I have a new challenge! Maybe you are thinking ‘Why a new challenge again? Wasn’t there just a new one a few weeks ago? What happened to that one?’ Well, life changes and what works for a while might not work all the time. It’s important to adapt to the ever changing life situations and find the balance again and again. For many weeks I’ve spent my evenings without phone (this was the last challenge). I created a lot of drawings and it felt great to be so creative. But then things slowly started to change.

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To be honest we love eating burgers, and it has been meatless burgers for a very long time already. But now we took it to the next level. For our yoga retreats last year we developed our own beetroot burger. Good food always plays an important role at the yoga retreats and we enjoy the planning and preparation of the menus very much. We decided that it was time to make a really nice plant-based burger. And it turned out to be a great success.

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It’s been two months since we bought a one-way ticket to Portugal. A lot has happened since then: we visited many properties, seen different regions, experienced all kinds of ups and downs and it feels like one big adventure. Today I want to share with you some of the challenges and encounters we had so far. Have you ever moved to different country? Then you probably remember that there is a lot to learn and discover at the beginning. I must say, when I moved to the Netherlands many years ago, it felt so easy because the company I was working for was helping me a lot to arrange everything. Now we are by ourselves, no job and no company to help us. But we have determination, courage and joy with us on this journey, and so here we are.

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Sometimes Boris and I like to create a new challenge for ourselves. Right now I am not talking about the challenge of finding a property in Portugal that could eventually become our yoga retreat centre. I am talking about moving towards what feels good long-term versus short-term. Usually short-term satisfaction is easy and quick, but does not necessarily create a positive contribution long-term. Therefore we feel that it can be helpful to challenge ourselves to create more balance in our lives. Let me just give an example of our newest challenge.

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As I am starting to write on this blog post I am sitting on our veranda with a stunning view of the river and the mountains. The sun is shining and we just did another hike this morning. We are in Portugal enjoying the magnificent Peneda Geres national park in the very north of the country. Just before we came here we had one of our yoga weekend retreats in the Netherlands. It was a delightful retreat with such a lovely group of yogis and I feel very grateful for being able to do this kind of work. During every retreat I’m amazed by the incredible experience that unfolds in just a few days and how people open up and how the group becomes closer. And then I just wish we could have much more of those retreats.

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This is certainly one of my favorite new retreat meals, our pumpkin spinach lasagna. For a while we were making lasagna at least once or twice a week and we came up with all kinds of variations. Some of them needed more improvement and others where right away delicious. And that’s how we created this super tasty pumpkin spinach lasagna. It has a yummy combination of warm autumn flavors like pumpkin together with the freshness of spinach and tomatoes. We really love this comfort food that warms you from the inside, especially on rainy autumn days. This lasagna was served on our yoga retreats this fall and since we got the requests to share the recipe, here it is.

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Everything changes all the time and so does our journey. We enjoy these changes and all the exciting new things along the way. Last time I wrote for this blog we still had our camper. But in just a few days’ time our plans changed completely. On a Monday morning on our way to Portugal we received an offer to sell the camper. The next day we met the lovely couple who bought the camper. Without the camper and in need of a new plan we sat down to find out what felt good at that moment. And just three days later we arrived on the beautiful island La Palma.

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Have you ever considered how life would be like in a spiritual community? Since my first visit to a Buddhist monastery many years ago I was intrigued by this way of life. To shave my head and wear a nun’s robe feels like a step too far, but there must be a middle way. One of the first things I did when we embarked on this journey was to visit the monastery again. Somehow I always feel drawn to this simple but meaningful and joyful lifestyle. Along our journey I always look for new opportunities to visit a community. This time I’m in France at an amazing place where people have been living together for many years.

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Living in the present moment, here and now, just one day at a time, just the next small step. That’s how we have spent the last 6 weeks since we arrived in the Netherlands and after cancelling all our travel and work plans. We had it all figured out, planned and organised up until October. There were our yoga retreats in spring, some solo traveling for both of us, visiting family, working at a retreat center, and so on. Now everything is totally different and to be honest we both adapted to these new circumstances quickly. Okay, to be really honest, Boris adapted very quickly like he always does. I, on the other hand, have spent a day crying and feeling all the feelings before I was able to let go and let be. 

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We got back to the Netherlands just in time…. Just in time for what? The stay at home policy? But where do you go, when you don’t have a house? If our flight would have been just two days later I am sure we would have stayed on the island with our Ecotara family. But in times of uncertainty, how do you know what is the right decision and where is the best place to be? The only constant, the only thing we know for sure is that everything changes. Everything changes all the time (it always did by the way) but right now we see it much more clearly.

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‘You are always one decision away from a totally different life!’
At this moment on our journey we are facing an interesting decision. Nothing serious, but something nice and exciting. But first let me tell you a bit more about the circumstances before we get to this question. Before we sold our belongings and embarked on this adventure we had the idea of maybe one day starting our own retreat center. It feels like a logical step after having a yoga studio and knowing how much we enjoy retreats.

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It is about 8 months ago that we sold everything and started this journey. We did not really have a plan and we also did not want to have a plan. We purposely jumped into the unknown with great trust, some ideas and a lot of joy. Was it scary? No, I felt trust in myself and in us to be able to fully enjoy this adventure. Do I worry? Only when I think too much. Right now this way of life is not sustainable as we are living of our savings. But we feel confident that we will find the right circumstances to create something beautiful that will provide us with some income along the way.

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I’ve heard about Ecolonie several times from different people. It’s a Dutch ecovillage in France which is not only about ecology but also spirituality. One day I decided to send them an email and ask if we could come to live with them for a few weeks. They said yes! When we arrived it was already getting dark and we were just in time to join the group for dinner. The dining hall is a very cozy warm place with a wood stove keeping us warm during cold autumn days. It was crowded with people and it was clear that they had been working all day outside on the land.

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Happiness is an unexpected chocolate dessert!
We often think about dishes and recipes we would like to create for our next retreat. It is so much fun to imagine all the delicious things we could prepare and share. When we are at a vegan restaurant we always get inspired to try something new. Like in Slovenia where they made the most delicious cakes with big amounts of vegan whipped cream. Or at our favorite restaurant in Rotterdam were we found this beautiful bright yellow pickled cauliflower. Or when we heard about making chocolate mousse with the water of chickpeas.

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Bright yellow pickled cauliflower!
Whenever we are back in the Netherlands we always try to find the time to go to our favourite restaurant, where they serve such an amazing diversity of inspiring dishes. Restaurant Spirit in Rotterdam. Last time I noticed right away a beautiful bright yellow cauliflower dish. The colours where so vibrant and beautiful and the taste was unexpected and delicious. The description said that it was cauliflower pickle.

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Although it’s already end of September it still feels like summer here in Slovenia. This trip was a surprise for me as Boris planned it by himself and all I had to do was to pack my bag and follow him. I felt super happy and I totally trusted him that it would be a very pleasant surprise.

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It took me just a second to decide to go on this retreat, because I knew it was the right thing to do. I felt excited and at the same time I realized it was not going to be easy. Every day had exactly the same schedule, starting at 5 am in the morning until 10 pm at night. The whole retreat was in silence: no talking, no phones, no books, no entertainment.

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Sometimes we travel together and sometimes we travel alone. This time I went to Sweden while Boris stayed in the Netherlands. It all started with the idea of doing some volunteer work abroad and finally I gave it a try. When I saw this place I just knew it was perfect for me and luckily my application was accepted. Mundekulla is a magical place in the South of Sweden, a retreat and festival centre surrounded by forest and lakes.

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It’s about two month ago that we left Delft and started traveling. Somehow time feels different now without the daily routines and weekly schedules, like when you are on a holiday and you don’t know whether it’s Friday or Monday. While free time used to be scarce and travels used to be short, now time is abundant and trips can last as long as we like. Of course there are moments when we miss our friends and family, moments when we miss you, the yoga classes and our great time in Delft. We feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.

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We spend a lot of our time here in France thinking about food and preparing food. Boris baked serval versions of the new vegan apple bread until we were really happy with the recipe. This apple bread with flavors of almonds, walnuts and cinnamon is absolutely delicious and even healthy as we use whole grain flour and very little sugar. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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I have been at the Buddhist monastery many times and now as I walked up to the entrance gate it felt like “I have arrived, I am home.” And although everything felt familiar, there is always something new and unexpected. This time there was a big group of Chinese people from Hong Kong staying at the monastery and I was pleasantly surprised to meet a good friend whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. She was there for the same retreat and it was great to spend some time with her.

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I will always keep the beautiful memories in my heart from the last week of yoga classes and the goodbye party. During the week there were already many moments of saying goodbye, emotional moments, tears and laughter. I felt extremely thankful for each and every person that came to the yoga classes.

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This Easter weekend we had our yoga retreat at this beautiful farmhouse in the East part of the Netherlands. The weather was amazing, so warm and sunny, and we spend a lot of time outdoors. There are great walking trails in the area and lots of space to relax in the garden. Boris was doing all the cooking for us and the food was absolutely delicious, especially the desserts. Check the recipe: MangoBlueberry Swirl

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So far this is clearly one of the most asked recipes at our yoga retreats.
Boris makes this amazing raw cheesecake, which is vegan and can easily be gluten free as well. Most people who eat it for the first time will not be able to guess the main ingredient of the creamy top layer. Only the vegans know how to make such creamy, yummy, silky, soft layer out of nuts, cashew nuts!

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