carottes et chocolats
Balance in yoga, and in life, is important. Asanas, or poses, require it. The body desires it. Half moon (Ardha Chandrasana) on the right foot can not be completed unless the same pose is done on the left foot. In instructions for Half Moon, the yogi begins with Trikonasana, by “softening the right knee and bringing the left hand to your hip,” and at step 8, he “repeats on the left side.”
In Buddhism, one’s behavior is considered correct when it is in balance with its effect. Health can be understood as a state of balance, and poses can be seen as a way for re-creating that balance by stimulating or quieting the mind and body, depending on the yogi’s need on a given day. A more active asana, such as Ardha Chandrasana, can be practiced to bring the yogi back to the harmony of a quieter state.
“Yoga means union, the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions,” says B.K.S. Iyengar.
It is about inner peace. Feeling centered. Interconnected. That means you are one with your surroundings. If your experiences are out of balance that means you will be out of balance in other aspects of your life. If you are out of balance in any aspect of your life, you will not have inner peace.
In Feng Shui “everything in our Universe is composed of two opposing, but deeply interconnected forces–the Yin (feminine) and the Yang (masculine). The interaction of these two feng shui forces creates the essence of life around us. One cannot exist without the other, as in their seeming opposition, they deeply support and nourish each other.”
The National Health Service in the the United Kingdom, tells us that when “it comes to a healthy diet, balance is the key to getting it right. This means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions, and consuming the right amount of food and drink to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.”
Carrots are important vegetables in our diet. Not only carrots, we should eat lots of vegetables, we are told, to ensure that we live prosperous, healthy lives. Some suggest we should eat only vegetables.
In Antibes I eat lunch in restaurants where I find fish and meat, accompanied with salads, soups, and carrots, potatoes, beans, endives, sauerkraut, peas. Toward the end of each meal and before the café, the waiter will often offer a dessert. If you order an entrée and un plat du jour, the next course should be cheese or dessert. A balanced diet is encouraged. If one chooses cheese, serious consideration should be given to the next course, the dessert. After all, the cheese course does not balance the vegetables as well as the dessert.
I suggest going to the patisserie before shopping in the market for your vegetables. Will you know how many vegetables to buy if you have not purchased the chocolate or the dessert first?
In Antibes Christian Cottard who was honored as the “Maître artisan, Champion de France du dessert” offers excellent tarts, chocolates, and macaroons at his patisserie. His patisserie « évoque pour nous sa passion pour la pâtisserie et l’avenir d’un métier passé de l’ombre à la lumière en quelques années. »
Jean-Luc Pelé opened a new outlet before Christmas 2012. Choopy has the best cupcakes in France. It may make the only cupcakes in France. Nearby Le Palais de la friandise offers a large assortment of chocolates and macaroons.
Mousse au chocolat, crème caramel, crème brulée, tiramisu, une tarte au pomme, une tarte au citron are typical desserts offered in many brasseries and bistros. Some make their own. Return to those restaurants. More fancy restaurants will make more fancy variations on these themes and are truly inventive and will inspire you to return. One eats the opening courses, after all, in order to arrive at the important course, the dessert.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 tells us, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
What I write here may be wrong, as wrong as my remarks directed to those who suggest vegetables should supersede chocolate, not simply because I am emotional concerning the subject, but because I may not understand what I write and have not analyzed it. However, it might have a momentum of its own, and favor me beyond my understanding and research. After all, there is no other post that I can judge with less certainty than my own.
un Voyageur 