Downshifting

My university friend moved to the countryside 6 years ago. All of a sudden she decided to abandon a flat in Moscow, brilliant perspectives, money and career and settle down in the middle of nowhere, in an old Karelian house with no tap water or heating. Everybody thought she was crazy - bathing in a spring in the middle of winter, being alone for days, 80 km from Petrozavodsk, her, who had always been very social (I'd say socioliser), comfort-loving, ambitious and city-girly, all of a sudden she found her peace in that village that'd stay empty for several months a year. In winter it's perfect as you can jump from the sauna directly into the snow dunes all naked without thinking of neighbors staring at your red butt :) here I am by the way, all steaming and freshly baked:

I love the place, specially in summer. It's clean - really clean, air-water-soil-energy-everything. CLEAN. And nourishing. And giving you some space for feedback and reflection. For breathing in-out. Just for re-connecting with nature. Imagine living in a wooden house with a "Black" banya (special type of Russian sauna that is super-healthy wealthy and wise), faaaar from pollution, noise, people (first of all PEOPLE - this layer of collective consciousness disappears and even the transparency of your dreams changes...). Being frugal - berries, veggies and herbs, mushrooms and local dairy products, everything organic without being certified, everything breathing love and care, made or collected with your own two hands, cooked with affection and charged with prana. I love this way of life! Now being back to my parents' flat I feel how I cleaned and charged all my channels there, how life was NOW and meaningful, and how normal it is to live like that, though for many people it would feel strange and extravagant... It's like eating fresh carrots instead of a carrot cake for me now!

Well, let's see when and where I will do the same! Hm, though I have to discuss the "snow-bathing" option with Mr.D. :) may be we can change it into sun-bathing on the sea-side hehe...

Simple living high thinking

I've been dreaming of downshifting for some few good years now: living outside on a sustainable farm, having goats and growing sunflowers, making my own bread and jams, being dependent on seasons, listening to the Moon and just connecting to the roots (our gramma was from a village in Southern Russia and I still remember the taste of fresh figues, smell of real tomatoes and the pain in my hands beating butter). Simple living - easy thinking, right? Total locavoring, not asking for more than you need, being grateful for every small thing coming from the Earth to your table, feeling the tastes and the smells right in their origins... And do you know what? I happened to spend one night in such a place here in India. A little paradise between Rerih's fields, a small settlement with ten clay houses with members of one clan-family living there (hm, though they were around fifty if you count all the aunties and all the kids!). Ananda, my friend from vipassana center in Dharamkot, invited me to his place after my vipassana-sitting in Dehradun and I managed to make my way through the mountains (3 hours on a jeep) to spend one eve in this beautiful, full of love house. 

During the monsoon they grow corn, potatoes and even their own dhal (lentils). They have 7 cows (read milk, curd, butter, lassi), no running water, one bed for 5 family members and they live totally with the sun. They also treat their guests like gods - hm, add to that the fact that I was the first foreigner to visit the house! The whole family followed me around the settlement and children would stare at me and laugh hiding behind their fathers if I'd look at them, oh, and one poor little boy cried of fear just because I wanted to talk to him! 

The food was the yammiest here in India, because it was ALL (except some potatoes) grown with their own hands and prepared in a very simple way on the open fire - no gaz!: rice, dhal, curd, veggies, lassi, corn chapaties... I left the house blissed and all melted, thinking of how peaceful and happy the whole family was - four generations living together (and special topic is children - I don't think that things like "terrible twos" or "sensitive child" or tantrums or any kind of disrespect towards parents or each other exist - seriously, this could be a separate discussion...). 

So now thinking of THE place for my dreams to come true...