FINDING SOME BALANCE By:Dentia Browne (Masterchef Indonesia Contestant Season 3)

"...strongly believe that beauty is only skin deep. It is more important to be physically & mentally balance than being “just” beautiful. I have found my cosmic equilibrium through yoga, cooking and a wonderful family life." ~Dentia

     The ancient practice of yoga have been known to reduce stress level through a natural and organic movement that only use  the  human own bodies balance and strength, in yoga it is important to trust your intuition and recognize your strength boundaries in order to get the maximum benefit of the yoga pose.

For a while I have been searching for the perfect exercise for myself until I finally fell in love with yoga sometime in 2010, I have tried almost all the exercise style  that  were available in my gym from body combat, hip hop dance (please don’t laugh), aerobic (minus the 80’s costume) and belly dancing (ok laugh). But none of these exercises have an impact like yoga, the balance between body fitness, flexibility and tranquility of the mind brought calmness to me. This has shifted my general perspective of life, from how I eat, how I breathe, to the way I deal with problems.  I believe within a healthy body contains a healthy mind, treating our body like a temple is the key to finding some balance in life.

Before I fell in love with yoga as a form of body and mind exercise, I fell in love with cooking, it came so naturally to me through the influence of my mother, I was always busy in the kitchen as (or so I thought then) her souse chef, there’s nothing more as I child that I look forward to than the smell of spices being ground, rattling pots and pans, getting to know all kind of fresh produce and of course the fruit of the labor. my love for cooking has been an ongoing affair even when my academic program has nothing to do with cooking I’ve always managed to find time for cooking, as years have progressed my line of work has  once again brought me to be in the domestic kitchen fulltime. 

My husband’s love for surfing and living close to nature has brought us to the beautiful island of Bali, this opportunity is perfect because I want to raise my children close to nature. we are also  blessed  that Bali have abundance of fresh ingredients and the endless variety of spices, not to mention a beautiful landscape and surroundings . when we had the idea to run the surf house I thought it was perfect I am happy to admit that I love cooking but hate working , nick is in charge of the surf guiding and  I am in charge on how the house run and the meal for our guest. Beside catering to the hungry surfers I also manage to fit their special dietary program into my menu, this put an extra challenge to everyday cooking.

That  is how the journey of my competitive cooking begun, often in the competition I feel the need to keep my mind and body in a healthy balance so I head to the hotel gym, lay out my mat and do at least a basic Hatha for 60 min, although exercise alone is not enough. Consequently I'm always  cautious about what I eat, this habit has also affected the way I cook because I tend to always have 3 different components on my plate, a balance of  protein, carbohydrate and vegetable.

Speaking as a parents I believe that living and eating healthy can be contagious, the goodness can come from within and radiate towards others, after all I also strongly believe that beauty is only skin deep. It is more important to be physically & mentally balance than being “just” beautiful. I have found my cosmic equilibrium through yoga, cooking and a wonderful family life. (Dentia)

                                          

#Pic: Yoga @Body Star Fitness with Made Agus Wirayasa.