After spending two exciting days in New York, we flew to Massachusetts to attend a week-long Macrobiotic workshop. Macrobiotics is often referred to as the Macrobiotic Diet, but it really is more than just a diet. Unlike other diets like the Zone Diet, the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet where the focus is on loosing weight, the focus of Macrobiotics is very different and there is a whole philosophy behind this way of eating. One of the main goals in Macrobiotics is to create balance in the body and thus overall health and well being. So the main emphasis is on health while using food as medicine.
I (Sam) have known about Macrobiotics for a while now, but only became seriously interested in this way of eating and philosophy a few months ago when an existing health condition worsened. In a desperate need to feel better, I started doing more reading and research, and the more I learned about Macrobiotics, the more everything started resonating with me. More importantly, I started to incorporate some of the Macrobiotic principles and foods in my diet and started seeing small but significant changes, especially in my energy levels. With this new interest in Macrobiotics and seeing first hand how it is helping me, I thought that perhaps this is something I should study further. Before committing to this study program in Massachusetts, we thought it would be a good idea to take a workshop and see if this is really something I want to do. Hence one of our main reasons for attending this workshop.
After spending a week at the workshop and after having a most unforgettable experience (we met so many wonderful people and learned so much), I (Sam) have decided to go back to Massachusetts to study further. When I go back in September (until December), I will be required to take 5 subjects - Macrobiotic Philosophy, Macrobiotic Healing, Macrobiotic Cooking, Shiatsu and Oriental Diagnosis (using the face, tongue and hands to detect illness in the body). The learning curve will be steep because I am not familiar with most of these subjects, but it should also be interesting and in the end hopefully rewarding.
The institute itself is in a very natural setting away from major cities. The founders purposely wanted this, so that it could serve as a peaceful retreat. The main house of the institute used to be a hunter's lodge, while the dormitory building used to be a Franciscan Monastery. While studying there, I will be living in the dormitory for part of the time and also in the main house.
I (Sam) have known about Macrobiotics for a while now, but only became seriously interested in this way of eating and philosophy a few months ago when an existing health condition worsened. In a desperate need to feel better, I started doing more reading and research, and the more I learned about Macrobiotics, the more everything started resonating with me. More importantly, I started to incorporate some of the Macrobiotic principles and foods in my diet and started seeing small but significant changes, especially in my energy levels. With this new interest in Macrobiotics and seeing first hand how it is helping me, I thought that perhaps this is something I should study further. Before committing to this study program in Massachusetts, we thought it would be a good idea to take a workshop and see if this is really something I want to do. Hence one of our main reasons for attending this workshop.
After spending a week at the workshop and after having a most unforgettable experience (we met so many wonderful people and learned so much), I (Sam) have decided to go back to Massachusetts to study further. When I go back in September (until December), I will be required to take 5 subjects - Macrobiotic Philosophy, Macrobiotic Healing, Macrobiotic Cooking, Shiatsu and Oriental Diagnosis (using the face, tongue and hands to detect illness in the body). The learning curve will be steep because I am not familiar with most of these subjects, but it should also be interesting and in the end hopefully rewarding.
The institute itself is in a very natural setting away from major cities. The founders purposely wanted this, so that it could serve as a peaceful retreat. The main house of the institute used to be a hunter's lodge, while the dormitory building used to be a Franciscan Monastery. While studying there, I will be living in the dormitory for part of the time and also in the main house.
Our Group
When we signed up for this workshop, we really weren't sure what kind of people we would have in our group. We suspected that we might be taking the workshop with a lot of sick and elderly people. After all Macrobiotics has had some success with Cancer recovery and other illnesses, and many people come here because this is their last hope outside of allopathic medicine. To our surprise, our group turned out to be a mixed bag. Not only were we not the youngest (there were 3 people who were in their late teens/early twenties), but we were not the only Canadians either (there was one other Canadian couple). We also had 3 South Africans in our group, who had flown all the way from South Africa for this workshop (this is the last place we expected to meet South Africans!).
Of our group of 25, 6 people had serious illnesses - 2 with Stage 4 Colon Cancer, 2 with Crohn's disease, 1 with a brain tumour and 1 with a blood disease. The rest of us were either there to learn more or deal with less serious conditions. Despite the fact that some people in our group were dealing with serious illnesses, there was so much happiness, hope and camaraderie that it was truly an enriching experience. One of the facilitators of our workshop made the comment that she had never met a group who laughed as much as we did (we really enjoyed each other's company and had so much fun while learning a lot). We have all decided to keep in touch with each other and one of the participants has even set up a Facebook page for our group, so that we have a platform to keep in touch, share information and communicate.
When we signed up for this workshop, we really weren't sure what kind of people we would have in our group. We suspected that we might be taking the workshop with a lot of sick and elderly people. After all Macrobiotics has had some success with Cancer recovery and other illnesses, and many people come here because this is their last hope outside of allopathic medicine. To our surprise, our group turned out to be a mixed bag. Not only were we not the youngest (there were 3 people who were in their late teens/early twenties), but we were not the only Canadians either (there was one other Canadian couple). We also had 3 South Africans in our group, who had flown all the way from South Africa for this workshop (this is the last place we expected to meet South Africans!).
Of our group of 25, 6 people had serious illnesses - 2 with Stage 4 Colon Cancer, 2 with Crohn's disease, 1 with a brain tumour and 1 with a blood disease. The rest of us were either there to learn more or deal with less serious conditions. Despite the fact that some people in our group were dealing with serious illnesses, there was so much happiness, hope and camaraderie that it was truly an enriching experience. One of the facilitators of our workshop made the comment that she had never met a group who laughed as much as we did (we really enjoyed each other's company and had so much fun while learning a lot). We have all decided to keep in touch with each other and one of the participants has even set up a Facebook page for our group, so that we have a platform to keep in touch, share information and communicate.
The Food
We were provided with 3 varied Macrobiotic meals a day and the food was both healthy and nutritious. The food was served buffet style and the dishes were set up so that all the dishes on the left-hand side of the table were for those trying to heal (contained less oil and salt), while the dishes on the right-hand side were for those in good health and the ones in the middle were for everyone. Some of the food was a little bland in the beginning, but by the end of the week we were really enjoying the meals and finding them delicious. The best thing was how great the food made us feel - very clean inside and energized. It took one bad meal on the plane coming home, to make us decide that we really want to continue eating this way and fortunately we have been able to keep up the momentum since returning home.
We were provided with 3 varied Macrobiotic meals a day and the food was both healthy and nutritious. The food was served buffet style and the dishes were set up so that all the dishes on the left-hand side of the table were for those trying to heal (contained less oil and salt), while the dishes on the right-hand side were for those in good health and the ones in the middle were for everyone. Some of the food was a little bland in the beginning, but by the end of the week we were really enjoying the meals and finding them delicious. The best thing was how great the food made us feel - very clean inside and energized. It took one bad meal on the plane coming home, to make us decide that we really want to continue eating this way and fortunately we have been able to keep up the momentum since returning home.
Cooking Classes
Food and cooking forms a very large part of Macrobiotics and thus there is a lot of emphasis on ingredients and cooking methods. We had a cooking class everyday and were taught how to make a variety of Macrobiotic meals, desserts and remedies. The great thing is that we got a copy of all the recipes and we got to sample everything.
Food and cooking forms a very large part of Macrobiotics and thus there is a lot of emphasis on ingredients and cooking methods. We had a cooking class everyday and were taught how to make a variety of Macrobiotic meals, desserts and remedies. The great thing is that we got a copy of all the recipes and we got to sample everything.
Hands-on Cooking Class
On our last day, we had a hands-on cooking class where we learned how to make rice rolls with brown rice, nori, pickles, vegetables and tempeh. We got to wrap them up and take them with us upon our departure and they turned out to be a wonderful snack/meal for our long trip back to Singapore.
On our last day, we had a hands-on cooking class where we learned how to make rice rolls with brown rice, nori, pickles, vegetables and tempeh. We got to wrap them up and take them with us upon our departure and they turned out to be a wonderful snack/meal for our long trip back to Singapore.
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