All About Life

Our Nature cure camp happened between 8th Jan to 13th Jan, 2021 in Sadahna Forms near  Pollachi hosted by aKarma Life. The course was taught by Dr. Arun Sharma, a renowned teacher in the tradition of Acharya Laxmana Sarma, hailed as the father of Nature Cure in India.

A week before the course started, all of us participants got connected in an online group created by aKarma Life, wherein all the essentials needed for the camp were distinctly mentioned Now, the big day arrived and we all reached the camp, one by one with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.

We were given a hearty welcome by the volunteers there which gave us the warmth and hope on the first day itself.

Our batch is an enthusiastic one with 25 members (6 kids) in Level 1 program and around 10 people in a Level 2 program. The Level 1 program was in Tamil and Level 2 program happened in English.

After having a delicious lunch and settling in our rooms, we had our first session with Dr. Arun Sharma. The orientation session gave an idea of how the camp works and we came to know about the routine in the camp. So, from the second day we were adapted to the new routine and it was very simple and elegant.

Here comes our routine in the camp

6.30 am:

  • Warm up,
  • Jogging
  • Sun gazing,
  • Pranayama,
  • Yoga

And the session ends with Sharmaji’s insights.
We had our friends from level two program who assisted us in yoga poses.

8.00 am: Herbal/Green juice. Made using

  • Vilvam/Bilwa leaf,
  • Banana pith ,
  • Night shade,
  • Arugampul/Dhruva grass

8.30 am: Therapies like hip bath, Sunbath, and spine bath. Though the benefits of the these therapies were explained in Sharma ji’s session widely, we were given huge opportunities to experience all the therapies, first-hand everyday!

9.30 am : Our morning breakfast is a mono fruit such as

  • Papaya,
  • Sapptoa,
  • Guava
  • Banana,
  • Papaya smoothie

10 am: Our morning session began at 10 am. And session with Sharma ji was full of humour, Lots of stories and intellectual questions. The person next to us was one of the biggest resource we had in the camp and we got to learn from each and every question which our friends asked.

12.30 pm: We could volunteer for Salad preparation and kitchen work. And this is the place where we learn practically a lot. The learning in the session can be applied here, very vividly.

1.30 pm : Lunch(raw vegan salad),

  • Carrot, capsicum, tomato, coconut, lettuce
  • Cucumber, lettuce, tomato, coconut, coriander
  • One day fasting
  • Raw vegan Sandwich with peanut butter, chutney and wood apple jam.
  • Beetroot, cucumber, coconut, tomato,
  • 3 pm: Afternoon session with Sharma ji starts. We learnt from basics to thesis about Nature cure in his sessions.

5.30 pm: We can volunteer for cooking and cleaning. Each of volunteered in different units in cooking and unite at the end of the day and share the recipes.

7.00 pm: Dinner time .We are blessed to have varieties on each day like,

  • Sprouted millet idlis, with Satvic Sambar,
  • Cluster beans poriyal and Sattvic aviyal,
  • Yummy millet porridge with lots of veggies and sweet potato.
  • Vegetable soup enriched with whole vegetables.
  • Vegetable brown wheat Upma,
  • Capsicum and potato koottu/Stew.And the final day, what we had is a grand feast in an NC way. Among them Thayir Vadai/Dhahi vada was the icing on the cake. Blessed to have an opportunity to learn all the recipes from volunteers.Most of the fruits, veggies, grains and legumes we had were organic.

  8.00 pm: We met together for Satsangh along with Sharma ji and enjoyed singing Bhajans and dance performances from our peers. We had visual treats from our friends Lakshmi, and Tulika didi who performed classical dances. And our kids too expressed themselves.

 

 

 

 

Special memories:

Fasting day is the day we all wish to freeze it for lifetime .Yes we fasted till 4 pm and no wonder it turned out to be the most energetic day in our life. This day started with the Sharma ji’s lecture on five fold elements and how to intake it in our day to day life. Then we played a naming game, followed by chasing game and then we went outdoors to feast on ether where we got a chance to play in the river. Our fasting ended @ 4 pm by having the nectar which is the tender coconut and its water. And for dinner we had Vegetable soup. This turned out to be a life time experience for each one of us.

Since Pongal, the harvest festival was coming up, The final night at the camp was a festival .We celebrated with camp fire and music.

Our final day, in the camp was Bhogi festival, the day before Pongal. We celebrated by performing a skit that included all our team members on rhe theme of Nature cure. The director of the story was our very own Saravana Kumar Anna who assigned characters to kids too. And this was a memorable one. After this we took our test in the afternoon. At the end we had our Commemoration ceremony and received the certificate of completion from Sharma ji.

Life lessons:

Sadhana Forms  is filled with love and lots of guiding stars. Life lessons are been applied practically here. For instance, On food: Why to eat? When to eat? What to eat? How to eat? How to implement in our routine? Answers to all these questions have been experimented practically here. Its an experiential camp where what we learn and what we practice goes hand in hand.

Gratitude note:

Thanks much to all the volunteers in aKarma Life who are involved in this work of taking people on the path of holistic approach towards life.