MARCH 31, 2017 | Southeast Asia - Sabai
What a mindful week we’ve had! We began with a warm welcome from Rompei and Peggy, our wonderful guides at Pun Pun Organic Farm. Rompei could teach you about virtually anything, from soap making to Thai massages to the uses of garlic and all the plants in Pun Pun’s garden to an intense organ massage that Luke was able to experience! Each night, we would take on a job: We’d gather eggs from the goofy hens- there would be up to 60 a day, whaaaat! Cooper and I gathered grass for and milked Pepper, a sassy, very well spoken cow while engaging in some eye-opening conversation about the journey of life with Wyatt, one of the long term community members there. We’d also water the massive garden and had to opportunity to cook vegetarian food directly from it; Luke, Martin, and Brendan made some ridiculously delicious green curry with veggies they handpicked themselves.
Peggy showed us the beauty and fun of Earthen housing! It’s simple and yet so sturdy and sustainable for us and our Mama Earth. We got to mix together some clay and hay to make cob for their new seed saving house! OH THE WONDERS OF SEEDS. Pi Joe, the founder of Pun Pun and husband of Peggy introduced us the the concept of seed saving, a new topic all of us weren’t familiar with at all. His goal is to save seeds from as many different plants as possible since we have lost around 90% of our seeds variety world wide. Did you know there’s an eggplant that’s green and white, the size of a clementine!? I had not a clue until I saw one in Pun Pun’s garden!
The people in Pun Pun’s community are some of the most open-minded, down to earth humans I’ve eve had the opportunity to meet; it’s all love!
We transitioned from this wonderful example of sustainability to Suan Sati,a space for self reflection, growth, and love. Here, we were welcomed by Will, Lisa, Ian, Sasha, and PI Jar. Each day, we woke up 5:30, earlier than the sun, to begin the journey into mindfulness through meditation and by listening to the wise words of our older brother, Will. We then took part in yoga with Lisa, who has such contagious energy and passion for the art; she almost forces motivation into your mind in the best way possible. Sasha and Ian introduced us to the absolutely sublime philosophy of Permaculture.
“Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system.”
Bill Mollison
We all discovered the delicacy of vegan food as well.
This retreat was oh so necessary in my eyes to gain some understanding and awareness of my “self”, Buddhism, yoga, and sustainability.
A few highlights of the week!:
We enjoyed dance therapy at Pun Pun. Rompei created a playlist for us to dance through the life of a seed. Brendan enjoyed swimming and getting some shots of the Thailand sunset at the reservoir. We got to watch some films at Pun Pun. Luke appreciated that Lisa got us to look into each others eyes for 2 minutes while on the retreat. Really intense stuff. This was Martin’s first time participating in yoga and meditation!! Nitnoi’s (Taylor’s) highlight was being accepted into a pack of ferocious-looking dogs. once again, its all love! Will, our meditation guide, loved the connections he made with our group and being able to share some of his wisdom with us.
Chris liked running through the fields at sunset and milking the cows. Anya loved breathing through stretching every single muscle in her body, including ones she didn’t know existed.
