Ella Boekeman caught up with Andrea Paige at the Bali Vegan festival early October to find out what makes the Amsterdam/Bali-based yogini and naturopath so attached to yoga and healing.
By Ella Boekeman, 2017
What led you to the path of yoga and natural healing?
There is a saying in India that if you become a yogi at a young age (I was 14), then this isn’t your first lifetime practising Yoga. When I say “practising”, I’m not speaking about physical postures on the mat, but about living a life with a perspective on non-duality, and applying yoga to every part of my waking existence. With regards to Natural Health, it has always been on my radar, as both my grandmother and mother were slight anomalies, ahead of their time. Since childhood, I wanted to have a deeper connection with my body and to figure out what it is saying and how it works. We’re given these amazing vehicles to drive through life, but no one hands us a User Manual. That has become my profession: handing out that User Manual.
What do you love most about the work you do?
Every time someone looks at me and says, “I can’t tell you how much you’ve changed my life!” I gratefully recognize that what makes them say this comes from their own willingness to allow me to push their buttons and open new doors of consciousness. I love witnessing people falling back in love with themselves. From my Astrology clients, to people in my online and in-person retreats, to students in my Yoga Teacher trainings, what I love the most is the response of gratitude I receive.
What would you advice someone who’s just starting out on the path of yoga and spirituality?
Turn inward. Sure, go to teachers, expose yourself to as many ideas and practices as you can but be attached to none. There is no “right” or “wrong” on the path of duality, and don’t waste your time thinking there is. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Through this exploration, you’ll devise a sort of measurement paradigm that will empower you to find your Truth. Begin to notice your thoughts and your actions, not as the do-er, but as the watcher. This will allow you the space needed for reflection and ultimate self development. Be aware of yourself, and ask how you know what you think you know.
To find solid ground on a path to spiritual revelation, it’s necessary to awaken first by unlearning. As you unlearn, you’ll learn a whole lot. Be humble on this path. We can never make anyone change.
Why do you believe so strongly in the power of fasting? What has your experience been?
I appreciate logic. The force that created the body heals the body. There is absolutely no other way around it. Our body can and will heal itself, given time and space. We see this in cuts/wounds and broken bones. The self-repair is evident on a macroscopic level; to think it would be any different on a microscopic level would be silly. I’ve seen tremendous healing, sure, on the physical level, but more importantly a deep connection to the sense of self, purpose, direction and clarity about what people want in life and what’s worth prioritizing. Fasting can provide the space for you to connect back into you. And that’s something everyone in the modern world would benefit from—a taste of their own sweetness. Since the advent of social media, I’ve opened transformational fasting retreats online, which allows me to reach out to many more people. My 15 years of experience with fasting is what gives me the confidence to believe.
What do you look forward to the most at the Bali Vegan Festival each year?
My Nada Yoga class and the panel that I moderate. The space of Nada Yoga creates the Burning Man environment: where everyone is given full license to be themselves entirely. In a world of “angry vegans” or rampant vegetarians, I believe we also need to extend compassion to those who just don’t know. My workshop harnesses that compassion to be extended long beyond the end of the festival.
Ella Boekman is a freelance writer for Yoga Journal Singapore based in Bali. She lives in Ubud and is the marketing director of ‘Down to Earth’, an organic living company.
This article was first published in the 2017 print edition of Yoga Journal Singapore, which is now Yogahood Online.
