Past couple of weeks, were spent in Sadhana Forest (70 acres of land being replanted with native trees, started by a family 7 years ago, who came from Israel and welcomed every volunteer that came their way)
I've posted already a brief description of the forest in one of my blogs from October.
What I love about Sadhana Forest, is their attention to detail. Upon arrival for my stay I was greeted immediately by one of the long term volunteers and given a brief tour. A more extensive welcome was to come later, so in the meantime I wandered around and made myself useful in the kitchen! Helping to prepare lunch.
After lunch they set us up ( me along with 4 other volunteers who arrived the same day) in our rooms and gave us toiletries along with a more detailed explanation of their rules and norms.
Quite simple accommodations, but a great way to reconnect to nature! We had a roof over our heads, blanket walls, and a tall bed with a mosquito net. No floor, no AC, no electricity, no heater, no lights, no table, no shelf, no drawers. Me, a roof, a bed and hey, a roommate!
Completely open to the outside, to all the little squirrels, dogs, cats, lizards, and yes even snakes.
I know, this intimidated me at first too. But soon it's very apparent, that it's as comfortable or as uncomfortable as you decide to make it.
In the beginning I was pretty scared of the whole.. what if I see a snake under my bed?? What if some strange creature tries to crawl into bed with me?
But night after night, I found the nighttime to be peaceful, free of all of my abstract stories of, what ifs..
okay okay, fine apart from one, where a cat did jump on the side of my bed, meowed and jumped off.. granted she did scare the dickens out of me.. but only for the moment because just following it was both mine and my roommates roaring laughter.
It's the community cat. There is one cat in Sadhana forest, and she is a complete cutie. Super fluffy and elegant. She likes to make her rounds.
Sadhana forest is a community with a strong ethic.
They are clear about making a positive impact on our planet through the way we live.
They presented us upon arrival with all natural soaps and toiletries. We received this amazing smelling cinnamon soap, powder shampoo, powder toothpaste - made from their own neem trees, and discouraged us from using any of our own products that would leave contaminants in the soil.
I decided to follow their rules and only use neem sticks and tooth powder to brush my teeth, along with only using water to wash my face, as well as only shampoo powder for the hair.
To be honest.. I was a little unsure if I could do it.. especially my skin is very sensitive and prone to breakouts. And I am very finicky about cleaning my teeth.
However.. I found all my fears were far from the actuality of things. After a few days of cleaning only with neem sticks and tooth powder.. I could tell my teeth were actually much cleaner than with toothpaste!! If you think about it.. toothpaste has soo many preservatives, and additives.. not to mention sugar to make it taste good and glycerin that coats your teeth inhibiting your bodies natural ability to clean your teeth.
Now that I have the opportunity to brush with toothpaste again.. I miss the neem sticks!
In regards to not using soap on my face.. you wouldn't believe.. but no breakouts! Not one in Sadhana forest.. and maybe that also had to do with the overrall amazing lifestyle.
-24/7 access to fresh air- sleeping basically in the open.. living in the open - all buildings are open to the outside.
- daily(if not more) access to a beautiful pond to go swimming in! Not only just a pond, but the bottom is this rich soil/clay.. which is an awesome exfoliate!
- physically active lifestyle
- fun environment
- plenty of time for vitamin D absorption from the sun!
So no problem with the toiletries!
The community aspect of Sadhana forest is definitely memorable.
The community is very welcoming and happy for everyone and anyone to come and stay.
The day is set up like this:
5:45am wake up song (2 members of the community go around singing for everyone to wake up)
( don't get intimidated by the early rise.. basically getting up this early is easy here, because it's the same time the sun gets up.. being basically outside.. it's much easier to be connected to the natural rhythms of our systems)
6:15am morning circle ( goodmornings to the other volunteers, selection of 1st seva, morning hugs, songs and other waking up activities)
6:30 am 1st Seva - tree planting, breakfast making, water conservation - bunding, watering, childrens land, etc. etc - they are also totally open if you have a project in mind that you are interested in doing!
8:30am Breakfast!
9:30am 2nd seva
12:30 pm Lunch
Free for the rest of the day!
6:30 pm dinner
Then every week each person is given 2 extra community shifts, and if anyone is interested in volunteering for other community weekly tasks for a week, they are welcomed and encouraged to do so.
Apart from that, you have a lot of time to explore auroville, surrounding farms, chatting and attending any workshops that may be held at the forest....
-yoga
-tree meditation
-other meditations
-capoeira
-dancing
-chanting
-singing
-language workshops - italian, french, german
-henna
- basically any talents that people feel like sharing.
Then their are weekly norms:
Sunday evening - community forum - volunteers speak about community aspects that are working or that aren't working. Long term volunteers go through the rules of the forest, the sevas, the schedule and assign weekly sevas out to people
Monday evening - community sharing - everyone has the opportunity to communicate his or her feelings.. challenges they are facing, joys they are experiencing.. just anything they wish to share.
Wednesday evening- Open stage- untalent show! Anyone wishing to share a talent or an untalent.. welcome to perform! Afterwards chanting and songs happen!
Thursday evening - night out! no dinner is served- you can stay if you wish but otherwise can make a trip to pondy or auroville with everyone.
Friday - tour, dinner and eco movie night! Sadhana forest welcomes anyone interested in learning more about their work for dinner and a movie - along with a tour.
Saturday and Sunday only breakfast and dinner are provided, no sevas - except particular ones are expected be done on these days. Free days :)
Overall the life at Sadhana forest from the outside, may seem intimidating but actually it's very fulfilling. The relationships built with others at the forest become quite strong even after only a few short days. Because everyone is experiencing something new and fun together. Everyone is helping each other and no one person is responsible for everything. It's a great feeling to be a part of something bigger than yourself.
More to come about Sadhana Forest, but I'll stop for now :)
I've posted already a brief description of the forest in one of my blogs from October.
What I love about Sadhana Forest, is their attention to detail. Upon arrival for my stay I was greeted immediately by one of the long term volunteers and given a brief tour. A more extensive welcome was to come later, so in the meantime I wandered around and made myself useful in the kitchen! Helping to prepare lunch.
After lunch they set us up ( me along with 4 other volunteers who arrived the same day) in our rooms and gave us toiletries along with a more detailed explanation of their rules and norms.
Quite simple accommodations, but a great way to reconnect to nature! We had a roof over our heads, blanket walls, and a tall bed with a mosquito net. No floor, no AC, no electricity, no heater, no lights, no table, no shelf, no drawers. Me, a roof, a bed and hey, a roommate!
Completely open to the outside, to all the little squirrels, dogs, cats, lizards, and yes even snakes.
I know, this intimidated me at first too. But soon it's very apparent, that it's as comfortable or as uncomfortable as you decide to make it.
In the beginning I was pretty scared of the whole.. what if I see a snake under my bed?? What if some strange creature tries to crawl into bed with me?
But night after night, I found the nighttime to be peaceful, free of all of my abstract stories of, what ifs..
okay okay, fine apart from one, where a cat did jump on the side of my bed, meowed and jumped off.. granted she did scare the dickens out of me.. but only for the moment because just following it was both mine and my roommates roaring laughter.
It's the community cat. There is one cat in Sadhana forest, and she is a complete cutie. Super fluffy and elegant. She likes to make her rounds.
Sadhana forest is a community with a strong ethic.
They are clear about making a positive impact on our planet through the way we live.
They presented us upon arrival with all natural soaps and toiletries. We received this amazing smelling cinnamon soap, powder shampoo, powder toothpaste - made from their own neem trees, and discouraged us from using any of our own products that would leave contaminants in the soil.
I decided to follow their rules and only use neem sticks and tooth powder to brush my teeth, along with only using water to wash my face, as well as only shampoo powder for the hair.
To be honest.. I was a little unsure if I could do it.. especially my skin is very sensitive and prone to breakouts. And I am very finicky about cleaning my teeth.
However.. I found all my fears were far from the actuality of things. After a few days of cleaning only with neem sticks and tooth powder.. I could tell my teeth were actually much cleaner than with toothpaste!! If you think about it.. toothpaste has soo many preservatives, and additives.. not to mention sugar to make it taste good and glycerin that coats your teeth inhibiting your bodies natural ability to clean your teeth.
Now that I have the opportunity to brush with toothpaste again.. I miss the neem sticks!
In regards to not using soap on my face.. you wouldn't believe.. but no breakouts! Not one in Sadhana forest.. and maybe that also had to do with the overrall amazing lifestyle.
-24/7 access to fresh air- sleeping basically in the open.. living in the open - all buildings are open to the outside.
- daily(if not more) access to a beautiful pond to go swimming in! Not only just a pond, but the bottom is this rich soil/clay.. which is an awesome exfoliate!
- physically active lifestyle
- fun environment
- plenty of time for vitamin D absorption from the sun!
So no problem with the toiletries!
The community aspect of Sadhana forest is definitely memorable.
The community is very welcoming and happy for everyone and anyone to come and stay.
The day is set up like this:
5:45am wake up song (2 members of the community go around singing for everyone to wake up)
( don't get intimidated by the early rise.. basically getting up this early is easy here, because it's the same time the sun gets up.. being basically outside.. it's much easier to be connected to the natural rhythms of our systems)
6:15am morning circle ( goodmornings to the other volunteers, selection of 1st seva, morning hugs, songs and other waking up activities)
6:30 am 1st Seva - tree planting, breakfast making, water conservation - bunding, watering, childrens land, etc. etc - they are also totally open if you have a project in mind that you are interested in doing!
8:30am Breakfast!
9:30am 2nd seva
12:30 pm Lunch
Free for the rest of the day!
6:30 pm dinner
Then every week each person is given 2 extra community shifts, and if anyone is interested in volunteering for other community weekly tasks for a week, they are welcomed and encouraged to do so.
Apart from that, you have a lot of time to explore auroville, surrounding farms, chatting and attending any workshops that may be held at the forest....
-yoga
-tree meditation
-other meditations
-capoeira
-dancing
-chanting
-singing
-language workshops - italian, french, german
-henna
- basically any talents that people feel like sharing.
Then their are weekly norms:
Sunday evening - community forum - volunteers speak about community aspects that are working or that aren't working. Long term volunteers go through the rules of the forest, the sevas, the schedule and assign weekly sevas out to people
Monday evening - community sharing - everyone has the opportunity to communicate his or her feelings.. challenges they are facing, joys they are experiencing.. just anything they wish to share.
Wednesday evening- Open stage- untalent show! Anyone wishing to share a talent or an untalent.. welcome to perform! Afterwards chanting and songs happen!
Thursday evening - night out! no dinner is served- you can stay if you wish but otherwise can make a trip to pondy or auroville with everyone.
Friday - tour, dinner and eco movie night! Sadhana forest welcomes anyone interested in learning more about their work for dinner and a movie - along with a tour.
Saturday and Sunday only breakfast and dinner are provided, no sevas - except particular ones are expected be done on these days. Free days :)
Overall the life at Sadhana forest from the outside, may seem intimidating but actually it's very fulfilling. The relationships built with others at the forest become quite strong even after only a few short days. Because everyone is experiencing something new and fun together. Everyone is helping each other and no one person is responsible for everything. It's a great feeling to be a part of something bigger than yourself.
More to come about Sadhana Forest, but I'll stop for now :)
If you feel like it paying it forward, Sadhana Forest is creating a second community in Kenya. http://www.wethetrees.com/campaigns/lets-create-a-food-forest-in-north-kenya
ReplyDeleteAmazing project!