We are truly blessed that Eleanor was able to join us at the sanctuary and share her gifts with us. Thank you for your warm words Eleanor. SERENITY THE SEN WAY This summer I was lucky enough to spend a month as resident yogi at the Sen Wellness Sanctuary in Sri Lanka. What I found there was the perfect recipe for serenity and I want to share with you some of the Sanctuary’s ingredients! S is for slowing down. Coming from London where the pace of life sometimes feels untenable, I felt a little like I’d landed on a different planet when I first arrived at the Sanctuary. There is a stillness which permeates the space, a sense that you can slow down, start to breathe a little more deeply and let your frazzled body and mind begin to unwind. It reminded me of the importance of allowing myself time and space away from the hurried fray and seemingly relentless and ever-increasing demands on time and energy. A welcome reminder that I am a human being, not a human doing! It’s when we pause that we are able to reconnect to ourselves, to hear the soft voice of our intuition and let it guide us so our choices and actions are aligned with our soul. And when we slow down we are more able to notice the beauty and magic in the every day, like the vibrant colours of a flower or the sight of birds flying in formation, which we are so often blinkered from when rushing. In slowing down we start to drink in our surroundings and become more present with ourselves and others. A is for Ayurveda. In Sanskrit the word Ayurveda means ‘science of life’ and describes a magical and ancient tradition of wisdom and healing based on the belief that health comes from a delicate balance between our body, mind, spirit and environment. It views health as much more than the absence of disease and provides a holistic approach to address our whole being, helping us to stay vibrant and realise our full human potential. Each person has a natural constitution made up of the three doshas or elemental base energies: Vata (air / ether), Pitta (fire / water) and Kapha (earth / water). All three doshas are present in everyone but in each individual, one or two will be dominant, determining the person’s physiological and personality traits. In order to stay well we need to maintain our individual dosha balance and Ayurveda gives us guidelines on daily and seasonal routines, diet and behaviour which help us do just that. Each guest at the Sanctuary has a consultation with the Ayurvedic expert, Dr Harshi, and is then prescribed a comprehensive programme of treatments and herbal medicines depending on their individual dosha combination and any imbalance. It seems that many guests coming from the West have an excess of Vata, in the sense of too much mental activity and are in need of what Dr Harshi refers to as ‘mind calming’ – something the Sanctuary definitely caters for! The treatments are out of this world, in particular the full body massage with two therapists who were miraculously completely synchronised with every touch! And in a wider sense the whole of the Sanctuary revolves around Ayurvedic principles, with its emphasis on being in harmony with the natural environment, getting abundant and restful sleep, rising with the sun, daily physical activity and meditation, eating a fresh, seasonal and balanced diet and eating it mindfully! The idea is that when you include the six Ayurvedic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent) in each meal you feel satisfied and less inclined to snack or overeat. And it really works! I was in the habit of snacking a lot at home but was amazed that at the Sanctuary I didn’t even have the urge to. Many guests said the same and also that they did not miss meat at all because the food was so deliciously varied and satisfying. N is for nature. The Sanctuary is nestled in between a mangrove forest and lagoon on one side and a beautiful deserted beach and wild ocean on the other. Being in nature does something powerful to us: our natural rhythms and cycles, for example sleep or energy levels, which may have become off-kilter with a hectic lifestyle, prolonged busy-ness, stress or use of stimulants like caffeine or sugar, start to rediscover their natural rhythm as we are surrounded by the natural rhythms of the sea, the animals and the plants. Just as everything we see around us is comprised of the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, so too are we – we are not separate from nature. Spending time at the Sanctuary helped me remember this and as I felt the softness of the sand under my feet and the warmth of the sun and the spray of the ocean on my skin, I felt it healing the disconnection which can come from living in a concrete jungle. And I believe that when we are more aware of ourselves as part of nature and more connected to our environment, we are motivated to take better care of it. C is for connection. Whether you’re at the Sanctuary for a couple of nights or a couple of weeks, the connections here run deep. When you share mealtimes together every day you really get to know one another, and bonding happens through shared experiences, whether it’s doing yoga as a group or laughing together over trying to work out which unfamiliar Sri Lankan vegetable might be in the delicious soup you’re eating! As well as connecting to others we also reconnect to ourselves, start to feel more aligned and in touch with what’s important to us and what we need. T is for transformation. It has been a joy and a privilege to support people on their journeys here. Some guests come with specific things they want
