Schumacher College

I've spent almost an entire week at Schumacher College, the educational hub of holistic studies. This is truly an amazing place. Never have I had the privilege of meeting so many interesting people with incredible stories and life experience, who are really out there actively participating in creating a better world. I've enjoyed many open, deep and meaningful conversations and enjoyed basking in the wisdom distilled within these walls.

Schumacher College

While I came here to spend the week taking things easy and soaking up the atmosphere, my time here coincided with a course on 'complexity and collaboration'. Having gleaned a little of the course content, I would never have though such a subject would capture my interest as it did. I can certainly see the implications of applying this theory to community groups, systems of government etc. Much to explore here.

One of the things that makes Schumacher special is the emphasis on participative learning and holistic lifestyle. Here all the students participate in tasks such as cooking, gardening, cleaning etc. While this was no shock to me, it was funny to see some of the more conservative, business-type people on the course groan at the prospect of cleaning up after themselves, only to see them working away with smiles by the end of the course :-)

One of the things that brought me immense joy was to wander around the kitchen garden. This is an incrediably productive English cottage style garden, pumping out the usual salad greens alongside many layers of flowering perennial plants that contribute to the daily salads. Simply beautiful.

Schumacher gardens - landscaped with productive perennial food plants :-)

Just behind the accommodation block, is another incredible forest garden which has been loving nurtured by Martin Crawford. I had the opportunity for a guided tour around this garden, and it was highly interesting to see some of the temperate perennial and medicinal plants growing here. Again, truly beautiful and inspiring :-)

You can learn more about the garden here;

Another highlight was a deep ecology walk with ecologist Dr Stephen Harding. This took place through the beautiful countryside encompassing cow paddocks, ocean and forest. The walk was 4.6km long and represented the entire lifespan of the earth (4.6 billon years). Throughout the 4.6km walk we stopped to describe major landmarks in the earths evolution. At the end Stephen pulled out a tape measure and described the entire human history in less than 1m. It really drives home the point of how old this planet is, how long it took for her to support human life, and how quickly we are destroying that delicate eco-system.

Deep ecology walk - cows, ocean and a yacht race ;-)

Deep ecology walk

More amazing views - cave :-)

Heading 'home' after the walk

I was hugely interested in the nearby town of Totnes, being the thriving hub of the Transition Towns movement. This was a really cute town, once again a yuppies dream and centred around an old castle.

View of Totnes atop castle :-)

I also had the pleasure of attending a talk by eco-psychologist Hilary Prentice hosted by the 'Inner Transition' group. This was a beautiful, heart-expanding and poetic talk about the aspects of inner transition, indigenous culture and eco-psychology. I felt like I had shared in the beauty and wisdom acquired over the lifetime of this intriguing woman and the group echoed the sentiments of one chap who summarised the evening with, "intellect as the servant of soulfulness".

I also had the pleasure of exploring the beautiful Dartington Gardens, just a short walk from the College :-)

Dartington gardens

So anyway, tomorrow I pick up a hire car with the intention of working my way through the countryside. I've not organised accommodation, or the exact details of where I will travel, but am just allowing this to unfold.  Although slightly apprehensive about this, given the close proximity of everything in this country I figure I can't get too lost...surely? ;-)

So far it hasn't felt much like summer here. I found this the other night...couldn't resist. Here's to hoping the sun comes out soon :-)

Beautiful Bath

Despite thinking London was really cool, I was keen to get out of the city and jumped on a train to Bath. I had met a few people on this trip who suggested Bath was 'lovely' and it was on my way to Totnes so why not stop for a visit? :-)

Bath is a world heritage listed city, and for a good reason. It is famous for being the source of the only natural hot water spring within the UK. This is something of a geological abnormality given there is no volcanic rock present in the area. Hence since (at least) Roman times the waters have been revered for their healing properties.

Bath is also something of a yuppie's paradise. There are resturants, boutique shops, microbreweries etc everywhere. I even came across this traditional English vegetarian pub ;-)

Traditional English (vegetarian) pub fare, lol :-)

In general there seems to be more awareness around sustainability and it seems the norm for restaurants to tout local, organic, fairtrade ingredients and so on. I was very heartened to see this vegetable garden in one of the local parks, provided by the local Transition Towns initiative.

I also enjoyed walking through this *enormous* organic community garden. The photo below probably shows about an 1/8 of the actual size.

Bath's 'huge' organic community garden :-)

People over here are shocked when I tell them that in order to start a community garden in Australia one needs indemnity insurance which requires forming a legal entity, annual auditing and so on. "Just for a community garden?" they say.

Some snaps taken walking around the city...

Bath Abbey

Inside the Abbey

The Roman baths

Along the river

'The Circus'. This is completely round, some kind of architectural genius.
But, there are very pretty trees in the middle :-)

Enormous cats! The size of the cats here is freaking me out.
I can't figure out if they are really that big, or they seem big compared to 'jungle' cats?

Coming out of the (spiritual) closet...

The upside of all these long commutes is that I have a chance to reflect on how I came to be here. As a result, on my way to London I decided to pull out the laptop and write about it.

I have alluded to some of my energetic and spiritual practices on this blog, but in the interests of full disclosure (and in case anyone is interested), I feel it's time to clarify how I came to be on this path. I'm not always entirely open about this, depending on who I'm talking to, as it often invokes a response such as, "oh you're into all that hippy crap", or similar ;-)

I would say that I had a fairly typical upbringing, outside of any church or religious denomination. I fully believed in science and logical thinking resulting in my choice to enter a very 'left-brained' field of study and ensuing profession. I really had no interest or concept of spiritually, or what that may mean, until my mid-twenties.

During this time, my (ex) partner was experiencing some significant health challenges was not getting better through the typical health care route. This was quite frustrating for me and thinking there must be a better way, I began to research alternative options.

I came across the concept of 'raw-foodism' which is typically a vegan diet consisting of various combinations of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, smoothies, sea vegetables, sprouts etc. The idea is that the food provides complete nutrition as much of this is destroyed by cooking. I experimented personally with this diet for nearly two months and during this time I experienced something of a 'spiritual awakening'. It's a little difficult to explain this to someone who may not have experienced this for themselves. Certainly when you are in this space the rational mind can think "am I going crazy", and ultimately it is confronting to see all your long held beliefs come crashing down.

In an attempt to describe what I went through, it was as though I felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage. The super-clean diet had given me a tremendous energy boost, almost like a constant high. It was as though my everyday state of being was pure drudgery up until that point. My work became unbearable, that entire paradigm seemed completely false. I couldn't stand to sit in a cubicle for another moment, rather I wanted to be outdoors, observing nature. I decided something had to give and backed off from the diet. I learned through speaking to others that this experience can be quite typical for those who pursue raw-foodism.

In a continual quest to integrate that feeling of a spiritual 'high' into daily life, a couple of years ago I attended my first Vipassana meditation retreat. To quote 'Eat Pray Love', "this is the extreme sport of meditation". It involves 10 hours of meditation daily, for 10 days, in complete silence. At first I had no idea how I could stay there another minute let alone 10 days. The mind was so active and full of 'space junk' it was almost unbearable. But something happened after 3 days, the mind became quieter, and I began to connect with my energetic body. This in itself was almost an alarming experience. I sat and watched my body 'dissolve' over a few days, resulting in a strong channel of light shooting through my body and into the universe around day 6.

The 'energetic' body

I'd no idea what happened, no way to rationally explain it. I began to connect with various theories of energy, ancient Indian, Tibetan, Taoist philosophies and so on. After the Vipassana experience, these philosophies made sense to me. Ever since I've been hugely interested in connecting to the world via energy. Through meditation and various energy healing techniques, this connection continues to strengthen. As a result I've started to become more sensitive to energy (not always a good thing!), and had the privilege of connecting to some of the most amazing, sacred energy sites around the world during this trip.

Everyone who walks this path seems to have a different way of coming into it. Some are seeking healing or peace of mind, some have experimented with psychedelics, others simply exist this way naturally. Raw food is what opened the door for me, even though I do not consider myself a 'raw-foodist' I am aware through personal experience of how our diet affects not only our physical but our mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Whatever the 'door opener' is, the path is unique for each individual and I try to always have respect for where someone is one their journey and choose to believe each person is ultimately guided by an inherent wisdom or higher aspect of themselves. What I describe here has simply been my experience.

This has not necessarily been an easy path. When one attempts or commits to evolving their spiritual aspect it is almost as though that which does not ultimately serve them is brought forward for attention, healing and release. Or at least, this process starts to manifest more quickly. This has resulted in some dramatic highs and lows, or emotional rollercoasters. However, I can only say that these occasions allow the opportunity for release and allowing more 'light' into one's life. Glimpsing those moments of living in natural magic is priceless and makes the attempt at cultivating those daily habits worthwhile. The alternative of reverting back to a state of constant 'dullness' is hardly appealing. As time goes on I am learning to recognise it happening and just ride it out.

Learning the hands on healing technique of Reiki (life energy) has also been an amazing gift for me. This has allowed me to gradually connect with a higher wisdom and channel messages, images etc. This and the readings from a psychic channel I've worked with, have largely shaped this trip that I've undertaken and the locations I've visited. At first, I didn't want to do it. After leaving my job I had some time, some money and wanted to do something 'practical' like start a business, continue study, or volunteer on an overseas aid project etc. However as the trip progresses and I start to see things fall into place, I realise that despite being a tremendous leap of faith, this experience has been incredible and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Anyway, I hope this has been of interest to someone. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask. Lots of love, Megan :-)

I'm in London (still)

After 14hrs in flight via Lima/Amsterdam, I finally arrived in London amidst the frenzy of the Queen's 60th Jubilee celebrations. Prepared with an arsenal of documentation, I was suprised at how easy it was to get into the country. The immigration officer only asked me only a couple of questions and not even a fingerprint check. Customs was completely unstaffed and everyone just walked through. It was somewhat reminiscent of Thailand.

While changing train lines on my way to the hotel I had one of those "I'm so not in Brisbane" moments as I walked past the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge...wow! Seriously, there is a freakin castle in the middle of the city!

London Bridge and the Tower of London - on my way to the hotel :-)

It was completely surreal to walk around the city and see so many famous landmarks. I spent a couple of days checking out the sights such as the Tate art museum, the National Art gallery, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, St Pauls Cathedral, London Bridge, London Tower, Hyde Park, Parliament House and Westminster Abbey to name a few. It was almost like walking around a giant Monopoly set. Much to my delight there is a Whole Foods in the middle of Piccadilly Circus...yay!

Houses of Parliament

Australian House - aka 'Gringotts Bank' from Harry Potter :-)

The view atop St Paul's Cathedral. I climbed all the way to the top...more stairs!!

The herb garden in Westminster Abbey...awesome!

Westminster Abbey. Wow! I've never seen anything like this in my entire life
*giggles to self as standing in front*

In the Tower of London, I queued up to see the crown jewels which entailed slowly shuffling through several rooms crammed with people, before finally jumping onto an escalator that allows you a glimpse of the crown jewels in passing.

In also saw some amazing artworks from Van Gough, Raphael, Picasso, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the life-sized Whistlejacket by George Stubbs (wow!).

The best thing about summer here is that it is daylight until almost 10pm. This has been a major shock to the system. My entire life I've been eating dinner a few hours after dark, then going to bed a few hours after that, or thereabouts. Unfortunately following this pattern means I'm in bed at 2am then up at daylight a few hours later...not cool. While it's pretty awesome for sight seeing I would not like to be here for the flipside in winter.

It's been quite the culture shock coming from Central/South America. Some of the things that have really stood out to me are;

• The level of sophistication. Everything is tidy, 'classy' and no strange smells on the streets or noisy moto-taxis.
• The only dogs on the street belong to the visually impaired. No dogs or cats randomly wandering the streets.
  
• There are no guns or heavy armored vehicles: In South America every street corner or bank etc seems to have a guard kitted out in bulletproof vest and shotgun, or machine gun. No police/military checkpoints either :-)

• Everyone speaks English, but are less inclined to have a conversation. I would say people are generally not as openly friendly, but to be expected in such a big city.
• There are certain 'expectations' around how one conducts themselves in public. For instance, standing on the 'right' side of the escalator in the underground. Standing on the 'left' side subjects one to disapproving noises and comments.
• Everyone drives on the correct side of the road. This has put me in a temporary frenzy as I don't know where to look anymore when crossing the street.
• I can flush toilet paper again. Yay! In Central/South America the plumbing is inadequate so it needs to be put into a bin beside the toilet. Enough said really.
• The public transport system is very efficient and easy to navigate. Seriously this puts any city in Australia to shame.

• Angry people. I've heard quite a few public shouting matches between friends, family, partners etc. This was quite a shock as I hadn't heard any such language in a long time. In saying this however, I have encountered some amazingly warm and kind people, just seems to be a more noticeable difference here.
• In general people don't seem to be as cheerful. One taxi driver randomly asked me "why I was smiling" as I crossed the street (I didn't even realise I was smiling!). Another guy in a shop asked if "I was always this relaxed" (again I didn't think I was particularly relaxed).
• Chavs or 'bogans' in Aussie slang. Yeah they have them here.

Overall, I would say that London is a really, really cool city. It's been a novelty to walk around and see such history and architecture in a relatively small space. Almost the entire time I've been here I've had this Waifs song playing though my head...I just couldn't help it ;-)

As cool as London is, I was pretty keen to get out of the city and decided to head to Bath on my way to Totnes.

Onwards to London...

I write this from the airport in Lima, awaiting my departure for London, feeling quite calm but also a strange sense of anticipation for the next part of the journey. I am starting to feel like an airport veteran and my passport seems to be filling up very quickly.

What have I been up to since the last post? Well, since leaving the Iquitos, I spent a few chilled out days in Buenos Aires, Argentina before returning to Lima for my flight. Buenos Aires was nice. Lots of European style architecture, cafes, restaurants, tango, cake, pastries etc. OMG, they have these amazing handmade tarts packed with spinach, and only spinach…(my favourite vegetable, yes really!)…yum! :-)

Some of the architecture in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires huge 'obilisco' (what would Freud say about that Mum?)

Lima. I've been here 4 times now, and while it's 'ok', the only thing I really love about it is that there is only one airport so the domestic and international flights leave from the same terminal…yay! I'm not sure why this is such a novelty to me. Perhaps it is because I can jump in a taxi and say 'aeropuerto' and driver knows exactly where to go. Surprisingly with my extremely limited Spanish, I managed to have a great chat to the taxi driver on the way here. At one part we were driving incredibly slow, then weaving across the road due to all the 'hand' language.

I've noticed a few things since leaving Iquitos; for one how much 'busier' everything is compared to the peace and stillness in the Amazon. The energy is mush 'denser', almost as though you can feel people thoughts hanging in the air. Also, despite the return of my bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep / too much coffee, and being in dire need of a haircut, I seem to have attracted the interest from hordes of middle age men…eww! Seriously, they've yelled out across the street, busy mall, mototaxis etc. Even the Peruvian immigration officer had a go… WTF?

There have also been a lot of interesting syncronicities, for instance, people randomly introducing themselves, giving me their contact details, meeting people with mutual connections etc. I even sat next to someone in Iquitos who introduced me to his brother in London and gave me some tips for the UK :-)

As I reflect on 3 months of travel within the Americas, I think about what a gift this time has been. There have been many ups and downs and frustrations mixed with meeting some incrediably interesting people and amazing earth energy centres. There has been much unexpected emotional, even physical detox. Although this has been difficult at times I feel like releasing this is allowing far greater natural magic to flow into my life. I feel a great sense of amazement and appreciation for the beauty of this planet that we live on and the life she supports.

Overall, I feel it's been a great opportunity to learn more about myself and hopefully grow from these experiences. I feel more 'connected' then ever before and look forward to what the UK brings my way :-)

A few pics...

I didn't have the camera out much in the jungle but here are a few pics..... :-)

Also, on my way out of Iquitos,  I met the most interesting woman healing illness with TCM, amazonian herbs etc. She originally came to the amazon 10 years ago and through shamanic plants/ceremonies healed from colon cancer. If anyone is interested you can read about her work here.

Young food forest in action

Yoga kittens!

Kombucha and fermented noni - seriously awesome stuff!

funky fungi :-)

In Iquitos - agarhar ice cream with not one but 3 sugar cones...pure awesomeness!!!

Reflections from the Amazon...

What can I say? I’ve had the most amazing month out here in the amazon. These are the ‘lungs of the earth’ and the energy here is incredibly strong and known to be transformational. When people arrive here they typically take a couple of weeks to readjust, kind of like an energetic detox ;-)

I had the pleasure of staying with a small group of some of the most warm-hearted, kind, generous and positive people I’ve ever met. Staying here gave me the inspiration to watch my own thoughts, words, and to take responsibility for the energy I was bringing to the space. I felt as though I had a glimpse at how well community can work and the joy of giving selfless service, or seva.

After arriving at Paititi and spending a few days working in the hot sun, I felt like a big, fluffy marshmallow, and only slightly less so after being here a month. The locals are pretty tough out here ;-)

I had the pleasure of working aside some great permaculture knowledge and enthusiasm, never have I seen people so excited about compost! I was starting to feel the same way by the end :-)

While I was here I took part in a couple of Ayahuasca ceremonies which was an intense and deeply cleansing experience. The ayahuasca medicine works to purify the ‘lower’ energy centres of the body and I was shown aspects of myself the ego does not usually wish to acknowledge. As intense as these were, I found the following days a great sense of peace and ‘letting go’. The post-ceremony sharing sessions seemed almost like partaking in lifetimes of wisdom.

One of the ceremonies took part with our neighbours at ‘natures hospital’ across the road (I say this but really it is a 1 ½ hour hike into the jungle in thick mud). This is also an awesome project, deeply rooted in natural healing and preservation of the jungle. It was very inspiring to see a westerner purchase so much land for the purposes of preservation. The land here is very cheap by our standards and certainly within the means of folks back home. Given I’ve heard all kinds of rumors ranging from ‘Chinese families buying the jungle and clearing it for palm oil’ to ‘the Chinese government using the land for nuclear experimentation’; it would be great to see more of this kind of sustainability action happening.

Needless to say after spending a month in nature, eating good clean vegan food, away from (most) electronic distractions and being exposed to amazing mind expanding books, movies and conversation, I feel an amazing sense of peace and gratitude for the experiences I’ve been presented with. I must say I did enjoy that first vanilla frappuccino however ;-)

As I write this I am sitting on a bean bag in Karma café, Iquitos enjoying a camu camu refresco, listening to some funky tunes surrounded by awesome people. Life is good.

Alas, my time here has come to an end for now. I am heading to Buenos Aires tomorrow before the UK with excitement to see where this next phase will take me :-)