Gardoussel
Retreat (formerly The
Sun Centre)
Bulletin
- Nov 2006
www.thesuncentre.com
Contents (quick links)
Dear friend,
As winter bites gently at our ankles, we are filled with the warmth of loved ones as we join to celebrate our first anniversary at Gardoussel. Hard to believe it’s been a full year since we moved to our new location after four previous years in the Cévennes mountains, but looking around at what we and our small team of friends and family have managed to achieve in that time, it does sink in.
After a hectic first six months renovating vacant spaces and an outbuilding at our property, we now have a total of 18-20 guest beds. We also now have a fully-insulated, bright, teaching classroom, and a well-equipped catering kitchen. It was an extremely busy, sometimes stressful time for us all, but by the summer we had broken the back of the work and were able to stop and smell the roses. And what sweet scent! Summertime in the Vallée Borgne of this mountainous swathe of the Languedoc region is truly beautiful.
We have been receiving students of Ayurveda right from the beginning of our move and this now keeps us busy all year round. At the moment, we run workshops which form part of a three-year training program to become an Ayurvedic practitioner, a one-year Ayurvedic massage course, a year-long nutrition training and several massage workshops during the summer. Numbers sometimes reach 24 which means we sometimes have to put people up in the local village – but luckily there is a choice of accommodation in St André de Valborgne, so no-one has to be disappointed.
This summer, we also hosted two busy yoga weeks, one run by UK-based yoga teacher Simon Rowe, the other by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, who teaches classes in Montpellier. Other than that, our two gîtes (holiday apartments) were extremely popular, particularly with two types of guest: families with young children (which was great for our two as there were always playmates around), and hikers taking advantage of the many walking trails in the local hills. We have been discovering some of these routes ourselves and have built up a sheaf of printed guides to make following these picturesque woodland trails even easier.
At the same time, we have been discovering lately the popular cévenol past-time of mushroom-picking. Not one to have ever had an interest in ground funghi, I must admit that furrowing for cep mushrooms, a local delicacy with as ardent a following here as truffle hunting in Provence, is actually pretty good fun. Autumn in the Cévennes mean three things to those in the know: ceps (simmered with white wine, garlic and herbs and loaded over spaghetti or rice, simply divine) sweet chestnuts (delicious roasted over an open fire) and wild boar (as organic and free-range a meat as it is possible to find). Sometimes even all three on the same plate! These autumnal activities are great fun for the kids (with the exception the wild boar hunting, perhaps…), especially when the bags are tipped out afterwards and their contents cooked up and savored by a bonfire under the stars.
Our local village of St André de Valborgne, it turns out, is lively (especially in summer) and unstintingly friendly. Despite having a population of just 400, there’s plenty going on. Much more than in most rural villages of its size. In among the summer fêtes and festivals (including an annual film festival, of all things) are organized walks, story-telling, small concerts, communal chestnut grills and exhibitions. The two café-bars, respectfully calm most of the year, positively heave from May through to September, especially during the village fête and Bastille celebrations in July when a grill and bar is set up in the middle of the village square and residents and visitors participates in such activities as bingo, outdoor karaoke (I know, I know, but it’s good for improving the French…), ‘guess the weight of the crate of cakes’ and – I kid you not - ‘guess the height of the leg of ham’ (a huge hunk of meat suspended from the top of the highest plane tree on the square). You’ve got to love it!
We’re lucky to have a tourist office in the village with info about everything going on in the valley and further afield. We’re hoping to have our own display of what’s-on guides soon, so that gite guests can plan their holiday from the comfort of their armchair, but at the same time it’s kind of nice to venture out ignorant of what’s going on and get a pleasant surprise. (You might come back with an unexpected half-pig!)
Here at Gardoussel, our team of three (myself, Alex and his mother Frances) has now expanded to four. Maggie, who comes to us from Wales, has joined forces with Frances in the kitchen to cater on all of our events. Ayurvedic principles are still the foundation for our vegetarian meals, which are increasingly prepared using local veg and organic ingredients. Maggie will live on-site in a yurt, due to be erected in February, just uphill from Frances’ own yurt.
Other developments at the centre include the completion of the top floor of our barn (‘La Bergerie’) into two en-suite bedrooms. Elsewhere, a former laundry room has been converted into two bedrooms with mezzanines and an adjoining bathroom. We have an increasing number of chickens, so plenty of home-grown eggs. A local farmer visits regularly with her flock of sheep, which helps to keep the grass down, and we have just planted up a small orchard with apple, plum and pear trees, grapes and pomegranates, close enough to the house to bring in the harvest easily and allow guests to pick their own breakfasts!
Well, that’s all for now. By February we hope to be able to give you details of what will be going on in 2007. Until then, we wish you a warm and wonderful winter from all of us here. We hope to see you at Gardoussel soon!
- Sharon, Alex, Frances & Maggie
P.S. Take a look around Gardoussel Retreat at our photo gallery.
Ayurveda Workshops in Glasgow, Scotland, with Alex Duncan & Fiona Morton
Alex will be running a series of three weekend Ayurveda workshops in Glasgow next year (Jan, May & June 2007). Take a look at the programme in PDF format for details.
Essential Ayurveda for Yoga Practitioners - Part IV: Prakriti & Vikriti
by Alex Duncan, The Sun Centre, France
We each have a birth constitution, or prakriti (prakriti literally means 'nature'). Our prakriti refers to which Dosha or Doshas dominate in our body-mind makeup. The three Doshas give rise to seven basic constitutions: three pure types, 'Vata', 'Pitta' and 'Kapha', where only one Dosha dominates in the person's makeup; three dual types, 'Vata-Pitta', 'Pitta-Kapha' and 'Vata-Kapha', where two Doshas are dominant; and finally one mixed type, 'Vata-Pitta-Kapha', where all three Doshas dominate. About half of the population are pure types, while the other half are dual types; mixed types are few and far between.
Knowing your prakriti is very important as it determines which Doshas are most likely to become aggravated and cause ill health. Our prakriti is like a blueprint that predisposes us to certain physical and mental traits, both positive and negative. While prakriti is fixed at the moment of conception and can't be changed, we do have the freedom to choose whether to work with or against it.
Ayurveda offers individualised long-term health regimes that are designed to help us live in harmony with prakriti, thus preventing or minimising the premature occurrence of chronic and degenerative diseases. Thus Ayurveda places utmost importance on preventative medicine, or right living. Now let’s talk about Vikriti, or imbalance.
When the Doshas are balanced—neither in excess nor deficient compared to our prakriti—we experience health. When one or more of the Doshas becomes perturbed, ill-health, or vikriti is the result. In fact, the fundamental cause of all disease is simply the result of imbalanced Doshas.
Each Dosha has a primary site in the body. Vata's seat is the colon, Pitta's the small intestine and Kapha's the stomach. The first thing that happens when a Dosha becomes perturbed is that it accumulates at its primary site, whereby an increase of its attributes are observed. If left unchecked, the Dosha continues to accumulate until it becomes aggravated displaying a further increase of its attributes. Eventually, the aggravated Dosha can no longer be contained in its primary site and overflows into either the sites of neighbouring Doshas, or into the primary tissues of the body—the plasma and blood stream. These three stages: accumulation, aggravation and overflow mark the initial stages of the disease process.
Note that a Dosha can either become excessive or deficient. When deficient, it is usually due to an excess of another Dosha, for example excess Vata creates excess dryness which reduces unctuousness (wet/oily) thus results in deficient Kapha. Generally though, one is only concerned with reducing excess Doshas as they are the root of the problem, and exert a stronger negative force than a deficient Dosha. Hence, when speaking of an imbalanced or perturbed Dosha, we really mean a Dosha which is in excess compared to normal, i.e. compared to prakriti.
Signs of excess doshas
Let’s familiarise ourselves with some typical signs of accumulating and aggravated doshas.
As vata accumulates in the small intestine it causes distension, gas, constipation, insomnia, fatigue, and dryness. This is usually accompanied by desire for warmth and nervous emotions like fear and worry.
If vata becomes aggravated, we might experience light-headedness, increased constipation, abdominal pain or spasms, further accumulation of gas with tummy-rumbles, as well as upper abdominal distension.
Eventually, aggravated vata will overflow into other sights causing things like dry skin, pain or stiffness in the joints, lower back pain, convulsions, spasms, headaches, dry coughs, intermittent fevers, continued abdominal pain with constipation and painful bowel movements, and general fatigue. Besides the colon, when vata is aggravated it has an affinity with the kidneys, lungs, bones & joints, nerves, ears, and mind in general.
The keyword for vata aggravation is pain.
As pitta or bile accumulates in the small intestine, it causes burning sensation, fever, hyperacidity, a bitter taste in the mouth, as well as giving a yellow or orange colour to the urine or stool. This is usually accompanied by a desire for cold things along with hot and bothered emotions like irritability, frustration and anger.
As pitta becomes aggravated, one may experience increased acidity, acid regurgitation, burning pain in the abdomen, excessive thirst, loss of strength and difficulty sleeping.
ventually, aggravated pitta will overflow into other sights causing Inflammatory skin diseases, conjunctivitis, gingivitis, dizziness, headache, high fever, bilious vomiting, and diarrhoea with burning sensation. Besides the small intestine, when pitta is aggravated it has an affinity with the blood, liver and eyes.
The keyword for pitta aggravations is inflammation.
As kapha or phlegm accumulates in the stomach, it causes lassitude, heaviness, pallor, bloating, indigestion and desire for light food. This is often accompanied by heavy emotions like attachment and greed, as well as fear of loosing their stability or security.
As kapha becomes aggravated, it causes loss of appetite, indigestion, nausea and increased salivation, as well as heaviness in the head and heart and excess sleeping.
Finally, aggravated kapha will overflow into other sights causing coughs, difficult breathing or gasping for air, swollen glands, low grade fevers, vomiting, as well as swelling of joints and mucus in the stool. Besides the stomach, when kapha is aggravated, it has an affinity for the lungs, lymph, plasma, kidneys, spleen and pancreas, as well as all the bodily tissues except the blood and the bones.
The keyword for kapha aggravations is congestion.
It is important when thinking ayurvedically to allocate your symptoms to the dosha or doshas that seem most likely to have caused them, as this radically simplifies life. Instead of dealing with umpteen different symptoms and a handful of ailments, we reduce our list down to three factors. This is the beauty of Ayurveda.
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