![]() ![]() Except for a very little sugar in our ginger and cardamom scented Chai (the cardamom counterbalancing the small amount of caffeine in tea). So the ‘daily devils’ of coffee, alcohol and sugar were all off the menu, along with any intolerances we might have brought with us to India. Vegetable and pulse-based gently spiced with warming Ayurvedic herbs and spices to calm and nourish our systems. Lovingly prepared, our daily meals were delicious and nutritious. I know it sounds like the mumblings of a horoscope but delving into this philosophy, in this place, was a journey of discovery. Usually medium in height, weight and endurance we can be irritable, the fire element can make us impatient. It came as no surprise that I am almost totally Pitta the fire and water element. You can be any one of these three with a little or none of the other thrown in. The five great elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space are condensed into the Three Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha all of which should be in harmony for health and wellbeing … so if one is out of whack then you have a problem. Your constitution also realised through pulse, tongue and blood pressure. Your whole being is assessed from your body shape, personal traits, taste addictions 'sweet/sour/salty’, through to the size of yours eyes. Dating back over 5,000 years from the time of the Vedas, it might be thought of as an art. The Ayurvedic approach to diet is not only food related though, it is more of a philosophy of life. I’m a chef and food is at the very heart of what we do at Thyme, so what I was to eat for the month was obviously on my mind. After a week of total immersion in the ‘self’, a walk in nature brought the senses alive. The swim in the pool at the base of the waterfall was unimaginably special. ![]() We only left the space for a Sunday walk to one of the mountain waterfalls amongst a jungle full of butterflies, monkeys and to my delight wild curry leaves. The Ashram at Rishikesh is a small, clean and comfortable space, it didn't offer any luxuries but that's the intention. But it will ultimately help your wellbeing and mental state to cope with everything that life has to throw at us. some days it's your friend, other days it is not. Forget the therapist, MEDITATION is where we all need to be. My spine was on fire for the first week and only then could I start to ‘still’ my mind. It's hard work to sit in absolute stillness. Meditation is not just daydreaming of blue skies and butterflies. The whole idea of getting to know ourselves ‘warts and all’ could only be achieved this way. Not always possible in the real world but this was the ideal world! Ram, our guru and mentor, threw his all into his teachings and expected the same commitment in return. These were house rules, if we seriously wanted to embrace this opportunity.Ī strict but happy program. Free from the distractions of our usual daily life no INSTA anything!! Facebook, emails, texts, phone calls and the World Wide Web all off limits for a whole month. We studied hard, practiced yoga and meditated every day. I might have opted for a glorious beachside location, palm trees and ocean views, but I knew I had real work to do. This seemed like the obvious place to me. A pilgrimage for those seeking spiritual enlightenment also made famous from the Beatles time here in the 60's. ![]() Set in India's northern state of Uttarakhand, Rishikesh sits at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains alongside the River Ganges. I packed-up English life and decamped to Rishikesh where ' The Himalayan Yog Ashram' became my new home for a month. So no time like the present, I proposed a sabbatical from my role as Culinary Director at Thyme and with the kind blessings of our leader, Mrs H. When do you start on that bucket list? At the top of mine was yoga in India, to immerse myself in a kind of spiritual calling that has been knocking at the door for some time. ![]()
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