The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival will take place from the 1st to the 9th of October. Without a doubt Phuket’s most famous festival, the Vegetarian Festival is truly a spectacular sight to behold. If you are staying with us during the first week in October, we highly recommend you to make the effort to head into Phuket Town to watch the wide variety of events. However, before doing so it is important that you are aware of the Rules of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and its various ceremonies.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival Rules
There are ten important rules to follow when observing or participating in the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, and they are as follows:
Cleanliness of the body
Clean kitchen utensils, kept away from others not participating or joining the festival
Dress in white throughout the duration of the festival
Behave physically and mentally
Refrain from sex and/or sexually active behavior
No meat to eaten or meat products to be consumed
Do not consume alcohol
People in mourning should not attend or participate in the festival
Do not watch any of the rituals if you are pregnant
Do not attend if you are menstruating
Although these rules might seem like a bit much to one wishing to observe the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, they are sacred and important to those participating in the festival. Please do be polite and adhere to the rules. If you are not participating in the festival and wish to observe one of the parades or processions, it is not necessary to wear white clothing. However, if you plan to attend any of the evening rituals or visit a Chinese shrine during this period, please follow the rules and wear white. As a side note, white clothing can be easily found in local markets and shopping centers during this time.
Getting there
If you are interested in attending the Phuket Vegetarian Festival during your stay at Santosa Detox and Wellness Center, feel free to speak to our knowledgeable guest relations staff. They can provide key information about the Phuket Vegetarian Festival as well as help arrange transport. Our guest relations staff is also keen to offer advice on any other local hotspots and events happening around Phuket during your stay.
A detox is necessary in order to promote complete health for your body. Detox is especially important if you have been under a lot of stress or if your diet has been faltering. Removing toxins and other harmful substances from your body is what detox essentially does – cleansing your body from the inside out for better overall health.
Signs that you may need to detox
Detoxification is essential to healthy living, but it is also a perfect place to start for developing a new, healthier lifestyle. If you are struggling with any of the below, a detox would be a good idea to kickstart a much healthier, newer you.
Depression
What you eat affects your mind, body and soul. The food you put into your body effects and determines how you feel. Depression often signals toxin build up in bowels, liver or brain. Eating green, fibre-rich foods and cleansing your colon can make a huge difference in how you feel and helping to rid yourself of depression.
Insomnia
Toxin build up is often an underlying factor to insomnia, and often times the liver is the main culprit for those who suffer from insomnia. Eating a diet full of beets, broccoli, garlic, apples, onions and leafy greens can combat insomnia and make you sleep better.
Lethargy and Fatigue
Lethargy is often a sign that your body is carrying undigested or incompletely digested food. To counteract lethargy, it is best to eat less during the day. Also paying attention to your diet, in general, is important.
Indigestion
Indigestion is unpleasant, and it comes in various forms with bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhea being the most common. An intestinal cleanse as well as eating less food, eating leafy greens and fibre-rich vegetables, consuming gut-friendly herbs and spices and taking enzymes and probiotics can lead to lasting change.
Stress
Stress truly is no fun, and chronic or high stress can wreck havoc on not only your mind and soul, but also your body. Your body is at high risk of breaking down when it is too stressed. Stress also encourages unhealthy behaviours such as binge eating and smoking. While detoxing, make sure to look after the health of your mind and soul – take on meditation, yoga or journaling. No matter how busy of a life you lead, make sure to take at least 20 minutes daily to relax.
Body Odor
Bad or unpleasant body odor generally means that your body is full of toxins. Cleanse your bowels, remove or lessen animal products, take probiotics and eat fibre-rich vegetables in order to eliminate unnatural body odor.
Weight Gain
If you struggle with weight issues, have a difficult time losing weight or are actually gaining weight, a detox can be beneficial to you. Toxin build up is a common cause of weight gain, and it also prevents your body from losing weight. A liver cleanse will flush out toxins. Avoid processed food and focus on cleansing foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. A juice fast can also be helpful during this time, and commit to at least 30 minutes of exercise daily.
Mental Fog
Most people tend to forget this, but in all honesty, if your body is not functioning properly your brain won’t function properly either. Mental fog doesn’t let you focus on tasks or think clearly. Chlorophyll rich foods such as a wide variety of greens, spirulina and chlorella will help to detox your brain. Drink plenty of water, and focus on fibre-rich foods, probiotics and colonics.
How to approach a detox
Go into a detox program with an open mind. There are so many approaches including juice fasts to gentle cooked food cleanses. If you follow a DIY approach to detoxification, slowly start removing items from your diet including all processed foods, sugar, meat, dairy, soy, alcohol, gluten and caffeine from your diet for up to four weeks. It is always best to focus on leafy greens and other fresh fruits and vegetables. The more simple you go, the more gentle and achievable the cleansing will be.
Detox in Phuket
Santosa Detox and Wellness Center offers a wide variety of detox programs on the island of Phuket. Located near the popular Kata Beach, our programs are sustainable and result worthy. If you are interested in a detox, simply fill out the inquiry form below. One of our well-advised members of staff will be in touch with more information as well as any advice needed to guide you on your detox and wellness journey.
Veganism is wrapped in many myths and misconceptions. In truth, going vegan does not have to be difficult. You can still eat comfort food, you can still save money at the grocery store or market, and regardless of what you may have heard, you can still frequent your favourite restaurants. Although going vegan is a lifestyle change, it is a positive change and one that can truly be very easy.
What is a vegan?
A vegan is a person who avoids eating animal products. As veganism is a plant-based diet, vegans tend to have lower rates of obesity, and on average weigh 5 to 20 percent less than regular meat eaters. For some, the philosophy of veganism reaches beyond the plate. Many vegans do not wear animal products and avoid products with animal ingredients or those that test on animals. Studies have proven that veganism existed in ancient India and Greece, so although it has recently gained momentum with regards to certain environmental and health movements, veganism is not a fad diet.
Steps to going vegan
Making changes to your everyday meals is without a doubt the easiest way to start your path to becoming a vegan. The best way to start is by removing meat or dairy one day a week and continue from there. There is a plant-based alternative for almost every type of food you come into contact with, so in all sincerity, you do not have to miss out on any of your favourite snacks or foods. Going vegan can simply be started by switching out the cow’s milk you drink with almond milk or soy milk, or substituting butter with the healthier alternative of coconut oil.
Will I get enough protein?
The answer is absolutely yes. You will get enough protein from eating plants. Many vegans meet the necessary dietary requirements of protein by eating a variety of beans and legumes such as lentils, eating cooked spinach and other leafy greens as well as adding soy products such as tempeh to their meals.
Doing vegan the right way
As a vegan, you need to make sure that you are not missing out on essential nutrients. One of those key nutrients is vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 helps with brain and nervous system functions and is found naturally in many animal-sourced foods. As a vegan, you can eat fortified nutritional yeast and sprinkle it over dishes such as pasta to get a buttery taste. If you are concerned about missing out on essential nutrients, just make sure that you are eating a wide variety of plant-based foods.
Many vegans center their diet around fresh fruit and vegetables in addition to beans, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Purchasing in bulk is an economical way to stock your kitchen with vegan ingredients.
Like any lifestyle change, going completely vegan won’t necessarily happen overnight. Becoming a vegan takes a bit of getting used to, and you also need to take it slow and figure out what works best for you. Try new things, and expose your taste buds to a wide variety of new foods and flavours. Find your food comfort zone and don’t give up. There are so many meals that can be prepared from staples you already have in your kitchen, and many restaurants these days have vegan-friendly options.
How to go vegan in Phuket?
Going vegan in Phuket is easier than you might think. Plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits abound, and there are also a wide variety of organic options as far as produce and dry goods are concerned. It is quite easy to replace eggs and dairy in any recipe, and Phuket has the available resources in a number of supermarkets to experiment with a variety of vegan-friendly recipes. Also, the vegan community is growing in Phuket, and there are a lot of individuals willing to help you on our journey.
Santosa Vegan Restaurant
The vegan restaurant at Santosa serves modern vegan and raw food in a relaxed setting. The restaurant offers a stunning view of the Andaman Ocean, and is the view is glorious at sunset. It is the perfect place to enjoy the ultimate, guilt-free fine dining experience. Our healthy, plant-based menu helps to restore alkalinity while exciting the palate with fresh, exuberant flavours.
We offer a vegan buffet every Saturday at our restaurant starting at 18:30pm. Chef Mauro wows every guest with his raw, culinary creations. If you are looking for the ultimate vegan dining experience, please call +66 (0) 76 330 600 for a reservation, or simply fill out the form below.
Becoming a mother is one of the most magical transformations in a woman. At Santosa, we provide yoga and meditation private classes to future “Moms”. What can we do more to be ready? We are delighted to share more tips here.
Educate Yourself
There’s a lot of fear of the unknown as to what happens to our bodies during pregnancy and labor. The more fear we have, the more anxious we become and the more stress hormones are released, thus making labor, in itself, more painful. As you ease your mind–empowering it with information about what to expect throughout pregnancy and labor–the intensity of pain lessens.
Don’t panic
Pregnancy takes time for a reason. The gradual process gives you time to plan! So you have time to get things ready before you go to your birth place. Have fun with it, don’t panic, enjoy this moment with your partner and your other kids.
Tap into the Power of Prenatal Yoga
In a prenatal yoga practice, there’s a lot of emphasis on breathing, especially through the difficult poses. Through working with our breath, we are able to relax more in uncomfortable moments. Our breath will allow us to remain present and ground us during these times, as well as give us a break in tough times.
By practicing the poses common to most pregnancy yoga classes, you will learn how to release lower back tension, and open up your chest, shoulders and hips. All of these muscles can hold tension during pregnancy and labor, so learning how to release this specific tension is very helpful.
Santosa can offer private Prenatal Yoga classes upon request…
Just breathe
The most important thing to do is just to breathe deeply and naturally like you would if you were exercising. Focus on breathing OUT any tension that you may have. It sounds crazy but it works. A good birth can be as simple as mastering the breath.
Make Time for Meditation
A meditation practice puts your body and mind into training enabling you to sit be with discomfort at times. The deeper we are able to go into a practice, the more objectively we are able to observe everything around and within ourselves, rather than reacting to it. It will allow us to remain present with everything.
Eat Nutritious Food
Almost all pregnant women need to get more protein, increased amounts of certain vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, iron and calcium, and they require a higher calorie intake to keep up their energy. If your diet is poor to begin with, making the transition to eating nutritious meals is one of the best things you can do for your baby’s health. A healthy diet includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and plenty of water. But eating better doesn’t mean eating more – or rather, not much more.
We can’t control everything
Some women give birth exactly as they had planned, but many don’t. You can have a great empowering birth, even if things did not go exactly as you had planned. Both natural and surgical birth can teach us an important lesson for being mothers: that we don’t always get to pick how things go, and sometimes just need to surrender.
Becoming a mother is one of the most magical transformations in a woman. Enjoy the journey and remember to treat yourself well.
In case you want to do a fast at home, you will need to do some preparation. The first and foremost is preparing your mind for the practice. Fasting requires discipline but also involves getting to know about yourself. One of the reasons it is part of numerous religious traditions is that fasting is a great way to discover things about yourself and your beliefs.
A normal human body can go for weeks without food. Nevertheless we are all unique. Two people can be subjected to the same conditions and their reactions can be quite different. If you have a serious illness or contraindications such as any kind of deficiency diseases you should not take up long term fasts.
Plan
Select a length of time to do your fast. While many regular fasters can do a fast from 3 to 30 days, beginners should experiment by trying several shorter fasts first to see how their bodies react.
Plan your fast for a period during which you will not be under a lot of stress or during which fasting might interfere with your daily routine.
Pre-cleanse
If your diet consists of a lot of meat, processed foods, and you drink coffee and smoke it may be quite a shock to cut any or all of these things out of your diet. Not drinking coffee, for example, can induce headaches if you are used to having caffeine every day. Cutting back and altering your diet several days before you fast can help your body’s detoxification process be less of a shock once you get into your fast.
Prepare mentally
You will need to begin to learn how you respond mentally to not eating. Sometimes the mind can throw up lots of pent up emotions from the past which are stored in the subconscious mind. The important thing is to understand that being emotional and more sensitive are normal reactions. Keep the mind as peaceful as possible. Maintain a witness attitude during this time. Practice slow deep breathing to make the mind steady and peaceful.
Society
There will also be external challenges. As you move through your day you will inevitably come across food. This is true whether you stay at home, go to work or are on vacation. Anyway, you will find yourself in different social situations. These may be interactions with your family, co-workers, and people that are part of the social communities that you have in your life. Interactions that you have with others can be a challenge because many social interactions involve food. It is good to have some idea of what you might want to say if you get into a situation where others are eating while you, conspicuously, are not. Besides a few people you trust and find supportive, you should consider limiting who you tell. People will ask or tell you all kinds of things about food, nutrition and religion when you mention you are fasting. Realize that there is nothing wrong with saying you do not feel like eating, rather than feeling like you need to tell everyone you are fasting.
Energy level and exercise
Get plenty of rest during your fast. You may experience a drop in stamina and energy during this time. Don’t overexert yourself. Maintain healthy sleep patterns. Fasting is all about rest – physical, emotional, sensory and physiological.
Avoid intense exercise during this time. Instead, try Yoga or Tai Chi. It must be a quieting restorative exercise. A calming way of stretching the body’s muscles is what a fasting body needs. You may also do light walking to keep your muscles strong and to aid in the detoxification process. And you can do resistance training. Working your muscles against a resisting force, helps flush out toxins and waste through the lymphatic system. Lymphatic fluid is only moved by muscle contractions.
Perform enemas
The body has a natural mechanism to throw out toxins from the body during the healing process. These toxins are mostly thrown out through digestive system into the intestines. At this time, one gets a thick white coating on the tongue. The coating may remain even after scrapping the tongue. This is a sign that the toxins are being eliminated.
Within a short period our body turns from burning the usual fuel of food and drink to metabolizing matter already present in our body. This process is called autolysis where a huge amount of morbid matter, fat cell debris, so-called ketone bodies, dead cells and diseased tissues are burned up; and the toxic waste which has accumulated in the tissues for years, causing disease and premature aging, are loosened and expelled from the system. The digestion and elimination systems are the main pathway by which these toxins are thrown out of the body.
As during fasting, the natural bowel movements cease to take place, the toxic wastes would have no way of leaving the system, except with the help of enemas… All this can cause headaches, weakness, dizziness, bad mood. Enemas during fasting will assist the body in its cleansing and detoxifying effort by washing out all the toxic wastes from the bowels.
The toxins may also get removed through the lungs. At that time one may get foul breath which may last for a day or two.
Breaking the fast
Breaking the fast is equally important as the fast itself. When the body goes without food for several days, it sort of gets used to it. The digestive fire goes down meaning the stomach lining is more sensitive and your body is not producing as many digestive enzymes. At that time, one cannot eat or digest large quantities of food. It will be like a shock to the system, if you consume solid food. So one has to gradually increase the digestive fire and bring it back to normal. Start with fresh juices and smoothies and then add soft raw fruits and veggies for the first few days. Begin with frequent small meals, every 2 hours or so. Then progress slowly toward larger meals with more time in between until you reach a ‘normal’ eating routine such as 3 meals a day. Wait at least 1-2 weeks before you consume any form of dairy, red meat, grains, beans or baked goods, coffee and black tea.
Enjoy your fasting at home! Or if you feel it’s too hard to detox at home by yourself, you are more than welcome to join one type of detox program in Santosa Detox & Wellness Center.
At Santosa, guests can use their free time to relax and disconnect from the stresses of the outside world by joining our free classes, taking a swim or a relaxing ice bath after a sauna.
Santosa Spa is truly an extension of our ethics; to take you on a sensual and luxurious journey. Our treatments nurture and support the connection between body, mind and spirit.
Shirodara & Ayurvedic - Thai Herbal Compress - Hot Stone - Cupping Therapy - Infrared Dome Sauna - Ion Cleanse Foot Bath - Epsom Salt Foot SPA and Foot Scrub
regardless of what you may have heard, you can still frequent your favourite restaurants. Although going vegan is a lifestyle change, it is a positive change and one that can truly be very easy.
Going vegan in Phuket is easier than you might think. Plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits abound, and there are also a wide variety of organic options as far as produce and dry goods are concerned. It is quite easy to replace eggs and dairy in any recipe, and Phuket has the available resources in a number of supermarkets to experiment with a variety of vegan-friendly recipes. Also, the vegan community is growing in Phuket, and there are a lot of individuals willing to help you on our journey.
The vegan restaurant at Santosa serves modern vegan and raw food in a relaxed setting. The restaurant offers a stunning view of the Andaman Ocean, and is the view is glorious at sunset. It is the perfect place to enjoy the ultimate, guilt-free fine dining experience. Our healthy, plant-based menu helps to restore alkalinity while exciting the palate with fresh, exuberant flavours. 
