Fighting for the cause

Since I have taken some time off recently, I've been spending the majority of it reading.  Two books in particular caught my fancy, both recommended by friends knowing my interests:  Alejandro Junger's Clean and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.

(Sources:  Clean and Michael Pollan)

These two books actually portray the exact same message:  you are what you eat, and we as Americans are not eating well.  

Alejandro Junger is an M.D. that developed a detoxification program for clients that were having health issues, no one issue in particular.  He has several testimonials claiming success and his detox essentially consists of no meat, no caffeine, and no alcohol!  He recommends juicing twice a day and then eating a healthy meal for dinner (from his suggested recipes).  There are also interesting tidbits about eating raw garlic daily to boost immunity, letting your body rest from eating for at least 12 hours a day, and getting enough sleep.  None of his concepts really seem like rocket science.  

Junger's belief that we need to follow our human nature has stuck with me.  Our ancestors didn't have food available every season of the year.  There were months during the year where fasting was necessary due to the lack of food available.  With commercial farming and transport, we have every type of food available 365 days out of the year.  If we eat these "unseasonal" foods, we are not eating them at the peak of their ripeness and are losing key nutrients that our bodies need.  Michael Pollan also mentions this when he speaks of Aboriginies in Australia going "back to the bush".  By eating the foods that their body has evolved to accommodate, they lost weight and were in remission from diabetes.  This story also coincides with a conversation we had at the Yoga Oasis with someone who personally experienced going "back to the bush".  All of the effects were positive!

Michael Pollan made several good points in his book.  The one that I thought to be the most interesting is the amount of money Americans spend on food as opposed to other countries (% of income in ~2008):

• Americans:  9.9 
• Italians:  14.9
• French:  14.9
• Spanish:  17.1

He makes the point that if Americans spend more money on food, maybe they would be less likely to eat as much.  The Italians, French, and Spanish eat less food than us, but spend more.  

More money, higher quality, better health.

Initial Inspiration

I gave myself an excellent quarter-century birthday gift - 3 plane tickets to the Big Island of Hawaii. One ticket was for me and the other two were for my sister and cousin. We spent two weeks in paradise!

For one night, my sister and cousin agreed to stay at a yoga retreat that I had found online. None of us really knew what to expect, but I've found that for at least one night on your "vacation" it's good to get out of the comfort zone. The yoga retreat I found seemed pretty secluded in the middle of the Hawaiian jungle. I was really excited! The retreat was called Yoga Oasis. Everything is eco-friendly: the mosquito nets that cover porches, the electricity, the water system, the food. We ended up staying in the Coconut Cabin. My cousin and sister didn't seem to be too thrilled about the accommodations at the time. I think it was mainly due to the bugs and bathroom situation. (The outdoor coconut showers seemed a little too out in the open. It's a little weird being able to hear people and cars on the road, but not able to see them. The tub room also did not have any curtains, but you were in a screened building so no bugs! The picture is the view through the "windows" in the tub room.) All of the noises in the night were a little frightening, as well. I think not having locks on the doors was also a source of anxiety for us city-folk. But in the end, we all loved the Oasis.

There was no TV in the Coconut room. Just sitting space, a porch, and a book on the Dalai Lama. We were enough company for each other, so none of that mattered. We talked, read, and slept until our yoga session in the morning. At about 7:30 we took a walk up to the main building (through the chickens scratching in the yard) and sat drinking some tea before our yoga session. There was only one other person besides us at the yoga session with Hayward. The other person was a techy from LA that had just gone through surgery and was recovering at the Oasis. It seemed like a pretty cool place to concentrate on health and recovery.

The studio was amazing. And I will never forget the chant (now featured on their site) that Hayward said before the session:

"Good Morning Sun!!!

It's Great to be Alive!!!

And thanks for those rays, I needed that"

It was the most intense yoga session I've ever had in my life. I still remember the feeling of great exhaustion afterwards while walking down the stairs to breakfast. We had fresh eggs from the chickens and about two hours of great conversation. We talked about everything - from Nebraska's corn population to the kids who were breaking the toilets the week before we got there. Ever since I've left Yoga Oasis, I can't stop thinking that we need more places like this! More places to concentrate on health, local sustainability, and eco-consciousness.