On retreat in this lush easy corner of India, habits fall away easily. Ways of being that serve in the west are no longer appropriate. The steady heat of Goa is a joy - my being is saturated with the sun's benevolent radiance.
When I left the UK, I had spent 3 - 4 winter months as a transitioning raw foodist working out how to heat the body: now it is all about staying cool. Fruit, fruit and more fruit, coconut water and tender green leaves is all it takes. A date, maca, banana hemp mylk smoothie, rich and soothing in the British mid-winter would just be wrong now.
In this environment I find myself moving towards mono-meals, eating one food at a time, as an elegant & simple solution for how to stay nourished and cool. Hence breakfast can now be a cup of green tea and a plate of sliced pineapple; lunch a bowlful of green salad leaves, tomato and cucumber. Elaborate mixed salads and even a tropical fruit salad feels complicated. I rarely take mixed juices now and have dropped the ginger so it becomes all about pure fruit goodness and getting closer to Nature's intention; offering meals to go from the tree.
I feel that there is a connection here to the yoga I am doing - I teach in the UK, here I am on retreat and focussing deeply on my personal practice. Beyond the poses, breathwork & meditation there is an aspect of yoga, pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses. I explain this in terms of removing excessive distraction and stimulation from our lives. Permitting one to journey deeply into oneself and find what is real, what is truly needed. It is beautiful to experience this a desire to move from the complicated to the simple, to less rather than more.
I wonder how things will be upon my return, whether or not I will import these new habits, whether they are applicable to UK living. Will I become re-absorbed into the world of unlimited options; oils, powders, supplements, superfoods and fancy concoctions. The lesson I am glimpsing is that choices must be managed mindfully. Through integrating these apects of the yogic & raw food lifestyles, I am aiming for a truly holistic experience of empowered health & wellbeing. Om prem.
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