Finding Zen
Helen Van Berkel encounters yoga goodness by the sea
The day might have been as glorious as any we’ve had this summer: waves were unfurling in thunderous combers of white and blue under a sky of azure and the West Coast black sand was hot underfoot.
The chiefs decided to wait for the marauding northern tribes in the creek, having heard the water would neutralise the rumoured devastating firepower of their newly acquired muskets.
But the invaders knew better than that and kept their powder dry. The waters of the creek turned to blood in the massacre that followed. The women and children who hid in the caves that exist to this day along the Bethells Beach coastline, were quickly found and they too were executed.
Yoga instructor Taane Mete tells stories of early Ma¯ ori who once flourished in this glorious valley, on a Barefoot Retreat day of yoga, peace and back-to-basics plant-based food. The retreats, run by chef Angus McLean have the theme of “the warrior within” on this particular day, so it is even more fitting that a group of young Ma¯ ori are practising their taiaha in the creek where so many died more than two centuries ago.
The day begins at 8am as the night’s misty chill still blankets the quiet valley. McLean hands steaming cups of hot tea scented with turmeric, lemon and honey to the arriving guests.
We mill about, introducing ourselves and then head to the HeartSong Dance temple that landowner Joy Lake hand-built in the bush, for the day’s first yoga sessions. McLean and Mete take us through a vinyasa flow followed by kundalini yoga and chant for about two hours. Mete’s subtle use of Ma¯ ori words throughout the workout brings an extra mysticism as we move, flow and stretch our bodies and minds in a room surrounded by native bush.
During breakfast — chia pudding with plum compote from local fruit and granola — which we eat cross-legged at a low table overlooking a hillside thick with bush, Mete paints a picture of a valley of plenty inhabited by early Ma¯ ori who ate well on the kaimoana and fresh vegetables that grew in the fertile soils. We drive to the beach for more stories of early Ma¯ ori and then walk over the ridge to O’Neills Bay, before returning to Te Henga for a quick swim between the flags.
Lunch is ready when we return to Lake’s land. McLean has prepared kitchari, a blend of mung dhal and brown rice, to which he has added fresh vegetables from his own garden and has flavoured with coconut and other herbs and spices.
It is divine: filling without bloating and the extra flavour of knowing it is Good For Me almost overwhelms everything. It’s almost enough to turn me vegan.
He follows lunch with a kombucha-making and fermentation demonstration, telling us details from his own life about the need for good gut health. You will never buy a kombucha or canned sauerkraut ever again once you see how easy it is to do it yourself.
More yoga rounds off the afternoon: McLean leads us in a qi gong and a pranayama (breath control) practice, and Taane follows with yin yoga. It’s a gentler version of the morning’s vigour and as I inhale, exhale; as I twist and curl, I think how much slimmer and mentally sturdier our society would be if we all went to a yoga retreat every weekend.
‘‘ extra mysticism as we
Mete’s subtle use of Ma¯ ori words throughout the workout brings an move, flow and stretch our bodies and minds in a room surrounded by native bush.