Tokyo oh Tokyo, I truly felt in love with you. You are not just a crazy wild city full of Pokemon’s and Hello kitty but you are also very very CLEAN and GREEN. And that with a population of about 14 million people and nearly no rubbish bins. How the heck does this work?? Easy! The people in Japan are just doing what is common sense and clean up the mess they make. This is how it`s supposed to be, right?!

But there is so much more..

.. all these beautiful parks, we strolled through, each day a different one. On some days even two. Filled with little lakes, tea houses and perfectly cut bonsai trees and of course parkways of cherry trees with people having picnics underneath… now thinking of it makes me wanna go back on an instant. 

What makes Tokyo so interesting I think, are its many contrasts. You can either quietly sip a cup of green tea in Hamarikyu garden overlooking the pond or have a matcha latte in Ginza district while watching people in their Armani suits passing by. You can either get lost in the endless mass of Shibuya crossing or go up to 350m and above and watch people look like ants. You can either go crazy on electronic in Akihabara or eat crazy colored cotton candy in Harajuku street. You can eat traditional bean cake in the old town of Asakusa or have cake with Alice in Wonderland in Ikebukuro.

All this makes Tokyo so bright and totally worth a visit! There is so much more to tell but this time I want to give you mainly an idea where to head for veggies. Being Vegetarian / Vegan in Tokyo is still kind of tricky so being prepared and knowing where to go definitely helps and prevents you from starving.

There is at least one vegetarian dish available in nearly each restaurant but when you are unlucky you just get stuck with rice. That`s why I am happy to share with you a couple of places we have been too as well our absolute favorite coffee shop. 

8tablish (Minato)

This is a more pricy version of vegan restaurant but the atmosphere is amazing and the food just delicious. Especially their fancy ice cream creations like bergamot lavender or salted caramel. 

Afuri (Ebisu)

The real deal and a must try when you are in town. A traditional Japanese Ramen bar close to Meguro River. Here you feel like a local and the best, you can watch them prepare everything from scratch. Even if there is only one vegan option available but, those Rainbow Ramen will definitely blow your mind. Best Ramen I ever had so far. Chris agrees 🙂

Ain Soph. Ripple (Shinjuku)

This place is a hidden gem and the perfect breakfast spot. Relaxed atmosphere, yummy burgers and mouth-wathering pancakes. If you are craving for sweets, try out their variety of cookies!

 

Ts Tan Tan (Tokyo Station)

It took us a while to find this spot but the long search was totally worth it. Great place to enjoy a bowl of tasty Soba noodles and complimentary green tea while watching the hustle and bustle at Tokyo`s biggest hub.  

 

Doutor

Is a coffee and tea chain spread all around Japan. You can literally find them everywhere. The right corner to grab some breakfast to go or enjoy it right were you are. Also nearly the only coffee/tea shop where you can order a non dairy matcha. 

Here just a few more places we wanted to check out but didn`t had the time left to do it. So whenever you are in Tokyo, try them and tell me what you think. Happy about any feedback 🙂

• Loving Hut
• Nagi Shokudo
• Deva Deva Café
• OHANA from earth Café
• Veganic to go

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What I love about Yoga? That you can do it really ANYTIME EVERYWHERE.. even on a tiny plane!! If you follow our journey / life more frequently you might observe, that we spend quite a bit of it in it, so to make flying more convenient I will share some easy yoga stretches you can do anytime during your flight. Of course you will have more space in First or Business Class but if you are like me traveling the cheap way, it might become a bit of a challenge 🙂

Start with bringing your right arm on top of your left. Grab your left thumb or bring your palms together. Point your fingertips to the ceiling and draw your shoulders down and away from your ears. If you have enough space you can also wrap your left leg around your right. Stay for a couple of breaths before you change side.

To mobilize the spine after long sitting Twists are the perfect choice. Take a deep inhale and twist to the left – your left hand takes hold on to the seat while your right hand reaches for the arm rest. Keep your spine upright while you twist. On each exhale deepen the twist a bit more. Slowly unfold and change side.

Sit upright and draw your tailbone in. Embrace your elbows in the back and pull your shoulders down. If you find enough space between the seats, bend forward on your next exhale. Stay there for a couple of breaths.

Sit upright and bring your hands on your lower back. Pull the shoulders down and in. To deepen this pose, point your fingers upwards.

Tilt your neck to the right, so that your right ear comes closer to your right shoulder. Bring your right hand on your left ear and push with your left hand against the seat. Feel the stretch on your left neck and take in a couple of breaths before you switch side.

Keep your left knee bent while lifting your right leg up. Straighten your right leg as much as possible and take hold of your foot, your lower leg or thigh. Inhale and pull your leg a bit closer towards your chest. Stay for some breaths before your switch sides. If this version doesn`t work for you due to tight hamstrings or less space just bend your knees and pull them to your chest. Hold for a couple of minutes.

In addition to some tight plane yoga, I suggest to move your legs as much as possible.. walking in the aisle a couple of times or lifting your heels and wiggling your toes while watching a movie. And even more important: Drink plenty of fluids!!! To make flying even more convenient and prevent further jet lag symptoms check out my article here. 

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Ayurveda defines jetlag as a state of excess Vata energy in our organism. Vata is known as the motion principle and consists of the natural forces of air and space. On long flights these forces strongly act on us and lead to an accumulation of Vata. Therefore it is recommended to reduce the characteristics of Vata before, during or after the flight.

Vata properties are: mobile, dry, light, rough, subtle & cold. By using the polarity properties like heavy, slow, oily, warm, grounding, soothing and softening, we help the organism find back to it`s natural balance.

1. Oil massage

Sesame oil is the VATA oil no. 1 – it warms the body, stimulates the metabolism and has a calming effect on our nervous system. So ideal would be do this before and/or after your trip.

First warm the oil in a pot (not in the microwave). Then oil yourself from top to bottom. Maybe even use a body brush for that. If time allows, wrap yourself in a bathrobe and let it soak for about 30 minutes. If time is tight, take a warm shower and make sure you are using a mild (best unscented) body wash to keep the effect up. If a full body oil massage is not possible, a short foot massage after your arrival can already work miracles.

2. Sufficient Water

The dryness of Vata gets amplified when stayed in a dry area such as an aircraft. But this we can counteract by drinking regularly small amounts of hot water. I always bring my own water bottle which I fill up as soon as I enter the airplane. I too bring some tea bags, preferred ginger tea since it has a warming effect on our body and helps to aid digestion. Skip the soda and alcohol as they are both dehydrating. In Ayurveda a salty taste calms our nervous system and Vata, therefore simply order a glass of tomato juice after boarding.

3. Right nutrition

Whenever possible, away from from airplane food! These are neither fresh nor yummy. They also contain lots of flavor enhancers which disturb Vata even more.

The best would be to enjoy a hot, satisfying meal right before departure while bringing plenty of snacks with you! I ALWAYS bring some raw chocolate or musli bars, dates, dried berries and nuts.

Upon arrival, the ideal dishes would be soups, curries or stews with root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots. They warm from the inside out while gently soothing and grounding Vata.

4. Rhythm

When in the plane, it would be advisable to already set your watch to the time of your arrival destination. So you can already get a feeling for the day and night time and maybe even manage to adjust your sleep after it. Try to definitely catch some sleep since that is probably the best most proven remedy against jetlag.

Upon arrival try as soon as possible to adapt to the natural rhythm of your destination even if that means sleeping with open eyes or forcing yourself to stay up late!

5. Move!

Get up and walk around the plane about every two hours to keep the circulation flowing and to avoid blood clots. I additionally wear compression tights on really long flights over 6 hours.

After the flight try to get some fresh air, have a walk through the park or on the beach which will help to eliminate fatigue.

And of course there is Yoga. Which truly kicks every jet lag in the butt. Check out my JETLAG YOGA SEQUENCE for a short practice after travelling.

Hope these tips help you as much as they help me 🙂

H A P P Y  H O L I D A Y !

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If you have ever been to Sri Lanka, you know that the people there are more than pleased to welcome you with their open hearts and bright smiles.

Lucky me, the trip from Penang Island via Kuala Lumpur to Colombo just took about 3 hours.

Time I spent with reading, counting clouds and exchanging stories with strangers. As I arrived at the tiny airport in Colombo, I was reminded to my days back in Indonesia. The airport was simple and easy manageable which helped a lot while arranging the papers for my tourist visa. Since I already applied for it online two days before my departure I just had to fill out the arrival card and was through immigrations 10 minutes later. Waiting for my driver took a bit longer.

Half an our of asian rubber time later, I was sitting in an air-conditioned car while holding a nice little welcome bag in my hands. A small bag filled with a bottle of water and a tiny cushion presented by my driver.

” We have a bit of a drive in front of us” , he told me and smiled.

So I took of my shoes and made myself as comfortable as possible while enjoying the sightseeing through my back window. Busy little roads, markets filled with all different kinds of fruits, kids playing football right next to street.. yes this country truly reminds me of my life on Java.

Two hours later I arrived happy and excited at the hotel in Beruwala. As I walked into the entrance hall I immediately liked the modern and open but still traditional concept of the hotel. I had a really early flight and arrived at the hotel around 12 noon. So I checked in and already enjoyed my first and very delicious lunch sharing it together with my little chipmunk friends. The Rooms are simple but nice and reach from one bedroom to twin beds over to sea view bungalows, so you can choose whatever your heart desires.

My very first appointment was set at 2pm where I met with my doctor who also remained my contact person for the rest of my stay. So after pulse and tongue diagnoses and a couple of questions later she confirmed my Dosha ( Ayurvedic Type of Personality ) and my treatment plan was set. I was ready to go.

– <<< – << – <<< – << – <<< – << – <<< – << – <<< –

M Y   U S U A L   D A Y

6.00 am Morning Yoga

8.00 am Breakfast

7.30 am Accupuncture

–  Resting Time – 

10.00 am Fresh juice

10.45 am Full body oil massage

11.15 am Herbal stamps

11.30 am Steam bath

12.00 pm Herbal packs

12.30 pm Herbal bath

13.00 pm Lunch

 – Resting Time – 

17.00 Thai Chi

19.00 Dinner

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Special treatments like Shirodhara where often placed towards the afternoon around 3pm. Shirodhara is a really gentle ayurvedic application to clear your head and strengthen your Intuition. This method can heal eye diseases, Sinusitis,  Insomnia, Tinitus, Vertigo and many more. The name Shirodhare comes from the Sanskrit words shirt ( head ) and dharma ( flow ). Here warm oil is poured over your forehead which ends in soft tripping on the point between your eyebrows, the place of your third eye chakra. The whole process is done for about 20 minutes two days in a row. During this time you are not allow to shower but get a chic turban instead ( to wear for 2 days ). Sounds silly.. but is a true blissful experience!

3pm was also another time to remember since that`s the time where the herbal pills and tonic`s were ready to pick up. You also didn`t want to miss out tea break at 3.30pm which was a nice opportunity to get in touch with other participants at Barberyn.

In the  afternoon you could again join different activities like Yoga or Thai Chi where I finally signed up for my first class and super enjoyed it. While yoga was held inside a wonderful spacious yoga shala with hindu paintings all over the place, Thai Chi like it open air and was held on an amazing rooftop pavilion overlooking the sea ( amazing sundowns!! ) If you feel not to tired you have also the possibility to go on organized day trips around Beruwala.

Dinner was served à la carte while for breakfast and lunch you could choose from a big buffet with a wide range of Sri Lankan goodies inspired by Ayurvedic cuisine. Since you were treated on all levels you might get certain food recommendations while an advice against others. On your table was your daily herbal medicine together with an information tag about your health condition. To keep this information personal but still inform the waiters and dietitians, everything is written in their local language Tamil. So have fun decoding it 😉

Long story short my summary at the end:

I would totally recommend this retreat to anybody who is interested in Ayurveda and wants to keep up a balanced healthy life! Even if I saw really fancy newer looking Ayurveda hotels down the beach, I would book this hotel without an eye wink again. Knowing that Barberyn Reef was the first Ayurveda Hotel in Sri Lanka, I felt good hands. In total I stayed there for 7 full days but would definitely recommend to stay a minimum of 10 days. The best would even be to have 2 full weeks to get the best results out of your treatments. Of course I made some pictures for you, but less than I wanted since most of the time I was covered in oil.

For a more detailed Information please have a look on their personal website

 www.barberynresorts.com

If you are interested to learn more about Ayurveda? Then stay tuned for my next blog post coming soon!

L O V E & Healing

yours Lisa

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How to make flying (more) comfortable? With the right equipement of course, like you would plant to hike up on the top of a mountain. So today I would like to share my always on board airplane essentials which make flying so much more comfortable. No matter where I go.. those things are ALWAYS in my handbag!

Fight rule number one! WATER! Therefore I always bring a reusable water bottle which I let fill up as soon as I enter the airplane. So I don`t have to squeeze over my neighbors lab every time I want to fill up my tiny little cup or I have to wait endless hours the flight attendants to their job. So now I just have to squeeze out when I have to pi which yeah.. happens when you drink plenty of water.

I normally also buy some vitamin water, just to fill me up with additional magnesium while sitting for a longer period of time. There are nowadays too many on the market, most of them filled with tons of sugar so have a  good look before you buy it! I like the Glaceau vitamin water, available at Starbucks, so nearly everywhere to get, still a bit sugary but far less than others. Another brand I like is Ganic, even less sweet but more difficult to get.

Snacks like NutZ! For a quick energy boost and to avoid the scary arising of hangriness!

A book because I never leave the house without it. I always read, even while standing in the line right before boarding. My journal because I have this thing when my head goes up in the air, it kind of triggers my brain and I get flashy ideas which I have to write down before they get lost in the open space..haha!

A pair of socks, preferred the handmade ones from grandma because I always freeze in airplanes no matter how much I wear. And of course my headphones with an accurate travel playlist which is now up on SPOTIFY!.

Sure I bring a toothbrush and some chewing gum, but the healthy version of it. There are already many natural chewing gums out there. My favorite one is XYLITOL gum from Miradent in the flavor of cinnamon which I always stock up when I am back home in Austria. Xylitol is a natural sweetener made out of birch trees, which is also found in fruits and veggies as well in the human metabolism.

Herbal tea bags to put me to sleep faster (what the hell is in there!?!) and my sleeping mask (ideally made from cotton).

A must bring is essential oil like peppermint which helps against travel sickness, headache, an upset stomach and it clears the mind after a leak of sleep. I also like to bring a aroma roll on which is easy to apply and helps to relax. My current favorite is the Stress fix von Aveda. 

Any kind of deo without aluminium. This is hard to get in Asia, so I always bring some from home. I truly like Sante, because they are able to give the deos a nice smell even they are organic.

A hand cream definitely makes your flight and hands happier. One of my absolute favorite brands at the moment is Pangea Organics. I love the products, all of it. Australia truly knows how to rule the organic cosmetic market but unfortunately also the price. Right now I use Chilean Rosehip with Tamanu & Red Clover. My lips get usually try when I am in planes, so I bring a lip balm as well. I really like the products from Burt`s bees. 

I have really sensitive eyes so I always bring along some natural eye drops to fight against the dryness and prevents them from getting red. When I have not enough sleep my eyes tend to get puffy so for that I love to use a eye cooling roll on. The brand I use is No Puffery von Origins. I bring as well a sea salt nose spray for a proper breathing during the flight..  and of course don’t` forget to bring your passport!!

You can see, I have a big handbag 🙂 Anyway, the more you travel either via car, plane or train, you will get more familiar with what YOUR body really needs! I am not an advertiser for brands neither do I want to become one! I even don`t have a lot of products which I use on a regular basis. I just take what is natural, feels good and whatever I find on my way. My device is: If it nourishes you stick with it! But be flexible while you travel because certain things might not always be available!

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Feeling jet lagged? Super tired, unmotivated or just totally out of balance?? This green little wonder should help to get some of your strength and power back.

JETLAG SMOOTHIE

All you need is:

A good handful of spinach

1 green apple (optional with peach)

1 cup of cold ginger tea

1/2 a lemon (juice only)

1 tbsp of honey

A dash of cinnamon

A bunch of ice cubes

All you need to do is:

Roughly chop the apples and spinach, add the lemon juice (take care of the seeds!) and honey, pour over the tea, sweeten everything up with some honey and don`t forget to add a pinch of cinnamon.. too yummy to forget! Add the ice cubes and mix everything up together. Fill it in a glas and sprinkle it with some chia seeds.

Enjoy with your legs up the couch 😉

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