Manju Kumar is the co-founder of Sarvodaya Institute, president of Brush with Bamboo (the first ever bamboo toothbrush company), mother of @farmerrishi, and advocate for Earth & all beings on this planet. In this episode, we dive into the massive empowerment available to us in growing our own food, as well as exploring Manju’s journey and perspective on connecting with the force of what some call “God” through nature. “I’ve learned more about spirituality in the garden than I have through a church or a text. It’s like actual experiential spirituality.” This is a joyful, lively conversation and I know everyone will love it and learn a lot! (I did!)
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In this episode, we dive into:
- How Manju came to understand Earth as an extension and reflection of ourselves - her epiphany moment realizing we’re all rising from the planet and falling back in.
- How we got to this point in society -
- In working with the land, we learn that giving is the key - we live in a circular system, and the possibility for regeneration is always there. We have to give back, take care & create a loving relationship with Earth. Doing this dissolves illusions of lack & leads to abundance
- Disrupting the circular flow means problems. Giving and letting the system give back to you means healing and feeling good.
- The empowerment available to us in growing our own food: fabulous joy, connection, and nourishment. Breaking up with the grocery store and feeling good!
- Manju’s journey and perspective on connecting with the force of what some call “God” through nature. She learned about upheavals and learning to flow with the cycles of energy as expressed in seasons and days.
- Gardening as a way to understand we can literally grow our dreams
- Plants communicating with us via us sensing their needs
- Her journey getting into urban food forestry and teaching as a family, through her son Rishi studying with Vandana Shiva and wanting to teach those methods. Together, they created an urban farming center at their house to be able to teach how to do it!
- Failures as an important teacher: be resilient, don’t take it personally, and stretch yourself even more!
- Building a role for herself in an often male-dominated movement: She didn’t look at it that way, just followed her passions and did it for herself. And in the process of helping herself, many others got helped!
- Life lesson: focus on what grows, teaches and fulfills us. By doing this everything falls intp place & we end up touching many people’s lives!
- Invite for in-person monthly potlucks and gardening days for people in the LA area: for this, connect with Manju on instagram at @zerowastefarmer
