Shivya Nath's Blog: The Shooting Star, page 7

Enroute to One of the World’s Remotest Islands!

I groggily opened my eyes after 8 straight hours of sleep, confused about my whereabouts. As I shifted in my seat and unintentionally touched a button, the screen in front of me turned on. A tiny plane charted its course across an animated globe, slowly zooming into South America, settling just a little north of Antarctica in Chile!

In a few minutes, the first rays of sunlight penetrated the darkness outside my window, revealing layers of dramatic, snow-dusted, desolate mountains – possibly t...

How the Pandemic Changed My Perspective on Life.

One morning, I stood at the beach, soaking up the warm winter sun after a refreshing swim. Every few moments, a wave would roll in and pull away the sand from under my feet, no matter how tightly I tried to hold on to it. Gradually, I conceded to the waves and stopped resisting.

I think that feeling kind of sums up life during the pandemic. I suppose we each tried to maintain some illusion of control over our lives, travels, work and other plans, but ultimately had no choice but to let go.

...

SwaSwara: An Eco-Conscious Wellness Retreat in India for Yoga, Creative Food and Vitamin Sea.

As wellness tourism in India grows, so does the hunt for an environmentally conscious wellness retreat in India. Raising the bar for wellness resorts in India, SwaSwara – on the shores of Om Beach in Karnataka – is not just ideal for yoga, meditation, hiking and detoxing, but also offers sustainable, mindful luxury.

Over several months of seeking refuge from the pandemic in Goa, I gradually made peace with the indefinite pause on my travelling life. Bit by bit, I explored more of my own b...

An Eco-Conscious Wellness Retreat in India for Yoga, Creative Food and Vitamin Sea.

Over several months of seeking refuge from the pandemic in Goa, I gradually made peace with the indefinite pause on my travelling life. Bit by bit, I explored more of my own backyard, discovering secret waterfalls, incredible hikes, timeless Goan villages and still pristine parts of the otherwise Instagrammed coast.

I was pretty unsure of how I felt about longer distance travel, but when CGH Earth reached out to me with an invitation to drive down 4 hours to SwaSwara – a wellness retreat in ...

responsible travel

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Shop at These Zero Waste Stores in India to Cut Your Plastic Footprint.

Zero waste stores in India – from Dehradun to Chennai – can help us ditch single-use plastic in everyday groceries. At a time of lockdowns and social distancing, many online zero waste stores have popped up to offer plastic-free deliveries too!

Guest post by Aishwarya Muralidhar (with inputs)

My zero waste journey started after reading the book Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn. Although the book isn’t exactly about the zero waste lifestyle...

What No One Tells You About Being a Vegan Muslim.

Some Muslims think it’s un-Islamic to be vegetarian or vegan. And some vegans have an anti-Muslim sentiment. So what’s it really like to be a vegan Muslim?

Guest post by Nina Ahmedow

I was just 12 years old when I first tried to turn vegetarian. The idea of killing animals for meat broke my heart, so as I approached my teen years, I decided not to eat them. But after just a few months, my mother told me I was no longer allowed to be vegetarian. She never explained why, but I suppose it...

The Shooting Star Diaries: The Dark Side of Being a Digital Nomad During a Pandemic.

The Shooting Star Diaries is a new series to reflect on the month that was, recommend offbeat books and films, showcase new eco-friendly / vegan-friendly finds, share stories I’ve enjoyed writing… and check in on you! Welcome to the June 2021 edition.

As I write this post, I’m mentally preparing myself to move to our eighth rental since March 2020.

You read that right. We’ve moved eight times over the last 15 months – in the midst of a goddamn pandemic!

Admittedly a couple of these mov...

Explore Rural India and Meet Inspiring Storytellers… Without Leaving Home!

A few months ago, I embarked on an unexpected journey to explore rural India. I walked precariously on a centuries-old hanging wooden bridge (only 5 remain to this day!) that connect the most remote villages of Ladakh’s Zanskar Valley. Witnessed the intimate love stories of four generations of women in a remote Uttarakhand village. Joined the ancient tradition of worshipping wild tigers in rural Maharashtra. Walked several kilometers in Kerala’s Wayanad district with a 63-year-old “walking libr...

Inspiring Women I Met in Bhutan – and What “Happiness” Means to Them.

The Bhutan happiness index has intrigued me for a long time. So I tried to figure out what happiness means to its people.

Is this indescribable feeling happiness? I wondered as my partner and I hiked through the blue pine forests of Bhutan’s Haa Valley. Up gentle hills we walked, alive with the scent of rain from the night before. Prayer flags fluttered in the wind. White and pink wildflowers dotted the landscape.

I had landed up in Bhutan last autumn to speak about my book at the Moun...