#econest

Date: July 5, 2023 Yesterday, we tried this restaurant. This is a new restaurant at EcoNest, and I always see the restaurant full house when walk by. Khunya Thai Kitchen Seems like the chefs at Eco Botanic here participated some competitions. We also saw the chefs walking around in the restaurant and directed this and that.. teaching the waitress what to do… Ok let’s check out what we…

J’ai le plaisir de contribuer au blog d’une amie qui vient de terminer une formation d’animatrice en santé environnementale. Elle organise des ateliers interactifs pour apprendre à identifier et limiter les polluants afin de créer un environnement intérieur plus sain. www.econest.ch

by Jami Kelmenson

Yoga vacations are a great way to travel and when that vacation includes an inside look into a documentary that took 19 years to make, a rare glimpse of living in harmony with nature, and Michael Franti calling your downward dogs, well then you’ve got something close to bliss, Santa Fe style.

Ram Dass & Timothy Leary are “Dying to Know”

Depending on how old you are, and how spiritual you are, you may be stumped as to why I am mentioning these two in the same sentence. Hopefully, that will change with the release of the independent documentary by Gay Dillingham, “Dying to Know,” which, after making its debut at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2013, is currently seeking distribution. As a special event to kick off the 2nd Annual Santa Fe Yoga Festival, we were treated to a screening of the film followed by a Q&A with its director, who spent 19 loving years following these two men and documenting their stories, straight from their own mouths.

Gay Dillingham, Andrew Ungerleider, and Joanna Harcourt-Smith, a former wife of Timothy Leary

Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later known as the spiritual teacher and author, Ram Dass) met at Harvard University in the early 1960’s when they were both psychology professors. Leary became infamous over his quest for a better understanding of mind altering drugs, unwittingly igniting a global counter-culture movement. Alpert journeyed to the East and became known for the book “Be Here Now.” This film, narrated by Robert Redford, chronicles their shared triumphs and pains, as well as their unique friendship, and challenges us to reexamine the notions of who we’ve believed these two iconic figures to be, and whether their messages have relevance to the current generation. According to the director, “Whether you've heard of them or not they've changed your life and those of a generation.”

Ram Dass and Timothy Leary in their later years

Among other issues such as the war on drugs, personal choice, and the convergence of eastern and western thought, one of the movie’s key themes is the “taboo of death and dying.“ In their later years, with Leary battling lung cancer and Ram Dass recovering from a stroke, the two philosophical leaders tackle the most mysterious mind altering experience of them all. According to Ms. Dillingham, “We don’t have a natural relationship with death in our society, and that keeps us from living. As they age, this generation has the opportunity to shift this paradigm profoundly and we hope this film can help that movement.”

Seeing the film enhanced my understanding of their seemingly misunderstood quest to educate and enlighten the masses as to a level of consciousness that exists, one that inspires fear in most of us because we are so desperate to hang on to that which we know. All they were trying to do was make us all less afraid and more curious, more open, but perhaps fear is more powerful than knowledge. (Warning: this movie might bring out your philosophical tendencies.)

The Sound of Santa Fe Sunshine with Michael Franti & Tias Little

Everybody’s got to do some yoga…at least once a day…

Ok, those aren’t the lyrics but they should apply as the highlight of my five days in Santa Fe was seeing the spiritual rebel rocker Michael Franti rock not only the lawn at Fort Marcy Park, but an unplugged accompaniment to Tias Little’s “Yoga in the Ancient Flow” class at the Scottish Rite Temple. Okay, Tias is a master at slow flow but our group clearly wanted to move around and so he and Franti blissfully passed the asana baton back and forth so that we basked in Mr. Little’s soothing, “prajna”-based thoughtful approach while getting an intermittent shot of Franti-style adrenaline, a provocative yin to Mr. Little’s contemplative yang.

Read my full post on Michael Franti and Spearhead’s “Once a Day” tour date in Santa Fe.

Non-stop Zen in an “EcoNest” Built by the Littles

View from the front porch of the Little’s EcoNest

Forget the pueblos, forget the adobes, Tias Little knows how to live. His home and yoga studio, where he conducts “Prajna” Yoga teacher trainings and retreats, are made of clay, straw and timber. These simple “ingredients” transform one’s dwelling into an “EcoNest” – a holistically designed and hand-crafted natural home. It is this style of architecture, founded by Robert LaPorte and Paula Baker-LaPorte, “that deeply nurtures every aspect of human health in production, occupation, and post-habitation” as a natural, sustainable alternative to most industrialized living environments.

Me at the bambooed entrance to the yoga studio

Tias and his wife Surya were more than generous in sharing how they live in harmony with nature. These pictures say more than I ever could express in words, especially with the changing sunlight and clouds playing an integral role in the design.  

Bench fashioned after one at Ten Thousand Waves, the quintessential luxury spa inspired by the great mountain surroundings of Japan

Yoga Music Love

Katchie Ananda leads the closing meditation with body, mind and soaring voice. 

From my five days in Santa Fe, I can see that the people here are really happy. Maybe they’ve all spent some time with Timothy Leary in their day (and some of them indeed have), or maybe it’s the soothing sienna tones everywhere, or the chiles they put in everything (green or red, it’s like the west side of Central Park vs. the east – people are divided) or maybe, just maybe, it’s the yoga.

Santa Fe Yoga Festival Producer Kurt Young and Elite Events Group Founder Elana Maggal strike a pose.

Here are some highlights of my time on and around the mat at the 2nd Annual Santa Fe Yoga Festival, founded by Kurt Young and Pamela Serna. The unofficial theme of this year’s festival, which hosted local teachers Katchie Ananada, Tias & Surya Little, Shibana Singh, Yoga Ma Barbara, and more, was something we hear a lot about in New York, but never really master – taking the time to slow down, let yourself be who you are, hug your neighbor and listen to the sound of the sunshine. I’d say they’ve got all that down in Santa Fe.

The Union of Shiva and Shakti class with Shibana Singh

Michael Franti fans ready for his class.

Only in Santa Fe.

  Poppiin has falled head over heels in awe of Maria Hannaford's econest.

This has become one of our favourite and inspiring blogs to live a clean, green and conscious life.  We find ourselves constantly sending each other snippets of little econest pearls of wisdom on everything from quitting sugar, home + beauty detoxing to sustainability, fair farming and real food.

Thank you Maria for sharing your wisdom, passion and thoughts and for living a life that we all can aspire to.