Three months have passed since leaving Nepal/Asia, and completing (technically) the traveling portion of the Adventure Learning Grant. In a few days, a year will have passed since leaving the USA.
I am now living in the Picos de Europa, a mountainous, ecologically diverse and abundant area in the region of Asturias, northwestern Spain. Here exists a land/home and Beautiful Being, Simon, all of which have called me to return for the past three years. Curiously enough, though I am in an area that most would consider to be functioning under standard first-world European conditions (water, light, electricity, etc.) the "conveniences" here could be weighted similarly to those I was living with during my time in India/Nepal, and occasionally less. Living off the grid, we have had to, for example, seek alternative and often limited sources of water; and utilize electrical appliances that require greater amounts of energy (like a hand blender or semi-automatic washing machine) only during times that the solar panels have received enough power from the sun. Instead of eating in restaurants, as a guest, or preparing meals with produce conveniently purchased from the market, meals here are generally a product of harvesting what we or others have planted in months passed. Sleeping on mates in the cabin, on the earth or in a tipi...these are qualities of life my initial Indian family would be appalled at living in, but perhaps where my friends from the village Sipadole would feel at home.
Ultimately, here we seem to be LIVING Ayurveda in a more authentic way than I experienced at any other point while traveling in Nepal and India. The food and herbs we grow/use are as fresh, organic, and often times wild as can be; the water is sourced from a well, its taste evidencing the strong presence of "prana"; we practice meditation and partake in asana or other movements to maintain the body's flow of beneficial energy on a daily basis; and with the abundance of wild or cultivated medicinal plants in the area, I have begun experimenting with the preparation of certain medicines according to Ayurvedic principals. None of this is pushed or forced. It simply feels like the most natural and harmonious way to be living.
Recently I've been experimenting with the preparation of a local version of Ayurveda's renowned formual, "Chyawanprash". Also known as "recipe of longevity" and "elixir of life," chyawanprash has remained India's most popular preventitive health care remedy up to date. There are various legends to explain the origin of chyawanprsh, perhaps the most popular being of the sage chyawan who ordered the medicine to bring back his vitality.
As the story goes, there was an old sage named Chaywan who had been meditating in the forest for years, nearly disguised by all the trees and bushes that had grown around him. A beautiful young princess called Sukanya who was dancing in the forest inadvertantly came upon the sage. One version of the story is that the princess fell in love with the sage, his inward beauty exuding for her to perceive, and subsequently concocted a formula for him to regain his youth so as to continue enjoying life with her. In the other version, while the princess is dancing, she accidentally brushes against his flowing hair. The king has to request that the sage marry his daughter as it was the tradition in the kingdom that a woman could only touch one man during her life time. Thus, the sage Chyawan agreed, but wished to be young again to afford his wife conjugal bliss. So he approached the famous physician, Ashwini Kumar, who succeeded in preparing a tonic that restored the sage's vigor, vitality and ultimately a happy marital life.
My experience with my own version of the preparation was quite inspiring, as it is something I have been wanting to do since testing so many versions of chaywanprash while traveling, but also challenging. The rose hips I meticulously processed (in place of amala) went rancid and half the herbs I dried were blown away one extraordinarily windy day. Certainly the taste of the Chyawanprash I prepared is very different from any I bought in India/Nepal. But definite elements remain the same, and it is possibly even more "Ayurvedic" than one I could import from India, as it follows more principles of ayurveda- the plants used are from the area I am living, picked in their height of ripeness, prepared with good heart and intention. The two main substrates of chywanprash are ghee and honey. The ghee I prepared comes from Asturias butter and the honey we processed with honey from our own hives, with the help of some elderly friends in the village. And I've invented my own folk lore~
There was once a wandering minstrel, Juniper Figlet Blossom. Though wander she did much, the Earth Goddess Ash of the garden informed her that during a certain one of the planet's rotations in the near future, a sudden tremor would shake the earth and all of its inhabitants' bodies and minds, bringing an end to her and other earthlings' wandering ways- they would no longer be able to depend on bus, train or plain...on utilizing India's magnificent chyawanprash!
It was now her duty to create a formula that could benefit individuals like chyawanprash had for so many centuries. And so it was; help from the other elements of wind, ether, and fire came to her and the Earth Goddesses aid, together creating a formula that could continue to nourish and vitalize, day after day, from the Bellingham Bay, to the mountains of Spain...
I am now living in the Picos de Europa, a mountainous, ecologically diverse and abundant area in the region of Asturias, northwestern Spain. Here exists a land/home and Beautiful Being, Simon, all of which have called me to return for the past three years. Curiously enough, though I am in an area that most would consider to be functioning under standard first-world European conditions (water, light, electricity, etc.) the "conveniences" here could be weighted similarly to those I was living with during my time in India/Nepal, and occasionally less. Living off the grid, we have had to, for example, seek alternative and often limited sources of water; and utilize electrical appliances that require greater amounts of energy (like a hand blender or semi-automatic washing machine) only during times that the solar panels have received enough power from the sun. Instead of eating in restaurants, as a guest, or preparing meals with produce conveniently purchased from the market, meals here are generally a product of harvesting what we or others have planted in months passed. Sleeping on mates in the cabin, on the earth or in a tipi...these are qualities of life my initial Indian family would be appalled at living in, but perhaps where my friends from the village Sipadole would feel at home.
Ultimately, here we seem to be LIVING Ayurveda in a more authentic way than I experienced at any other point while traveling in Nepal and India. The food and herbs we grow/use are as fresh, organic, and often times wild as can be; the water is sourced from a well, its taste evidencing the strong presence of "prana"; we practice meditation and partake in asana or other movements to maintain the body's flow of beneficial energy on a daily basis; and with the abundance of wild or cultivated medicinal plants in the area, I have begun experimenting with the preparation of certain medicines according to Ayurvedic principals. None of this is pushed or forced. It simply feels like the most natural and harmonious way to be living.
Recently I've been experimenting with the preparation of a local version of Ayurveda's renowned formual, "Chyawanprash". Also known as "recipe of longevity" and "elixir of life," chyawanprash has remained India's most popular preventitive health care remedy up to date. There are various legends to explain the origin of chyawanprsh, perhaps the most popular being of the sage chyawan who ordered the medicine to bring back his vitality.
As the story goes, there was an old sage named Chaywan who had been meditating in the forest for years, nearly disguised by all the trees and bushes that had grown around him. A beautiful young princess called Sukanya who was dancing in the forest inadvertantly came upon the sage. One version of the story is that the princess fell in love with the sage, his inward beauty exuding for her to perceive, and subsequently concocted a formula for him to regain his youth so as to continue enjoying life with her. In the other version, while the princess is dancing, she accidentally brushes against his flowing hair. The king has to request that the sage marry his daughter as it was the tradition in the kingdom that a woman could only touch one man during her life time. Thus, the sage Chyawan agreed, but wished to be young again to afford his wife conjugal bliss. So he approached the famous physician, Ashwini Kumar, who succeeded in preparing a tonic that restored the sage's vigor, vitality and ultimately a happy marital life.
My experience with my own version of the preparation was quite inspiring, as it is something I have been wanting to do since testing so many versions of chaywanprash while traveling, but also challenging. The rose hips I meticulously processed (in place of amala) went rancid and half the herbs I dried were blown away one extraordinarily windy day. Certainly the taste of the Chyawanprash I prepared is very different from any I bought in India/Nepal. But definite elements remain the same, and it is possibly even more "Ayurvedic" than one I could import from India, as it follows more principles of ayurveda- the plants used are from the area I am living, picked in their height of ripeness, prepared with good heart and intention. The two main substrates of chywanprash are ghee and honey. The ghee I prepared comes from Asturias butter and the honey we processed with honey from our own hives, with the help of some elderly friends in the village. And I've invented my own folk lore~
There was once a wandering minstrel, Juniper Figlet Blossom. Though wander she did much, the Earth Goddess Ash of the garden informed her that during a certain one of the planet's rotations in the near future, a sudden tremor would shake the earth and all of its inhabitants' bodies and minds, bringing an end to her and other earthlings' wandering ways- they would no longer be able to depend on bus, train or plain...on utilizing India's magnificent chyawanprash! It was now her duty to create a formula that could benefit individuals like chyawanprash had for so many centuries. And so it was; help from the other elements of wind, ether, and fire came to her and the Earth Goddesses aid, together creating a formula that could continue to nourish and vitalize, day after day, from the Bellingham Bay, to the mountains of Spain...
