Beautiful Insights from a Meditation Retreat

I’ve never been on a meditation retreat but I’ve heard amazing things. A week in silence. No TV. No cell phone. No computer. No speaking. Just you, your fellow meditators, and your own mind. Ironically, the people who think this sounds like a torturous experience are probably the ones who would benefit the most from learning meditation.

Our Aussie friend Kate at One Small Life Blog recently went on a 4 day meditation retreat and shared her experience on her yoga blog. Recapping her experience, she pointed to seven beautiful insights. I connected most with her insights on Oneness:

When you enter into a silent retreat with a room full of strangers something remarkable happens.There is a sharing of energy that transcends talk and personalities and the stories that we tell each other about ourselves. And beyond these nice-enough superficialities we can connect with each other and ourselves on a deep, human level. There is a true sense of oneness with everyone in the room.  And everyone beyond the room.

I identify with this point as I still feel connected to my fellow practitioners from the yoga retreat that Brian and I participated in. In fact, I vividly remember a conversation with Hedda from Norway where she told me about Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village. A meditation retreat in the South of France? At a place called Plum Village? I told myself I would definitely go someday and reading One Small Life’s post about her positive experience just brought me one step closer to going. Ahh, yes. That is connection and oneness at work.

Curious to the typical schedule for a meditation retreat? Here’s a look at a day’s schedule at Maitripa Contemplation Centre:

6.00am Wake-up Bell
6.30am Meditation- Silent Sitting
7.30am Yoga Asana (or your own practice)
9.00am Vegetarian Breakfast/ Free Time
11.00am Meditation – Sitting & Walking
1.00pm Vegetarian Lunch/ Free Time and Optional Teacher Interviews
3.30pm Meditation – Sitting & Walking
6.00pm Vegetarian Dinner/ Free Time
7.30pm Meditation with Talk, Discussion & Chanting
9:00pm End & Repeat

As we explain in the What is Lucid Practice? portion of our site, we had a transformative experience during our first yoga retreat. Knowing how powerful retreat can be, we encourage our readers to participate in yoga/meditation retreat. We’re living proof that a retreat can change your life 🙂

The platform in Thailand. We practiced here every morning and afternoon.

Have you ever been on a yoga or meditation retreat? Where? How was your experience?

Autumn Spice Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Vegan Optional

Danielle and I made this Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup on Saturday night with fresh ingredients from our garden. It was delicious and full of vibrancy! Try it out this weekend for the perfect Autumn soup.   🙂

Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Recipe (Vegan Optional) Ingredients:

5 Small/Medium Sweet Potatoes

1 Yellow Onion

2 Stalks of Broccoli

Fresh Garlic

1 Liter of Vegetable Stock

Curry Powder

Lemon

Rosemary

Parsley

Cinnamon

Tumeric

Cumin

Raw Sunflower Kernels

Cooking Our Autumn Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup

Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Recipe (Vegan Optional) Instructions:

First, steam 5 small/med sweet potatoes so they are soft to mash.

Add 1 yellow Onion (chopped) and 2 cloves garlic (minced) to heat in a large pot w/ 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  Add cinnamon and turmeric to this.  (about 5 min or until translucent)

Add vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer!) with the mashed sweet potatoes.  Let cook on medium (for 3~5 min) before adding the sliced Broccoli.  Then add black pepper, sea salt, curry powder, lemon juice, a little fresh rosemary, cumin, a little more cinnamon & turmeric.

Let cook on low for 20 min or so (as long as you can restrain yourself hehe). The longer the better because the spices/flavors will be more intense the longer it cooks.

Meanwhile, roast Sunflower kernels.  (don’t burn them! even though the crisp ones are still yummy to eat)

Before serving your Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup, garnish with fresh parsley and the roasted sunflower seeds!

Our Garnished Autumn Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup in Handmade Pottery

Voila!!  🙂

**most important ingredient: cook with *LOVE!*  🙂

Enjoy your Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup and let us know how it comes out 🙂

5 Lessons from a Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh

Coder and yoga practitioner, Claire Byrne writes about how yogis and coders have a lot in common, mainly in the pursuit of understanding how the world works. Here’s an excerpt from an article where Claire talks about how yoga eased the physical ailments (inactive spine, tight joints and muscles) and mental ailments (stress, distorted breathing patterns) caused by life in front of a computer screen.

Last year, I spent a month in a yoga ashram in the North of India. The bell went off every morning at 5 a.m. Half an hour of meditation in the bitter cold was followed by two hours of yoga and then breakfast, which was consumed in silence looking out at the mountains. Yoga students spent six days a week in classes on philosophy, anatomy, and teaching methodology, did homework in the evenings and were asleep by 9:30 p.m. No alcohol, no meat, no caffeine, no screen time, no chairs. I’ve rarely been happier.

Read more about Claire’s adventures in Rishikesh, India and on how coders and travelers can benefit from yoga.

In case you’re curious about the Rishikesh ashram Claire studied at, here’s the link: Anand Praka’s Yoga Ashram.

Photo credit: Gaiam

Yoga and Coding

A Hipcamp type of service would have been useful last week when we were searching for a camping destination in the NYC metropolitan area. It took us a couple days but after 15 phone calls, Danielle and I found a great campsite in Croton Point Park, New York.

Danielle and Paz Camping in Croton Harmon, NY

As you see above, we found a beautiful spot with friendly people but it took entirely too long to locate viable camping options online. Hipcamp aims to solve that problem in a fun, easily accessible way. I came across an interesting interview in which Hipcamp Founder Alyssa Ravasio explained her rationale on learning computer programming and explained how she relates yoga and coding:

I decided to do Dev Bootcamp because I didn’t want to be the founder who couldn’t code. I’d seen how hard it can be when the leader of the company doesn’t understand the technology, so I decided to bite the bullet and learn.

What I didn’t expect was how much I would love coding. For me, coding is a practice, like yoga or surfing. It is a skill I can eternally improve, an art form so infinitely complex that it cannot be mastered. I find deep peace in these practices because there is no pressure of an endpoint, just a lifetime of working towards mastery. The path is the goal.

Ah, yes. Deep peace in practice. Whether it be yoga, building Lucid Practice, or everyday interactions with family, friends and acquaintances, I empathize with Alyssa on working towards a lifetime of mastery with no endpoint in site.

Founder of Hipcamp Alyssa Ravasio camping:

As Alyssa so eloquently points out, the path is the goal. Whatever you are working on, realize that the path is the goal and your practice is the manner in which you conduct yourself while on that path. So whatever your practice is…. yoga, traveling the world, building a blog, working a desk job, or just working at being a better sister or friend…. choose to move fluidly with patience and grace. And stay lucid 😉

What does your daily practice consist of?

Note: Dev Bootcamp is a 9 week intensive coding program where beginners can learn the basics of programing and coding. We are in no way affiliated with Dev Bootcamp or Hipcamp other than the fact that we think they’re both awesome 🙂

“The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.“ ~Sogyal Rinpoche

Practice Ashtanga on Moon Days?

Why don’t we practice Ashtanga on Moon Days (Full Moon and New Moon)? You will find that traditional Ashtanga shalas and studios are closed on Moon Days because Moon Days present us with an opportunity to take a break from our asana practice and reflect on the natural, subtle changes we experience on these days.

The human body is approximately 2/3 water. There are gravitational forces exerted on us by the Earth, Sun and Moon. These forces create shifts in our energy. The shifts in energy are most prevalent and powerful during the full moon and new moon. On these days, it is important to take a break from your asana practice to develop an awareness of these natural shifts in energy.

Our friend Quinn the Ashtangi posing at Sunrise, Photograph by Danielle Lussier of Lucid Practice

A Different type of Yoga Practice on Moon Days

Just because you are not practicing Ashtanga on Moon Days (or any type of asana) does not mean that you aren’t practicing “yoga.” In fact, it is very important to be in tuned to the mental aspects of the practice during this time. Meditate on how the full moon or new moon is affecting you, your friends, family, nature (i.e., if you live near the ocean, examine the tidal effects,) and society at large (i.e., on full moon nights, trips to the emergency room and police arrests dramatically increase.)

The lucid practitioner strives to harness their mind’s energy. Once this sense of still — yet keenly aware intuition is developed, you can observe how mother nature (in this case, the moon) has both subtle and obvious effects on all living things.

In my experience, I have felt that the full moon builds a strong and sometimes uncertain energy. On the contrary, the new moon creates a grounded but heavy energy and a sense of a new beginning and a clean slate.

Do you feel and see the subtle effects of the full moon and new moon?

What is Flashpacking? 6 Differences Between Flashpackers and Backpackers

What is Flashpacking?

Like backpackers, flashpackers travel the world, often carrying backpacks and usually staying hostels — but there are some key differences.
What defines a flashpacker? What’s the difference between backpacking and flashpacking?

1. Flashpackers are usually entrepreneurial.

Flashpackers seek out business opportunities while traveling whereas the backpacker is more focused on the art of travel itself.

Blake Mycoskie, founder of Tom’s Shoes, is the poster child for this concept. After failing in a few attempts to start businesses, Blake was inspired while traveling Argentina in 2006 when he witnessed hardships of children growing up without shoes. He created a sustainable business that has donated hundreds of thousands of pairs of shoes to less fortunate children across the world.

2. Flashpackers usually have a higher budget than backpackers.

Flashpackers usually have passive income coming in while they’re traveling (blog income, drop shipping ecommerce site, owning their own business, etc.)

Backpackers on the other hand, are often “gap year” travelers, traveling in between university and their future career. There are veteran backpackers (different than flashpackers) who might spend 6 months traveling and 6 months working a regular job in their home country to fund their travels.

Backpackers often exhaust their savings accounts each trip whereas flashpackers often end a trip with more in their bank account than they had at the beginning of the trip.

3. Flashpackers are usually more experienced travelers.

Many flashpackers are former backpackers who have figured out a way to make travel a sustainable way of life.

4. Flashpackers tend to be older than backpackers.

Not always the case but generally speaking, the backpackers we’ve met and connected with on social media tend to be taking a “gap year” between university and their career. Flashpackers are the grizzly veterans who have no immediate intention of finding a traditional career (their career is often based upon their travels).

Not this old, but older than the average backpacker. Think mid 30s-40s (flashpackers) v. early to mid 20s (backpackers)

5. Flashpackers consider value over price.

Although they generally stay in hostels or budget hotels, flashpackers might stay in a 5 star hotel one night because it seems like a high value experience (the amount they paid was worth the positive experience of feeling refreshed, well fed, and clean.) The backpacker on the other hand will almost always try to minimize costs in order to extend their trip.

6. Backpackers Disconnect More than Flashpackers

When checking into a hostel, the flashpacker’s first question is: “What’s your WiFi password?” whereas the backpacker is probably asking the attendant, “How can we find a way into Tibet?” Backpackers seek the travel experience whereas flashpackers almost always carry a laptop and stay connected with their blog base and/or social network. WiFi in hostels is the norm today whereas ten years ago that wasn’t the case — the flashpacking lifestyle is one of the causes for this change.

Flashpackers are often equipped with more technological gadgets whole traveling.

A Backpacker examining a map, there’s no WiFi in the desert!

Advantages and Disadvantages

Both flashpacking and backpacking have their advantages and disadvantages. The backpacker’s trip will come to an end at some point unless she has unlimited financial resources whereas the flashpacker’s trips can last forever. The flashpacker’s travels fuel their careers because they’re constantly generating new ideas or because they’re writing about their travels in order to generate income and sustain their lifestyle.

In our eyes, the downside of flashpacking is that the flashpacker might not allow herself to enjoy the subtle beauties of travel and she might struggle to be present while traveling because her mind is constantly focused on earning $ and conjuring up business ideas.

Our Experience

On our most recent trip, Brian and I were backpackers. We had just finished university and we saw the time period as a travel opportunity that we may never again have. We had a defined budget and decided we were going to travel Asia until we drained that budget. We stayed in inexpensive hostels (for the most part) and utilised mass transportation exclusively.

Brian living the flashpacker life? On top floor pool balcony of one of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s nicest hotels overlooking the infamous Petronas Towers

Most days, we traveled with backpacks and often went days or weeks without connecting with the outside world via the Internet.

Me settling into our $12 USD/night hostel in Kuala Lumpur

We had the time of our lives but must admit, for the future, the flashpacking model sounds appealing.

When you travel, are you a backpacker or a flashpacker?

What do you see as the key differences?