Intermittent fasting for feasting
Time to take stock. We might think of ‘fasting’ and ‘foodie’ as being at odds. So what’s the connection with fulfillment and love and pleasure? […]
Buddhist Retreat Centre: flavour and mindfulness
Too many chefs. Zen food. Monkey thieves. Ensconced. Sangoma recipes. Kitchen wisdom. Tantric Tarts. A Thriller with Vanilla. Mouth Orgasm scale wisdom. Adam’s sourdough. Only […]
The CBT mouth orgasm scale
Eating mindfully is the key to healthy eating and no-diet weight loss. Zen memoir, Cravings, inspires CBT expert Helen Perry to share her unique and effective ‘conscious eating’ tool: the mouth orgasm scale.
Cravings: A Zen-inspired memoir…
In this insightful gem, journalist and life coach Wanda Hennig writes wisely, hilariously and sometimes poignantly about sex and food; living for three-and-a-half years at the San Francisco Zen Center; moving solo from one continent to another; meditation; creative mindfulness strategies and more. Cravings: A Zen-inspired memoir about sensual pleasures, freedom from dark places, and living and eating with abandon (Say Yes Press). Edition Two (Mouth Orgasm edition) published August 2017 (ISBN 9780996820523 paperback; ISBN 9780996820523 eBook).
Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots Durban
Singing and chanting Hare Krishna devotees of all ages—and the interested and curious—gather in Durban over Easter weekend to pull their three lofty chariots that sail along the beachfront festooned with thousands of flower garlands and billowing brilliantly colored fabric canopies. Travel blogger Wanda Hennig joins the devotees, who also prepare fresh vegetarian meals for the hungry. It’s a celebration.
Zen, mindfulness and overcoming depression
Current brain research and the discovery that neurons that fire together, wire together is producing concrete evidence for something Buddhist practitioners have maintained for centuries: the sustained practice of mindfulness can change the workings of the brain at a molecular level and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness. In light of this the San Francisco Zen Center has been offering mindfulness and depression workshops for the past ten years.
Plentiful: The Big Book of Buddha Food launch notes
Plentiful: The Big Book of Buddha Food (Jacana) is the Buddhist Retreat Center’s third cookbook. Plentiful was launched at Adams Bookstore in Durban by journalist and longtime Zen student Wanda Hennig. Plentiful’s chef is Paul Atkinson. Editor is Chrisi van Loon. Photographer is Angela Shaw.
Foodies and yogis head for South African Buddhist Retreat
Pudding and Prana had us do a lot of yoga with Amy Best and cooking demos (followed by eating) with Paul Atkinson. Vegetarian curries and a Moroccan stew. A beet and feta salad. A “bejeweled’ cous cous. Poached pears in a yummy rich chocolate baked pie topped with whipped cream blended with double-cream yogurt. All were recipes he had perfected while working in the Buddhist Retreat Center kitchen and were destined for Plentiful: The Big Book of Buddha Food (Jacana).
Laos 21: Cafe Ban Vat Sene Luang Prabang and how to travel solo
Almost stop in at a place called Chill. But not quite right, even though what “right” is, I won’t know, till I find it: a Lao breakfast menu at a pretty elegant place that also has a bakery. When I search I find it in my Rough Guide too. At Café Le Ban Vat Sene on Sakkaline Road I sit outside and order the Khai Jeun Jaeo Mak Len (omelet cooked with herbs and served with tomato relish, sun-dried beef and sticky rice) 30,000 kip and Lao coffee.
Laos 20. From Luang Prabang’s Delilah Cafe to Mount Phousi
At Delilah’s Cafe in Luang Prabang I order the Rough Guide brekker suggestion. The banana pancake that comes with lemon, ginger and cream and a Lao coffee. Here, like everywhere, there is WiFi. (Sometimes I doesn’t work but for the most part does).