05 Apr2016
Ayurveda and Yoga One World Retreats Bali – day 1 and 2
During my month in Bali I not only attended a 10-day raw vegan and detox course, but then also an Ayurveda and Yoga One World Retreats at the Kumara resort. It was a completely different experience I’d like to tell you more about now.
Here’s my thoughts on our day 1 and day 2 schedule.
Day 1
It was a relaxing afternoon waiting for everyone to check in into our beautiful rooms. Then we could start off the week with saying something about each of us and an opening ceremony all together sitting in a circle at the yoga hall, sharing more about us and our intentions for the upcoming retreat.
To finish it we sang OM three times and then had flower offerings with an incense stick to Ganesha.
The ceremony was very grounding and I really felt like a brand new person afterwards. Very fresh and light.
Dinner: 1 liter of water plus 2 seeds of anise – great for detox. No ice cold water as it dilutes the digestive fluids and according to Ayurveda cold drinks and cold meals are not good.
I have to say not only food made me happy but also a different saying each day in my very comfy bungalow.
Day 2
They woke us all up ringing a bell in front of our rooms. It was a super nice moment when the bell was further away but not right outside of my bungalow door 🙂
Ritual
We both started and finished the morning ritual with a simple Pranayama technique of alternate nostril breathing guided by our Ayurvedic Dr. Aparna. Then the MahamrityunjayaHoma Mantra ritual to gain victory over death, negative emotions, feelings and sensations for us, friends/family. After each mantra we threw rice into the holy fire as an act of letting go of what we do not need any more. I am such a fan of all these spiritual rituals, you have no idea.
Yoga
Our first day was dedicated to the Earth element so we were asked to be aware of our body movements as the Earth element is what is responsible for our substance, our body flesh.
”Let the breath be married with the movement.” yoga teacher Wayan said wisely.
Breakfast
Ayurveda lesson
Ayurveda basics:
- personalised medicine = we are all special and unique
- genomics – 3 Prakriti body mind type (so called doshas – vata, pitta, kapha) = because we all have different combination of genes (we have different genes in us so it’s not really about how we were raised but born)
- more than 16 specialities at present (surgery, general, etc. as in modern science for different diseases)
- 8 branches of Ayurveda
- Ayurveda textbooks come from 2 century BC
- Sushruta – father of surgery and guru of Ayurveda
- first brain surgery was done by Jivaka
- Charaka – bible of Ayurveda, well-known physician
- Nimi – performed cataract surgery
Aim of Ayurveda:
- protection and prevention of health
- curing diseases
Listen to my tummy (digestive fire) but not my tongue (taste.) I eat for my belly.
Imbalance in digestive fire leads to disease – you get AMA toxic by products (toxins) which clog the energetic and physical channels and tissues. It also slows down the mind and makes it lethargic.
- headache, dry skin, constipation, insomnia, weight loss, indecisive, premature aging, nervous anxiety, muscle spasms, hyper sensitivity, nervous system diseases (Parkinson)
Pitta imbalance (fire + water):
- overreaction, anger, heat sensitivity, heartburn, migraine, acne, skin rashes, fever, digestive issues, psoriasis, stomach ulcers, inflammation
Kapha imbalance (Earth + water):
- put on weight, lethargy, congestion, water retention, slow digestion, allergies, sinus problems, depression, food sensitivity, asthma
Different seasons have different effects on our body (so we should eat different food in each season.)
– 60% sattva (positive energy is predominant, fresh, wise, joy, calm, happy, good clarity of mind, pure light around people)
– 30% rajas (activity, ambitious, egoistic, aggressive, proud, creative, effective solutions, competitive, tendency to control others, work hard, perfectionist, suffer from a fear of failure, angry, jealous, hyper-active in the level of mind)
– 10% tamas (inertia, heavy, materialistic, irritable, attached, greedy, uncaring toward others, depression, lazy, excessive sleep, eating, sleep, drinking and sex)
We need all the three energies to have a good existence. You need sattva to get solutions, to implement them we need rajas and then tamas to bring the activities to an end when the problem has been solved.
How to balance the three energies? From:
- food
- exercise
Dr. Aparna advised us that during the retreat we were having mostly sattvic food, some rajastic food and less tamas food.
- = celebrate my life every day
Ayurveda says that everything in life has rhythm.
- food habits, wrong body posture, disturbed biological clock (behind the 6th chakra – pineal gland) and physical inactivity cause imbalance and illness
Vata: 2am – 6am (spiritual exercise, meditation, going to toilet at night, more hormones, also heart attack and stroke when someone even dies when sleeping; 4am many babies are born as the motion principle is active because of vata)
Kapha: 6am – 10am (lethargic, sleepy, lazy) do exercise to balance the kapha, to burn calories, to lose weight; 8am best time for love)
Pitta: 10am – 2pm (digestion, lunch, the heaviest meal of the day, follow plans and tasks, strategies, marketing, meetings)
Vata: 2pm – 6pm (active mind, creative ideas, advertising, write something; e.g. 2pm good for dentists or surgery as body feels less pain)
Kapha: 6pm – 10pm (highest blood pressure is at 6pm, highest body temperature is at 7pm, = family and friends time, more loving and caring)
Pitta: 10pm – 2am (process food and thoughts, sleep is important, liver slows down at this time so no work; the Moon is active so I assimilate my thoughts and food)
- spring 6am – 10am muscles get stronger
- summer 10am – 2pm digestion is stronger
- winter 2pm – 6pm nervous system activates
- spring 6pm – 10pm metabolism lowers for sleep
- summer 10pm – 2am liver is activated for cleansing so we need to leep
- winter 2am – 6am stress hormone cortisol increases so we need to meditate to calm it down
According to Ayurveda, raw vegan is good for kapha people, but not for vata people as they cannot digest it properly.
Free time
After the Ayurvedic lesson, we had some free time to relax.
I felt very calm and peaceful and most of all grounded, not being able to think much, not wanting to move much but just enjoy the present moment. So I walked around looking at the plants and flowers, and chasing a butterfly. Also took some photos and did a daily 20-minute meditation.
I decided to listen to my energy levels and take it easy if that’s what body was asking for. Then I had a young coconut (so using my last days in the tropics before going back to Europe.)
Restorative yoga
After lunch when I just said I don’t like to have a boss and Dr. Aparna laughed “oh, you are very pitta”, we had a restorative yoga class.So perfect for me! To be honest, it’s my favorite kind of yoga. What is better than listening to the sounds of nature and animals with the Sun setting down behind the forest? We used chairs a lot to relax the legs and feet and to do twists.
We finished the class with a Savasana – focus first on your right side of the body from toes to shoulder, then left, then bottom back, then front, then head. Wayan sang to us a slow song and hit the gong. Then we did seated meditation Japa repeating SO HAM mantra which means “I am here. I am.”
The more yoga you do, the better you understand yourself. The same goes with Ayurveda.
Check more photos from our Ayurveda and Yoga retreat in the album.
I am eternally grateful for being able to participate at one of the One World Retreats at Kumara resort, the first one about Ayurveda. Everyone there was super nice and I had an incredible time. You can also check their new resort outside of Ubud and new website Oneworldayurveda.
