25 Apr2016

Ayurveda and Yoga Bali at One World Retreats – day 4

After the first two days and then the awesome third day of our Ayurveda and Yoga Bali retreat, the forth day started early as well.

Yoga

I woke up at night to go to the bathroom and then my air con started to switch on and off beeping by itself since 4.20 am to 6 am when I had to wake up. Had a very light sleep also because the full moon was coming. So at yoga I felt more tired than usual. We focused on the fire element so the practice was stronger, faster and harder. Not the right timing for me …

We chanted RAM mantra for the solar plexus 3rd chakra where all the fire is concentrated. Then did 10 easy Sun salutations with cobra and downward facing dog, then many twists, pigeon and hamstring stretches. I did sweat like crazy for the first time doing yoga in here.

When doing Savasana, Wayan asked us to squeeze everything in our body and then to release it, and repeat a few times to release the muscle tension to be able to relax during the corpse pose.

Breakfast

Fruit, beetroot and cherry smoothie, ginger tea, black rice pudding and tofu with coriander and other herbs. Not bad at all, don’t you think?

Ayurveda lesson

Ayurvedic Dietetics

Today we honor the fire in nature and the digestive fire in our body which assimilates everything we take in. It is also situated in the eyes so we respect our sight. We appreciate the different colors in nature and our food.

Food acts as medicine if it is taken properly. In Ayrveda, food (Ahara) is as important as God. You should feel elevated after eating food, the same as after meditation/praying.

Only the human species become nutritionally deficient.

Ayurveda says you can eat anything you want but you need to know when to limit it and how to balance it to get the toxins out.

Moderation and balance are the key :)

Eating Awereness

pray before eating – we did also the previous day during the Ayurvedic lunch and before every lunch and dinner together. In ancient India kitchen was very sacred, no one would enter with shoes on, nor menstruating women could enter or cook as they have loads of emotions in the body so they don’t affect the food. In ashrams in India first they chant and then they cook. Ayurveda says the energy and mind of the cook get transmitted to the food.
eat in a settled atmosphere to promote the parasympathetic nervous system functioning
eat only when hungry
no eating when angry or worried (then you feel gassy)
eat at regular time (nature likes cycles)
choose organic local food; warm freshly cooked meals
the diet should be balanced by including all the 6 tastes – at least in 1 meal per day : sweet (fruit, also rice), sour, salty, pungent (spicy, strong taste), bitter, astringent (lentil, cucumber, mung beans)
increase digestive fire – grated ginger with a pinch of salt (ginger digest undigested stuck food); splash cold water on face, neck and hands to stimulate AGNI

VATA – should have 50% carbs to poo easily as they are easy absorbable (rice, quinoa), 20% protein, 20% veggies, 10% fruit
PITTA – 30% carbs, 30% protein, 30% veggies, 10% fruit
KAPHA – 30 carbs, 20% protein, 40% veggies, 10% fruit

More of sweet taste increases kapha in my body.

70% of our food should be sattvic, 20% rajasic and 10% tamasic food.

Sattvic food – high positive energy: fresh fruit and veggies, nuts, seeds, grains = natural food, high Prana food. We were eating 80% of sattvic food here at the retreat.

Rajasic food – hyperactive: spicy purgent that makes you crave for more: too much of pepper, cumin, chilli, ginger, garlic, onions, too many spices.

Tamasic food – low energy: processed, in cans, bottles, alcohol, meat, fish, fast food, pizza, too much cheese

You don’t feel dull after eating fruit or juices.

Food and mind relation?

Listen to your body, but not mind or tongue. This is the same as what we learned at the Raw vegan course.

When you feel depressed and want to have more spiritual positive energy, stick on to sattvic food.
The more spices you eat and alcohol you drink, the more angry you get, the more pitta goes up.
Fast food makes you depressed and dull.

Turmeric and coriander are spices, too, but they are sattvic.

More things are important in Ayurveda:

body type doshas
place you come from – in desert you eat loads of oil/ghee as it’s very dry and your body needs it (e.g. Rajastan in India)
body strength
age
digestive fire
imbalance

In India they say that those who eat once a day are yogi, those who twice are rogi (diseased), three times are bogi (someone who is going to die soon); more than 4 times are drogi/drohi (you are eating food of another person.) That’s why no snacking in between the meals is recommended in Ayurveda.

The concept of snacking started only 20 – 30 years ago, before it was 3 meals a day. Snacking confuses the nervous system and blocks the fat burning metabolism in the body.
minimize ice-cold drinks and food as the slow down the digestive process
eat the biggest meal at noon
eat with awareness to produce emotional satisfaction (enjoy taste, smell, sound, texture, appearance)
eat in a medium pace
chew the food well as the digestion starts in the mouth
research suggests that stomach cancer is related to NO chewing properly
eat 3/4 of your stomach capacity at your biggest meal = 2 cupped hands
1/3 should be of fluid consistency (soup, drink) and 2/3 solid
wait until the previous meal has been digested, then eat again
allow 3 – 6 hours between meals (unless it was fruit which takes less to digest)
if you drink with your meals, sip a glass of warm water
not too much drinking right before and not until 2 hours after meals
walk 100 steps after each food
if you have digestive problems, walk for more than 5 minutes
raw food not in every meal (after year of being mostly on raw food diet, personally I disagree)
you can lie on the left side for 10 minutes as most of digestive organs are on the left side so they are not disturbed (based on my research and how I feel after eating, I disagree with that)
you should not sleep after eating
diet depends on the body type, energy level, age and digestive capacity (pregnant, children, old people, diseases, etc.)

Seasonal dietary regimen – different metabolic processes happen in our bodies in different seasons, e.g.:

cortisol is elevated in autumn (vata)
sodium is higher in summer
immunity is lower in rainy season

Free time and lunch

I went to the swimming pool for almost an hour but felt really hot (today the fire element seemed really appropriate!) I was so tired after not enough sleep and my skin felt itchy from all the mosquito bites.

I spotted a big black and brown bird again from the pool which I saw also during the Ayurveda lesson.

Then I took a cold shower and went for lunch. I asked to get my fruit/dessert platter before lunch as it really slows down my digestion if I eat any fruit after the main meal.

Dr. Aparna commented on that fact that Ayurveda says you should have sweet taste as the first one, so also fruit and desserts but we were following just some Ayurvedic principles at the retreat so not doing this one the right way. Anyway, in my opinion letting fruit ferment in your body does not help at all, no matter what kind of healthy meals you eat as it rots inside of you.

For lunch we had button mushroom soup and roti bread with shitake mushroom pate, followed by brown rice, quinoa with veggies and green beans.

I felt way less heavy after the lunch with fruit as a starter. Refused to drink detox tea afterwards, too, as I drank it before at the swimming pool. It took me years to stop drinking with my meals so didn’t want to get into that habit again.

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Shirodhara massage

Later in the afternoon I could relax during the second of our two massages included in our retreat price. I was so looking forward to it.

First I laid down on my back and Ayu poured oil on my chest from the neck to the heart in between the boobs, and then massaged the cleavage, shoulders, neck and head. After a quick face massage focusing on acupressure points around the eyebrows, below eyes, jaws and ears, Ayu poured warm Ayurvedic oil on my sixth chakra in between the eyebrows. For some time I felt asleep, was so relaxing compared to the massage on the day before.

Shirodhara is probably the most famous Ayurvedic massage to restore the vital balance of the mind and the low pressure. Continuous oil motion enhances self-awareness and reduces insomnia. The treatment can be one of the steps to include in Panchakarma detox.

I had a Shirodhara once before in Varkala in India and this one was felt way shorter, the oil was not so warm and the eyes and ears were completely avoided. I felt more chilled out during this Shirodhara at the Kumara resort.

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Ayurveda and Yoga One World retreat Bali (83)

Ayurvedic consultation with Dr. Aparna

I was asked about my sleep, relationships, lifestyle, work, food choices and many other things…

I learned that I am 50% Vata body type with 40% Pitta which was imbalanced at that moment so it made me feel as if I was a Pitta type. My Kapha is just 10%.

Restorative yoga

It was exactly what I needed. We used wall to hang on during many positions, also the booster on the floor. I had a lot of energy and had fun practicing asanas very slowly.

It was my favorite yoga class so far but the mosquitoes were killing me in the end, even though I sprayed natural repellent all over me twice. For a second I actually thought about not having to deal with mosquitoes for the next few weeks back home in Slovakia. Together with some snow, it was the only thing I was looking forward to soon going back to the cold winter weather in Slovakia.

Dinner

We had lemonade (room temperature water with lemon juice and mint) with coconut sugar (I didn’t add it) instead of dessert to prepare the body for the purge. It is used to increase the pitta before the purge. I still had it before the meal as it’s a drink.

Then we enjoyed Bali broth with raw veggies and sauteed mushrooms, and a vegetable kebab with couscous and mango chutney.

After dinner, I did the online 20th day of Chopra and Oprah meditation and went to bed just before 10 pm. Exhausted.

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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.

Posted in achievement, Asia, Bali, food, habits, Indonesia, personal, photo, press trip, spa, travel, yoga Tags: Ayurveda, Bali, yoga

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Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler

Alex is a crazy Slovak girl who made traveling the reason of her life. In March 2011 she quit her stewardess job and hasn't stopped ever since. Her motto is ''I live to travel, I travel to live.'' She writes about crazy travel, fun adventures and sexy photos.