Weekday veganism.

On the recent retreat I went on, the food provided to the guests was vegetarian/vegan, gluten-free, and without refined sugars.  I felt great while I was on the retreat and have definitely tried to incorporate some of what I learned while there into my day-to-day life. Having developed such a strong rapport and understanding of the foods I eat lately, I was reading about becoming a weekday vegetarian (I am already a vegetarian), and thought I would hijack the concept and instead become a "weekday vegan"- a.k.a. a "wegan".  I have many issues - health-related, environmental, and moral - with eating dairy and eggs, but I also love dairy and eggs so much that the weekday vegan diet is as good a compromise as I can draw.

I was a vegan for almost exactly a year when I was in university.  It was horrible.  All I thought about was food.  "What am I going to eat next?  What is in this?  Can I eat it?  I wish I could eat ___________."  By the time I broke my vegan "fast", I had so much repressed desire for eggs and dairy that I think I may have gone over the top!  And stayed there!  I now eat quite a bit of dairy, and usually ingest a fair amount of eggs in my baking and even sometimes in a frittata or other egg dish.

Despite my love of dairy, I have my questions about eating the milk of another species.  And then there are issues with pus in milk.  I have a feeling that I will never stop eating (or drinking) either of them again, but my concerns are sufficient to make me think that I don't need to eat or drink them as consistently as I have been.

As for the environmental concerns, just because we don't eat the animals doesn't mean that they don't produce waste, require feeding to sustain, and produce more greenhouse gases than transportation.  Really, for the environmentally conscious, it is a important to consider cutting down on the animal products we consume.

My first week of being a weekday vegan is now coming to a close (it's Friday night, so Saturday and Sunday I will be able to eat dairy and eggs).  I really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that for a celebratory dinner that we are going to tomorrow that I got to choose the venue of, I chose Organic Lives, a raw, organic, vegan restaurant in Vancouver.  I am also considering starting to make my own almond milk so that I can use that in place of the skim milk I normally drink so much of, which is by far the largest source of dairy in my diet.  Again, I have no intention whatsoever of stopping eating cheese and milk permanently, I just want to eat less of both.  I must admit, I feel really terrific, so I would chalk my first week of being a weekday vegan a complete success!

Meditation.

As you may remember, last week I went to my first silent meditation retreat.  I had an excellent time and really made a lot of progress with my meditation.  I've been meditating passively for years, but have always had a hard time with it and have never had much success on my own.  I am happy to say that I think that may have changed now.  I still enjoy group meditation because it causes you to be more structured, but I feel more capable of sitting down to meditate on my own now that I've received some instruction.  I would like to share a few things that I have learned about meditation that work for me, but I remind you: everyone is so different, try as many things as you can and I can guarantee you will find something that works well for you.

First of all, meditation is the ultimate eco-nomical activity, as it is both environmentally friendly and wallet-friendly.  Technically, if you are interested in pursuing a meditation practice, the only things you need are to be alive, to have a space to sit, and a pillow, block, or even a book to sit on in the event that you cannot sit comfortably without a bit of added support (more on this below).  There are infinite resources on the internet telling about various methods of meditation, including webpages, free podcasts, even some online books that are free.  There are free meditation classes available through many Buddhist groups, and they are very accepting and welcoming, even if you don't identify as Buddhist.  If you're willing to spend a little extra money, you can buy even more resources brand new, or try searching Craigslist for things you might be interested in that are second-hand.  In particular, meditation pillows or blocks to sit on or meditation benches are easily available.

Retreat.

I just returned from my five day silent meditation and yoga retreat and I am very pleased to say that it was excellent!  It occurred at the Dharma Fellowship Hermitage on Denman Island (off the coast of Vancouver Island).  The retreat took place in a Buddhist Monastery.  I didn't really know what to expect, to be honest, but it met or surpassed my expectations completely.

I arrived at about 11:00 pm, after having terrible luck with the ferries on the way over.  I listened to many Buddhist podcasts in the car on the way over, which passed the time nicely.  When I arrived, there were still two gentlemen that were there and working on building a "yuti", or small hut, that retreat guests stay in.  I had a bit of a hard time locating the place, and even once I found the property, had a hard time finding the main building.  It was quite dark and the property is very large (60 acres).  Nonetheless, I did find it eventually, and I was taken to my own yuti, where I was to sleep during the retreat.  I met another one of the retreat guests that also arrived around the same time as I did as well as one woman that had been staying at the Hermitage for a couple months and meditating.

My hut

Vacation.

For the eco-conscious and frugal people out there like myself, the topic of vacation has always been a bit of a challenge.  Don't get me wrong - I love getting away and taking a break from "normal" life - but I often choose not to because of how expensive it can be.  Until recently, I feel that the environment was an important consideration when it comes to vacation, but I'm starting to think otherwise.  Think of the waste inherent in resorts and hotels, the carbon footprint left behind from any air travel, the questionable practices used by the tourism industries in most vacation destinations and the low quality foods you would most likely be ingesting during your stay.  And this doesn't even take into account the quality of the alcohol in the place that you are visiting - if you drink - because in places like Mexico, the alcohol is of a much lower standard so has far more impurities than in the US or Canada.

There are a few ways to make your vacation more eco-friendly, and many ways to make it less expensive.  There is a movement towards eco-tourism, which is billed as responsible travel that can be educational, low impact and usually small scale.  I have not taken any eco-tours, so I can't say much about them, but they are an option.

Something I am more interested in is agri-tourism, which seems to be more along the lines of where my passions are.  There is something called WWOOF ("World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms") where you can go and work at a farm and in exchange receive food and lodging.  Some will charge a fee and some won't, depending on the amount of work that you are willing to do!  This is an invaluable way to learn more about how to grow your own food and feel more connected to the earth.  Many placed that you would visit are removed from city life and have the peaceful, relaxing feeling of a place you might visit on vacation, you just will do some work each day.  I figure since it's not the work I do for a living, it probably won't feel like real work.  Plus there is just so much to learn.

Another idea, if you are interested in meditation and/or yoga, is to escape to a Buddhist meditation retreat.  I am leaving for a five day silent meditation retreat on Denman Island today, which I am looking forward to immensely.  The accommodations are rustic (I will be staying in an 8' x 10' hut with no heat, water or electricity, but the main facilities have all of these things), but the purpose is to learn about meditation and yoga, which I think would be a terrific thing to do for a few days.  There is no requirement that you be a Buddhist to attend, and the retreat is by donation.  So you give what you can (and only at the end after you can properly evaluate the usefulness of the experience).  I love the idea and I'll let you know how it goes.

Finally, one last idea I've come across which I would love to do if I could get more time off work is to do a vacation where you go somewhere exotic and volunteer at a sanctuary of some sort.  For instance, in Costa Rica there is a sloth rescue where you can volunteer and for $30/day receive food and lodging.  You would work from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day and have one day off per week, so it is not a vacation for the unmotivated amongst us!  There is a minimum stay required of two weeks, but for $420 plus travel costs, you can have a truly rewarding trip!  I'm definitely keeping that one in mind for the next time I have some extra time off!