to the Fiddleworks family camp on Salt Spring Island. Vancouver doesn't have a large Cape Breton ddling community, so Eix plays with a couple of groups that create other kinds of music. The West Coast Fiddleheads put on concerts and perform at seniors residences and community events. And recently Eix joined a "ragtag band" that accom- panies English country dancing, which she describes as what you see in Jane Austen lm adapta- tions and completely unlike Cape Breton danc- ing and music. "The joy of making music is when you can make it with other people," she says. "I can't always indulge my rst passion, but it's a lot of fun to play." ( quality time ) Time Among the Maya The Maya, who may once have numbered a couple of million people spread across what are now Guatemala, Belize and parts of Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador, are renowned for their architecture, mathematics skills, astronomical system and sophisticated calendar. This month, Victoria's Royal BC Museum launches Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises, presented in North America for the first time. The exhibition explores how science and belief shaped the Mayan world, displays works previously not shown outside Guatemala and spotlights 30 existing dialects to mark UNESCO's Year of Indigenous Languages. May 17-December 31 $11-$17, children 3-5 free Dance Party Ballet BC is capping its 2018-19 season with a celebration of artistic director Emily Molnar's (Five Questions, p.15) 10th anniversary with the company. Following the May 11 performance of Program 3, which includes the North American and world pre- mieres, respectively, of Bedroom Folk and New Work, and the return of Minus 16, audience members can stay on for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and lots of dancing. Program 3; May 9, 10, 11 $35-$95, seniors and students $35-$85 A F T E R HO U R S is a quarterly health and wellness newsletter that provides your employees with the information they need to improve their health – on and off the job – on and off the job ANDREA BURGERS 604.473.0305 aburgers@canadawide.com Find out more... Are you investing in your employees health? print or digital versions available health? print or digital versions available wellness matters Photography: iStock (unless credited otherwise) 10 FAST FACTS Pairing for Healthy Habits Choices for healthy living • nutrition • tness • well-being • health I n a perfect world, healthy habits would come as second nature, but sometimes life gets in the way of our best intentions. "Most people don't lack motivation, but they often struggle with follow through," says Sharon Kelly, certied life coach at Successful Transitions in Nanaimo, B.C. So, given the limits of motivation, how can you form healthy habits that stick? To strengthen positive behaviour, try "pairing," an old concept that was recently popularized by Gretchen Rubin, a bestselling author who studies habits and happiness. The pairing strategy is essentially to link habits you enjoy with ones that are aspirational, like practicing gratitude while you drink your morning coffee, or exercising while you watch Netix. "The great thing about pairing is that you're linking a new behaviour to one that already exists, and that helps with follow through," Kelly tells Wellness Matters. "Pairing also cuts down on decision-making time, allowing us to get out of our heads and into action," she adds. To make pairing work for you, Kelly suggests exploring and challenging self- limiting beliefs, getting clear on how new habits will benet you and making incremental changes to start. For that extra level of accountability, Kelly recommends enlisting the support of a friend or an ally, such as a life coach. summer 2 017 1 The brain uses about 20 per cent of the oxygen used by the human body 2 Your heart beats over 100,000 times per day 3 Adult lungs have a surface area between 540 and 810 square feet 4 REM sleep makes up about 20 per cent of total sleep time and is often when you have your most vivid dreams 5 Infants blink only once or twice a minute, while adults average around 10 6 Similar to ngerprints, humans also have unique tongue prints 7 Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, not viruses 8 It takes your body around 12 hours to completely digest food 9 Bacteria are extremely small and are made up of just one cell 10 In terms of DNA sequences, all humans are over 99 per cent similar to other humans Inside 2 5 Healthy Summer Treats 3 To Carb or Not to Carb? 4 Weightlifting for Beginners 7 Cultivate a Gratitude Practice That Sticks WM_Summer2017_GS.indd 1 2017-04-27 2:40 PM Healthy Employees have better concentration and lower stress wellness matters

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