Kamala overlooking fishing boats from Big Buddha temple near Bophut fisherman village
Day 3: We were tired today getting up and only after our yoga lesson did we start flexing and waking up our bodies. I can feel my stomach shrink after 2 days of fruit and 3 days of fasting. The colonic process is difficult and painful at times; it is very humbling to take myself through a process that sheds parts of me with no immediate reward or gratification. Though to impose on oneself the discipline and let go of our emotional attachment for food and relinquish the use of stimulants such as coffee, tea, alcohol and meat is in itself a reward. I’m feeling that our resolve to define our own direction and take action accordingly is a significant gift in itself.
Today was the new moon, the Chinese New year; a few firecrackers and fireworks blew into the dark sky and the silence of the early night around Na Thon. Tim, a co-faster, gave us our Chinese astrology. This is the year of the Rat, and for Snakes and Dogs like Kamala and me, a year to take care of one’s health. Very well aligned with the goals of our journey that include extensive yoga instruction and practice and a rejuvenation retreat in an Ayurvedic center!
Richard drinking liver cleanse – fishermen on the bay of peace at 6:00 am
Day 4: I had a tough day with the liver cleanse of Epsom salt and herbal concoction that bloated me all evening and made the evening and next morning colonics very painful and energy depleting. I felt I was actually making myself sick, though after a half hour of recovery I ended up feeling much lighter and clearer.
My memories of similar intestinal disorders and pains go back to my period in Africa in 1976 and the years that followed. I did not believe in seeing doctors at the time and thought I should just bite the bullet and deal with my physical issues and pains by being “strong”. I’m now wondering about the emotional component of chronic pains that send us back to old pain memories. In what way would the emotional content in fact be part of the trigger that brings conditions to become chronic? In my case the painful dysentery in Africa at age 17, coupled with years of lower back pain I endured my building contractor career in France around age 25, seem present today in very similar ways as they felt at the time. Perhaps clearing the emotional memories of endured pains would relieve the condition itself...
I have re-discovered a very direct linkage between my intestines and my lower back/sacrum pains, particularly this week during intestinal massages. I feel extreme pain in my back exactly where my inter-vertebral disks are crushed, when certain painful spots of my intestines are being massaged. The masseuse told me it was blocked build-up in my intestines that was creating pain.It seems that this fast is taking a physical self-discovery turn I did not expect. The inner focus is bringing heightened awareness and revelations in ways I had not encountered so far.
Richard journaling on bungalow porch – Sunset from Big Buddha temple
Day 5: We had a fantastic workshop this morning with Winnie Rode, a Buddhist monk, philosophy and meditation teacher www.singingbowlasia.com on Singing Tibetan bowl therapy. He gave a rational introduction, mingling quantum physics and traditional secular knowledge on how life all originates from and boils down to vibration, illustrating how and why specific vibrations can directly affect our physical state. He then gave us a stunning demonstration by practicing the resonating bowls on the little group of six participants. With focus and an open mind, I experienced each vibration deep inside and felt wholly peaceful and aligned at the end of our session. It was a spiritual experience, instantaneously expanding my consciousness.
Winnie Rode and hi singing Tibetan bowls – Bungee (short for bungalow) sleeping on our seats
Developing our sensitivity to more subtle realms of life is facilitated by the fasting process, making us more open and receptive. This is such a rare opportunity in our busy, fast-paced, professionally dominated lives, where external factors define most of our schedule and activities, and end up defining our image of ourselves as well as our thinking patterns. Humans are a highly adaptive species and adaptation comes with a cost. I have found that for many people, the cost is that of dissociating one’s self from deep aspirations and desires, fragmenting our experience of life and favoring some while neglecting others. We then seek compensations and/or develop pathologies, as our minds and bodies try to balance, to even-out our sanity and health with our self-imposed life-styles. I have been working on the search for balance for the past 20 years, with more or less success at different times. To maintain this as a wellness focus seems the only way to attempt achieving it. And sometimes it takes but little time in itself to focus inwards; a few minutes can often be enough. It’s like breathing consciously, we just forget to do it…
Day 7: This evening we had a closing session as most of the group was leaving at the end of the one week fast. We each took words from a bowl and shared the meaning we could find in them. I drew Triumph, Protection, Understanding, Surrender, Serenity, Presence and Healing; these resonated strongly with the intent of my journey: I will Triumph. Protection comes with the Understanding of Surrender. Developing a Serene Presence is the path of Healing. It’s all in my hands. I felt perfection, blessed and grateful in the closing of this first week.
My words of guidance – Hillary, Kamala reading her words and David who lives in Shanghai
Day 8: I have found my body to be tighter and stiffer every day when getting up in the morning. The fasting and weight-loss process have a contracting and drying effect –despite good hydration. The toxins from years of average attention to my well-being are emerging. Though when I practice Yoga and get twice weekly Thai massages I feel my body becoming more and more flexible every day, taking postures and stretching in ways I never would have expected to complete a week ago. Stretching and muscular exertion are important during a physical detox program, to ensure toxins are being eliminated through different media. Yoga has been a revelation during this retreat and I can only try to imagine what several months of practice will do to me when we start practicing intensively.
Richard and his words –
Raja teaching us all there is to know about coconuts
Raja gave us a class today dedicated to coconuts. From a chemical composition standpoint it is the closest thing in the vegetal world to human breast milk, high in mineral content and oil, with more than 50% oil content. Coconut oil is highly digestible –a short chain molecule, fluid and unstable-, directly digestible by the stomach, requiring no liver work to be processed. During WW II it was used as a substitute for intra-venous serum for wounded soldiers in the South Pacific. One coconut tree can yield up to150 nuts per year!
Day 9: I feel blessed to be doing our fast during an new moon period and that we will be coming out of it in its ascending phase just before the full moon. A fast is an utterly inward-directed process, and little by little I feel myself focusing more and more on the holistic experience itself, taking care of my body and of my spirit. As we have entered the second week, my energy is stable, though I detect a calmer mind and a stronger spiritual experience of my daily life. Our sleep/wake rhythm has changed in the past 10 days, waking up very early (between 5:00 and 6:00) and getting to bed by 10:00. Big difference for two night owls! One factor for me has been the lack of stimulants, tea or coffee during the day, alcohol in the evening, which easily push-out bedtime… This second week we are also free of the instruction courses; our time is our own, restrained only by the rhythm of twice daily colonics and evening broth.
Kamala taking notes at Raja’s class – Pon finishing Kamala's Thai massage
Day 11: Today for the first time in the past 11 days we have left the 300 x 50 yard stretch of beach we have kept to. I can not remember such an extended period of time when I have not moved around at all. Staying low-key has been a key success factor in surrendering to the fasting process, avoiding “doing things”. Feeling a very clear, light energy, we headed out on a motorbike to Na Thon a couple of miles away, to shop for some Indonesian batik sarongs in a small local shop kept by a charming old lady, hidden at the end of a side street. We spent more than an hour discovering the batik prints and cloth qualities before heading for a watermelon juice (yes, we played hooky) at June’s Arts Caf้. The break was well needed given my painful sacrum. We ended the day walking through the food stalls near the pier, inhaling the fried garlic and Thai basil vapors while detailing the varieties of fresh garden and sea produce offered in steamed, fried, deep fried or curried preparations. All of this with the excitement of soon being able to actually taste some of it! Though it may sound dreadful, our detachment from food and our genuine pleasure to not be eating were well enough established at this point to make our experience thoroughly enjoyable.
Our first excursion: June’s Art and Crafts caf้ in Na Thon – Richard reading at Kamalaya resort
Day 12: We walked half an hour to town yesterday to get another motorbike, passing a few house hamlets with families gathered chatting outside, coconut farmers, a sawmill specialized in coconut wood products, a couple of blacksmiths and numerous food vendors. We ended up in town spending more time at our favorite batik shop and came back for our evening broth and colonics.
Day 13: We have not yet visited the island other than the north coast and have few days left to do so. We took a ride on the motorbike down small side roads along the coast, devouring with our eyes all the details of rural Thai life on the island. The luxuriant vegetation, the different varieties of coconut tree plantations, the tropical birds, locusts and other insects resonating wherever we went, the vistas of the sea in its various locations and exposures to the Pacific’s powerful thrust. The highlight of our trip was Kamalaya (the realm of Kamala! or realm of the Lotus), a high-end health spa on the South coast of the island www.kamalaya.com . We visited the grounds and stumbled upon a small cave that had been used for centuries as a shrine by Buddhist monks. It was still well tended; set up for meditation, and the peacefulness and spiritual power within it were easy to merge with. We stayed there for 45 mn before heading through the landscaped terraces that were staggered down the hill towards the beach. We allowed ourselves to taste a fresh watermelon juice in the hut restaurant overlooking the pool, gardens and beach, and gather the energy for the motorbike return trip across the island.
Kamala feeling at home in the monk's cave at the realm of Kamala (Kamalaya)
Day 14: Today we over-did it, on my request to visit Chaweng, the main town on the other side of the island. Moving about has been somewhat energy demanding and today Kamala was feeling like staying put. After half an hour of riding around the island, we discovered a commercial stretch of beach covered by resorts and a main street with cars and motorbikes and hundreds of tourist shops with everything form cell phones to souvenirs. After chilling on the beach for an hour we went for a juice at Absolute Yoga, a health center at Bophut fisherman village. This was a very revealing experience of what exactly we do not want this journey to be. Pushing time and being in places that don’t resonate with us.
Day 15: Today we ended our fast with some tender coconut meat and papaya! We feel deeply satisfied at many levels, physically and morally and proud to have had such a disciplined and positive approach despite the challenges. We are really glad to have made this fast the first experience of our journey, to have cleansed and strengthened ourselves, and boosted our immune systems for the months to come. I took a 2 hour hike up to a nearby waterfall and back, my first contact with the Thai jungle realm. A festival for my senses: birds singing, locusts buzzing like electric circular saws, dense chlorophyll-rich vegetation and humid afternoon heat. I had to harness every bit of energy to make the hike.
We are also very happy to know that we will soon be eating Thai cuisine!
The paradox of the fasting experience at Hillary’s is that you spend your time learning and talking about… food!
Epilogue We had fruit for the first 3 days then slowly started eating salad and raw vegetables, then cooked foods. By the time we got back to Bangkok, we were having the delicious Thai street food, while paying close attention to ingredients and produce freshness. Eating in the street allows exactly that. You can choose the vendor who’s stall and produce inspire you, and you can order specifically what you want.. While specifying”Mai Sai Pong Choo Rot”, no MSG please!
As you may understand by now, I would recommend a supervised fast to anyone who wishes to invest in their health and in wellness education. And with Hillary who is such an inspiring person to be around and to learn from...
Hillary – (Alex lying down in background)
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