Take-Aways

Healthy living, daily exercise and sleep, I figured I could do that for two days over the weekend. So, off to the Fragrant Hills, just on the outskirts of Beijing where the Yoga/Taichi retreat is situated. The Fragrant Hills are surprisingly close to the city and surprisingly fragrant. Green, lush and with a fabulous view over the city, they still feel far removed from the concrete jungle. Like in those science fiction movies where our hero stares down from a high and quiet place onto a city underneath a big glass dome. The retreat is a non-profit scheme where you can either pay to take lessons or volunteer your own knowledge in exchange for room and board. The house is Gyan Giri’s proud possession and project. It is a handsome and solid mass of stone and wood with a central inner courtyard decked with glass ornamented with pebbles and lanters giving it both a new Age and a Chinese feel. It’s communal, welcoming and clearly a little haven. I have come here for the Taichi. It is very hot but I am to have my session with the master. We go up on the hill on a little clearing and although I look as though I have already have had a thorough workout, the Taichi master, in his white satin Chinese outfit, looks like he just came out of an air-conditioned spa. Taichi looks so easy, so effortless and like everything that looks that way, it is anything but. It takes concentration, a lot of it as the movements have to be executed just so. Neither too fast nor to slow, with total awareness of the body and even command over ones eyes and thoughts. It is a meditation in motion. Just as in Kung Fu of which it is a part, you need to learn a form and execute it to perfection. It takes years and years of practise and countless repetition and it’s a ballet in slow motion. Exquisite! The other revelation of the retreat is the exclusively vegetarian food. I have nothing against vegetables, quite the contrary but I was astounded at what Chinese cooking can do with it, It makes you wonder why this country is so impossible for vegetarians. The meals were bountiful with up to ten different dishes at each sitting and all competed for originality and taste. Overall I had a wonderful time largely spending it asleep in the courtyard or in my pretty little room. Particularly since Gyan introduced us to a branch of meditation that consists of laying on the floor and relaxing every bit of your body for half an hour during which one of the participants entertained us with the most amazing snore. I am sleepy now just thinking about it. It made me think that if ever I were to become a proud resident of this city I would definitely like to spend one weekend a month up in these hills. www.mountainyoga.cn