What cause for celebration. Congratulations to all the cleansers on a job well done. This concludes our journey, our challenge, and our complete focus on detoxifying the body and purifying the mind for this week in October 2009.  My prayer is you accomplished all you set out for and learned more along the way.  I know I have!

Who knows maybe we can meet up again for some spring cleaning?

Jai Bhagwan,

Victory to our glorious/divine nature

Deby

I am practicing sense withdrawal today more out of necessity than rigor of discipline toward conscious bliss. You see I have a box of leftover pears and I am dehydrating them.  The house is filled with the smell of cinnamon, lemon and pears -Yummy! If I wasn’t practicing this sage old advice of Pratyahara I would be tempted to gobble down the whole tray or go crazy with my diet  coming off the fast this week.  Let me let other people describe it more aptly.

Pratyahara is the 5th limb of Ashtanga Yoga. It is necessary for the highest level of raja yoga, to perfect dharana (concentration), dyhana (meditation), and Samadhi (absorption into the highest). One of the results of pratyahara is the destruction of desire through the control of the sense.  This improves health as one of the biggest factors of disease, “the mistake of the intellect”. You know you’ve had enough but you have more because it tastes so good.  You know you are tired and should take rest but you want to see more.  When we are free from sense desire we have the freedom to follow our internal knowing.Patanjali, define Pratyahra as “the process of the senses imitating the mind’s withdrawal by withdrawing contact with their respective objects.  He also mentions, from that follows the highest mastery over the senses. 

Bhagavad Gita teaches to “expel outside contacts and put the gaze between the two eye-brows.  The mind must be unattached to the senses, in order to focus.  The sense feed the mind and spur it on, withdrawing them allows the mind to attain one-pointedness.Gherunda said, by such knowledge will all passions like lust etc. be destroyed.  Whenever (chitta) thinking principle wanders away, attracted by various objects of sight, bring it back under the control of self.  When faced with praise or censure, good or bad speech, withdraw your mind form these and place it under the control of the self.  From sweet smells or bad smells or from whatever odor, withdraw your mind a place under control of the self.  From honey-sweet or sour tastes, from bitter or any other by which the mind may be attracted withdraw and place it under control of the self.

An easy way to practice sense withdrawal is using your breath and mind to focus on points within the body as described in the Yoga Journal. Wish me luck I have a case of apples to dry out too!

Going within,

Deby

Yoga Class at White Lotus Center (6-8 pm) will incorporate live music, dancing, yoga and Kirtan Chanting tonight. Words elude me on the variety of feelings swirling around my head about chanting. If any of you have been in my class to hear me lead the chant “om” then you will know one feeling, as singing isn’t my natural talent.  Don’t have much time to rattle on about this, as I’m on my way to fine tune the chant selection and practice, so again bring you words written by professionals over there at the Yoga Journal:

Human longing for ritual is deep, and in our culture often frustrated,” writes theologian Tom F. Driver in The Magic of Ritual (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). His simple observation explains the surge of interest in chant and other rediscovered rituals.Certainly, in a society where many believe singing is something done by others and purchased in the form of concert tickets or a CD, our understanding of the aesthetic and ritual dimensions of the human voice has diminished.Although we can’t prove it, chant, or sacred singing, was probably one of the first expressions of human spirituality. Incorporating a chanting ritual into your yoga practice is easy and, for many, the act of chanting facilitates a greater sense of peace than practicing asanas alone.

We are making our final chant selections today to handout at the workshop.  The handout will include their meanings as well as be posted tomorrow.  

Call if you have any questions, see you there,

Deby

907-225-4055

Of the many benefits of fasting, clear, soft, glowing skin is the ultimate freebie.  It’s our face, smile, eyes that send signals to the world how we are doing  long before we open our mouth.  So important in our culture its confirmed by the gazillion dollar cosmetic industry and the amount of time spent digitally altering magazine covers. Yet despite these wonderful and obvious benefits, I find myself bargaining with what I’m willing to do on the cleanse. For example, I’m supposed to be drinking 6 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggie juice, with additives like psyllium and bentonite clay, drink 5 oz. of Aloe juice, yet I’ve negotiated a deal with my alter self and have whittled it down to 4 fruit, 4 veggie and 3 oz of Aloe, so much for discipline despite how much better I’m feeling and looking.

Oh the struggle with the inner voice, is beauty only skin deep?  Here is a quick reference on what the ancient yogi’s practice to develop deep inner glow and mastery of ego, as discovered in recent Yoga Journal newsletters:

Yoga comes out of an oral tradition in which the teaching was transmitted directly from teacher to student. The Indian sage Patanjali has been credited with the collation of this oral tradition into his classic work, the Yoga Sutra, a 2,000-year-old treatise on yogic philosophy. A collection of 195 statements, the Sutra provides a kind of philosophical guidebook for dealing with the challenges of being human. Giving guidance on how to gain mastery over the mind and emotions and advice on spiritual growth, the Yoga Sutra provides the framework upon which all yoga practiced today is based. “Sutra,” literally meaning “thread,” has also been translated as “aphorism,” a tersely phrased statement of truth. Another definition of “sutra” is “the condensation of the greatest amount of knowledge into the most concise description possible.” Keeping these meanings in the mind, we might think of the art and science of yoga as a kind of magnificent tapestry that is woven together by the threads of universal truths.

Most yogis feel freer when they look inward and choose poses that are healing and nurturing—even if that means doing something different than what they originally thought they’d do. This insight is spelled out in the eight limbs of classical ashtanga yoga, which ultimately lead to samadhi, or freedom.

The first limb is yama, a group of five qualities that can be summed up as “self-restraint” or “control.” Among other things, the yamas teach us about ahimsa (nonviolence) and satya (truthfulness). So when you apply nonviolence and truthfulness to your practice—avoiding poses that don’t feel right or that might cause injury—you eventually reach a place of freedom.

Namaste,

Deby

Don’t you love America? If you ain’t got it, you can buy it, complete with free shipping.  Yes, that’s right directly through e-bay, buy willpower and self-discipline, subliminally, so you don’t even have to waste a moment of your time thinking consciously about what drives us crazy or to great success.

Its early in the morning and I have gotten lost in music  preparing for the workshop when it came to mind this is definitely Willpower pushing me through to keep my commitments and it’s an all too familiar feeling.  But I also know the joy of cleansing and getting on my Yoga Mat every day and that gives the impression of Self-Discipline. Are these five pillars to Self-Discipline really accurate, Acceptance, Willpower, Hard Work, Industry, and Persistence and could Willpower be a part of Self-Discipline?  Went looking to the net for ideas, although inspirational quotes aren’t my favorite form of communication, these seemed worth the glance:

“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish
humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  The world is moved along,
not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny
pushes of each honest worker.” -   Helen Keller
“Yoga is a light which, once lit, will never dim. The better you practice, the brighter the flame.” -  B. K. S. Iyengar
“You are what your deep, driving desire is.
As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny.” -   Upanishads

And as I dug deeper I found this comment on a weight loss website that brought in another perspective:

… i don’t develop a plan and then expect to hold myself to it when the moment of ‘choosing’ arrives. That is what willpower is to me, and when i think self-discipline, i conceive of consequences for not adhering to a plan i developed in advance, regardless of what circumstances may arrive for that future event.  When you’re acting out of willpower, you’re making a plan in advance and sticking to it regardless of what’s happening in the present moment. You are disregarding your present-moment experience. That is very different from what Normal Eating teaches. When you’re acting out of self-care, you learn to be present in the moment, aware of your feelings and needs in real time. This allows you to cope with triggers in productive ways so you don’t need to self-soothe with food. How you think about something matters enormously. When you think in terms of self-discipline and willpower, you can fail. It’s diet-think. When you think in terms of freedom, self-love, and choice, it’s all good and it feels effortless….

This comment on Willpower seemed very exhausting, but certainly accurate.

Lastly some heady advice on Will from Papaji ,who was my teacher’s, teacher’s, teacher for a time and is how I heard of him.  Along with three other books,I pray to finish and comprehend before I die, is  Papaji:Wake up and Roar,  a collection of interviews taken throughout his life edited by Eli Jaxon-Bear.  The interview question is; I can’t will myself to change.  You can’t will yourself not to have desires, because that is more of the ego isn’t it?

 This will cannot be rejected so easily.  This will, “I want to be free”- let’s call it the last will, the last desire for the highest thing, which is perfection, eternity, emptiness it cannot be rejected.  It will take you somewhere and then it will vanish.  This desire will burn itself out, and what will remains is your nature. So be thankful for this will. Very few lucky people will choose this freedom. Cling firmly to this desire, and it will take you to freedom and then vanish.  Every desire needs the support of another desire.  Otherwise, one desire is no desire.  Therefore, it is freedom itself.  There the means and end are the same.  Intense desire for freedom alone, allowing on other desire to rise is freedom itself.

Once you consciously know you are free, desire will rise, they will not have a ground because these will be roasted seeds.  They will not have sprouted in the memory. You will already know the end.

All desires actually end in freedom.  Your desire is fulfilled and you are empty.  The emptiness brings you happiness, but it is unconscious.  You attribute your happiness to a possession, not the emptiness.  It is the freedom from desire that gives you happiness.

Only an instant is required for this recognition.  Once only.  Just a moment.  Look into and recognize your Self within this instant.  You don’t need a long program spread over years to recognize this freedom.  You are already free.  It is only recognition that isn’t there, that you are postponing.  You must recognize your own nature or you will not be happy.

Tell me what you think about willpower and freedom!

On those big words, good night,

Deby

Usually some where on the second or third day the reality sets in, the headaches and/or unusual amounts of irritable behavior appear and the hunger starts to become bothersome.  As you travel throughout your thinking, you will begin to experience obstacles of fear and unbelief.  Be it a wall or fence they usually disappear and shouldn’t deter you from your goals, of course if its something serious, well you should reevaluate.

Here are few tips to success:

Talk to people in support of your program,

Turn off the TV

Get Alone with God

Feast on uplifting words

Meditate

Go for walks alone

Practice Yoga

Be quite

Do not enter into needless temptation

Sleep

In other words consider spending time enjoying the emptiness of your belly, breaking old patterns, resting, enjoying the solitude, finding your peace.

Nameste,

Deby

Have I mentioned lately just how excited I am to be part of this cleanse with everyone?

Hate to admit I was a little draggy this morning, and well my stomach was so active I thought that was Where the Wild Things Are and it wasn’t until I went to Yoga tonight that it changed. Being empty allowed me to move into poses more freely, comfortably which created a renewed energy wasn’t sure I could have after not eating. Plus, not to mention the added bonus of socializing with fellow cleansers.  Enough said, I’m a big fan of Yoga, think it’s critical to everything, so I am holding back trying to get too preachy, but let me say, if you’re serious about the cleanse, don’t miss out on this vital element. This fast can be stressful!

Seane Corn teaches, “We detoxify so that we can show up more fully in the world and reach our highest potential”   We know that Yoga classes will provide abdominal compression, decompression, and twists, powerful breathing exercises and techniques to work in conjunction with the physical practices all to aid in the release of toxic emotional and mental patterns. Whew. But did you consider that yoga cleanses our system by helping us relax and meditate? Like chemical pollutants, stress is a toxin that can most definitely damage our physical, emotional and mental well being. Stress interrupts how we function from day-to-day and can even destroy any detox diet plan that we may have developed considering that compulsive eating can also be caused by too much stress.

And lets not forget about all the emotions whirring around looking to be harnessed. Like young Max you don’t really have to sail away to discover what Yoga is really all about, its Freedom. You may stumble upon a personal transformation with just a little shift in your practice to access the incredibly creative, powerful and fluid energy and maybe surrender to this energy, that is living your life.

See you in class,

Deby

L-O-V-E it’s a mystery, where you’ll find me, where you will find all is LOVE. 

Soundtrack Where the Wild Things Are

Detoxing has become a media buzz word and commercial event that can be viewed on perplexing things such as  labels of energy drinks, while on the other end of the spectrum Microsoft doesn’t even recognize it as word in their spell checker, what’s up with that?  Not being an expert, I am bringing you research from Giam, a very popular resource for healthy living.

From reading the celebrity rags, you may think that detox is something you do by either checking into a cushy rehabilitation facility or consuming nothing but liquids for 21 days. It seems either overly arduous or something only the rich and idle have time to do. But your body is designed to engage in detoxification every day. D-tox (detoxification) is about resting, cleaning and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health.

Daily life produces toxins—there’s no way around that. “We’re exposed to extreme amounts of toxins from air pollution, household chemicals, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, processed foods and other things,” says Isabel Clark, R.H.N., founder of Clark Wellness in Washington, D.C. The body has mechanisms for eliminating toxins, such as breathing, sweating, urinating and bowel movements, but sometimes it needs a little bit of help.

“A detox or cleanse will make you feel cleaner, clearer and lighter,” Clark says. It can also jump-start a weight-loss program, help you transition between seasons, regulate digestion and help you identify food allergies or trigger foods. In fact, a detox serves a powerful purpose, says Elson Haas, M.D., author of The New Detox Diet: The Complete Guide for Lifelong Vitality with Recipes, Menus and Detox Plans. “Detox is a process to help people heal,” he says.

Giam also reports, there are three main systems of the body that play a crucial role in the elimination of wastes — circulatory, digestive and lymph. The circulatory system pumps blood throughout the body, delivering oxygen to and carrying waste products away from cells. The digestive system processes the food we eat, separating nutrients from waste and eliminating anything the body doesn’t need. And the lymphatic system collects intracellular fluid from throughout the body and transports it to the lymph nodes where anything harmful (such as bacteria or other contaminants) can be removed before the lymphatic fluid is returned to the bloodstream. It’s a robust system that works well on its own. But in order to help your body keep up with the heavy demands our stressful lives and nutrient-poor modern diet place on these systems, the trick is to give your body an assist so it can perform its natural detoxing function. And yoga is an ideal companion.  Most forms of vigorous exercise stimulate all three systems of elimination to some extent, thereby helping the body in its quest to detox. But yoga, with its focus on systematically stretching and compressing every part of the body, is particularly well-suited to keeping the waste-removal departments of the body functioning well.

“In a well-rounded yoga practice, every part of the body is pushed, pulled, twisted, turned and upended,” explains New York City yoga teacher Witold Fitz-Simon, founder of the yogaartandscience.com blog. “This facilitates the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and lymphatic fluid from the deep tissues and extremities of the body that a jog or a bike ride just don’t reach.”

During cleanse week, the three instructors are being very conscious of your journey, modifying poses along the way as  confirming our commitment that Yoga is an integral part to helping the body squeeze out the toxins, firm you up, de-bloat, reset metabolism, cleanse inner body and oxygenate your blood. Don’t miss classes this week being gentle on yourself throughout the practice.  

NEW IN TOWN:  Just off the barge is a new easy energizing way to detox and a perfect compliment to your cleanse this week.  Terese Jones is offering up (by appointment) at the White Lotus Center an Ionic Foot Bath.  With much scepticism, I’ve had the benefit of a dozen or so ionic foot baths with varied and wonderful results.  This new professional equipment she brings to town is very powerful and worth discussing with her. Terese gave Sarasvati and myself footbaths Friday night while we conspired about the poses and live music we will present during the workshop scheduled for October 23rd.  We both felt soothed and curious as we sat patiently in the bath and we would be happy to share our remarkable results.

Terese commented on how it’s a great compliment to any type of cleanse, renewing  your cells so they can excrete toxins that are accumulated in our day-to-day life.  Bringing more energy, life force to the body, the ionic footbath aids in rejuvenating the liver and kidneys allowing them to work more efficiently so the body can eliminate even more toxin while you cleanse as well as helps to pull toxin form the joints helping to create a pain free existence.  Cell renewal, one of the key components of the bath,  is also a great prevention to restoring the cells to their natural state and aids the body to remain disease free and efficient.  There are several testimonies about the healing effects to patients of cancer, MS, Parkinson’s and many others including Terese.  Along with a heavy metal detox program the footbaths helped her heal her liver after 8 years of pain and extensive medical testing from the best hospitals.  Safe and efficient the foot baths have aided many in weaning themselves from medication as potent as blood thinners to thyroid prescriptions.

Give Terese a call 907-209-9292, she recommends two foot baths during the cleanse, while space is limited she will make this opportunity a regular part of the community. 

Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

(peace repeated 3 times, to honor your body, mind and soul)

Deby

Chanting provides a limited amount of mind activity allowing the mind to focus on a particular thought vs. singing which can require the mind to remember quite a few lyrics in order to complete a song.   According to the French Doctor Alfred A. Tomatis, (who has pioneered research in the neurophysiologic effects of Chant on the minds and bodies of listeners) there are two kinds of sound: Discharge Sounds and Charged Sounds. Discharge sounds are those which make the listener feel fatigued or drained. And charged sounds are those which give the listener energy, life and health.

Kitzie Stern has organized an amazingly beautiful selection of music, including the Kirtan Elevator Speech  to play from her site. Quite honestly, I have downloaded all of her podcasts through iTunes and haven’t been able to listen to any other music.  Kirtan, as Kitzie explains, is a very different kind of music.  Based on ancient chants, it has the ability to quiet the mind if listened to with intention.  Everyone experiences kirtan differently, and it doesn’t have to be a religious experience.  You can think of it as a sing-along.  A kirtan concert is not your typical concert either.  Everyone sits on the floor, although chairs are usually available.  The performers are accessible, in fact there’s not much of a distinction between performers & audience.  The wallah (leader) sings the mantra, and the audience sings it back.  A single chant can go on for up to forty minutes.  As you sing with each other you experience a deep connection with the musicians, the other audience members and yourself.  And when the music stops, your mind is quiet.

Deby

Imagine being able to just pop around the corner for a colonic, flow through a Jivamukti yoga workshop, pamper yourself with a day long massage and sauna treatment, take part in an Ayurveda check up, or even have specially prepared fasting juices delivered to your home.   What luxury to have a wealth of resources at the tip of our fingers, but give up rugged can do qualities of small town Alaska NEVER!

It’s that adaptability to any challenge so endearing about Ketchikan.  If you’re still toying with what type of fast you want to do, be inspired by this retreat near the Big Apple and create a regime of your own, giving up (sugar, caffeine, alcohol) and just one meal each day, replacing it with your favorite juice concoction centered on the Chakras.

Long before the art of dissection was practiced, the ancient yogis were able to deduce certain subtle aspects of human anatomy through close observation of their own bodies.  They estimated that within the body there were between 75,000 and 350,000 channels called nadis; the nadis are pathways of sensation along which the life force, prana, travels.  Three important nadis emerged running vertically from the base of the skull to the tailbone(similar to the spine) and two others (similar to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system) weaving back and forth to cross over the vertical channel, where these two channels intersect are called the chakras. The chakras, also referred to as wheels have distinct properties relative to the physical location in the body.  When a chakra is open to the flow of prana, then the characteristics of the chakra become manifest.  For example, when the heart chakra is open then you are healthy, compassionate and psychologically stable and centered.

According to a very easy and practical book “A Handbook of Chakra Healing”  Charkra work is an energy therapy that improves the condition of your energy system and through simple exercises; you can raise the level of your energy and strengthen your powers of intuition, as well as recognize problems that arise from energy blockages.  Its positive effects include stimulation of the metabolism, detoxification and strengthening of the immune system by infusing cells and organs with healing energy. The mind and spirit are not left out as Chakras are not just energy centers they’re centers of awareness and over time this work can help resolve afflictions such as anxiety, stress, removing negative attitudes toward live so that you can look forward to experience serenity, happiness and inner peace in short period of time.

With an excerpt from the book (see link on left) or online you can take the Chakra Personality Test to determine which chakras are dominate and which are weak and which have blockages.  Take it now and again at the end of the cleanse to see a shift in your balance.

Throughout this cleanse, you may want to strengthen your life energy by focusing on two Chakras: sensuous love in the sacral chakra and spiritual, universal love in the heart charka. The union of both charkas expands the entire potential for human love.  As we all know the power of love to change the world can bring about a multitude of positive changes and more happiness.  Who doesn’t want that?

More do-it yourself:   SPA TREATMENT as outlined in this recent Yoga Journal newsletter.

A day at the spa is a fine antidote to the sense of imbalance that we all experience from time to time. But you don’t have to wait for a windfall to indulge yourself. You can create many of the same benefits at home.   The most important element for your home-spa day is uninterrupted time. Take a personal day from work, send the kids and husband out for some bonding time, turn off your phones. Fill the tub with hot water and let the steam fill the room. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil or create a “bath tea” by filling a cotton sock with a mixture of dried herbs, tying it at the top, and letting it soak in the water. While you wait for the water to cool a bit, exfoliate your skin with a natural-bristle body brush, using circular motions. When you’re done wrap up in a comfy robe or some loungewear, and make a cup of your favorite herbal tea. Now that you are scrubbed, relaxed, and warm, prepare an herbal facial steam and take time to nourish your soul as well as your body. Read uplifting words—poetry, yoga philosophy—or write in your journal. Whatever else you do today, go slowly and gently. Letting a sense of peace and relaxation settle deep into your bones may be the most pampering thing of all.

Namaste,

Deby