Sink in and slow down

I spent the last 5 days relishing in the teachings of John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga, for the first time.  I'm blown away, mostly because as my yoga teacher Bernadette put it this morning in class, it's like he's talking directly to you. She's says most of us have this experience with him, and it's because his teachings are so universal - they touch each of us, deep in our heart.  It's amazing, profound and I'm in "lawe" ~ a little slip of the tongue John made this weekend as he combined the words "love" and "awe" ~ perfectly said.

The depth of his teachings are impossible to cover in just one blog post but one of his greatest gifts this weekend was, "To be able to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, you have to slow things down."  Woah, yes.   Since I've been back on this side of the globe, life seems to be moving at an amazing accelerated rate and I'm not finding many quiet moments to see the beauty in between the madness.  I took those words to heart and at the added inspiration of Bernadette's latest blog post I went into the woods yesterday.  The leaves are just starting to turn and I haven't been around for the beautiful bliss of the northeast autumn in two years.  I walked through the woods with my dog and literally felt spirit running through the trees.  It was exhilarating.  I remember thinking, "I need to do this EVERY day."  There is a kind of magic amongst nature that is so alive and potent.  I never did things like that before yoga entered my life, like EVER.  I wasn't into it.  But now the pull to retreat in nature is powerful.  And get this, I felt more gratified and satisfied from the hour walk through the woods than having checked anything off my supposedly important to-do list.  Imagine that - slowing down was more gratifying than speeding up.

Towards the end of the path I came across a streaming river and a wood bridge.  I took a seat and let my feet drape just over a small waterfall and looked up at the sun shimmering through the golden yellow leaves on the tall trees.  Breathe this in, I thought.  The sight, the sounds, the smells.  Truly inspired and profoundly grateful for all my teachers, I'm sinking in and slowing down.  

Love to each of you. 

 

Sweet potato bliss

I just discovered yams, or sweet potatoes.  You'd think growing up in an Irish family where the potato is a staple of every meal we'd eat every form of potato, but no.  Recently I started reading about the nutritional rich value of yams (a complex carb, great source of fiber, B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin C, and beta carotene) so I wanted to give them a try....and boy, they are good.  I'm consistantly amazed at the flavors of mother nature, without any chemical processing or additives, it's already SO good! 

So here are a couple ways to cook 'em up that are quick and easy, also vegan (without dairy or any animal product) and I encourage you buy organic when available.  (btw, my recipes are not exact - add a little and add more if you feel to)

Mashed~

2-3 large yams - wash, peel, and cut into small pieces

Boil for about 10 mins until you can stick a fork through

Strain, and mash - add a little coconut milk, ground a little ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, salt and pepper.

Absolutely delish.

Roasted~

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2-3 large yams - wash, peel, and cube

Lightly coat roasting pan with olive oil

Soften 2 tblsp of Earth Balance butter alternative (fantastic!) with some olive oil and a tblsp of organic maple syrup (in season and awesome right now), salt and pepper

Place cubed potatoes and dressing in a plastic container and shake until potatoes are coated.

Pour in roasting pan and bake for 15-20 min.

Amazingly delish.

Lunch today was lightly sauteed zucchini with the roasted sweet potatoes topped with fresh romaine lettuce....full of nature's colors and nutritional goodness. 

Get your health on!

Peace, love & veggies

Autumn - detox time

The change of seasons is a natural time to internally cleanse the body.  Autumn can be thought of as a transition time into a new year...the harvest is almost over -- it's time to clear out, physically and mentally -- to let go of those things that no longer serve you....habits, attitudes, and behaviors.  It's an opportunity to till the soil and plant new seeds -- what do you want to bring into your life?  What are your highest goals for your life?  Are you acting in way that brings you closer to those dreams and goals?  Let go what no longer serves, recommit to what is working and set yourself up to get more of what nourishes you.  When you clean out you create space for the things that you really want.

The liver is the body's natural detoxifier -- sometimes it can get overloaded by processing the foods and drinks we ingest, especially the pesticide laden food most of us are eating, but also the chemicals and pollutants we encounter daily in the air and water.  If the liver becomes overwhelmed, it can't properly transform the toxins.  This forms a physical sludge ('ama' in sanskrit) inside the body and it also pollutes the mind causing cloudiness and anxiety.  A run down liver also makes us more susceptible to the colds and flus that blow in on autumn's winds.  

Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, says there are 4 steps to a good fall cleanse.

1)  Slow down - fall is a good time to slow down, de-stress, assess our daily habits like the food we eat and the amount of exercise we're getting.  Interestingly, in our culture, early fall represents a time of schedule insanity.

2) Detox diet - Simple, healthy, cleansing foods - less sugar, caffeine, and processed foods.  Last week I did a 7 day juice cleanse - no solid food, no sugar, no caffeine -- yowzers! 

3)  Cleansing yoga - Specific yoga poses help expedite the detox process.   Heating the body (tapas) and twisty poses that wring out the organs help remove toxins from your tissues through your lymphatic and digestive system so they can be eliminated.  Pranayama (breathing exercises) cleanse the lungs, brings fresh vital energy into the body, balances the two sides of the brain, and helps calm and stabalize the mind.

4) Self study - A detox period is an awesome time of contemplation and meditation.  Take some days to settle, slow down, listen more, and get clear about the direction of your life purpose.

My first cleanse was in Thailand at a place called The Sanctuary on Koh Phangan island - one of the most beautiful places I've had the grace of visiting.  I completed a five day watermelon juice fast there with coffee colonics everyday -- yep, you heard it right, colonics every day.  At first I was grossed out, but when I started to see the sludge that had obviously been stuck for years, I was jumping full blown on the colonic train.  It took me 2 years before I did my next one but last April in Nepal I holed myself in a room in the mountains and did the same cleanse for 7 days.  Knowing that I was doing something so amazing for my health -- my colon, my liver, my digestive system, my skin and hair, and my mind -- saved me from giving up.

So six months later here I am just after finishing my third cleanse - this time I also completed seven days.  I supplement the juice with physillium husk powder and bentonite clay to assist with the colon cleanse and help hunger pangs, and I also add in superfood green powder for proteins and energy.  Besides the physical benefits, time seems to slow down (more time for me!), my movements and words get sluggish (less lashing out in frustration), and my mind is quiet and at ease (peace)....the "slow-down" happens automatically by not feeding the body.   Every time I learn more and more about my emotional relationship with food.

Cleansing is an austerity - it's not an easy thing to do but the rewards are worth it.  Even if you start with giving yourself a week of a very clean diet (brown rice, beans, veggies, and spices [to create fire] -- try kitchari) and lots of water, this can give your system a tremendous break from normal everyday digestion.

The highest value of a detox or cleanse is to feel better about yourself so go easy -- do the best you can, embrace and love yourself for exactly who and where you are on this journey.  Go inside, dig down deep, clear out, and find that innate courage to go after what you really want in life. 
 

WhAt'S in YoUR sUgar, SuGaR?

I've been passionately reading about this thing called Aspartame.  It's by far the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods.  It's lethal, it's deadly, and it's in at least five thousand products around the world.  Yeah, really...the FDA approves things like this.  Are you mad yet?  Because I'm furious.

I sorta knew about aspartame but recently my dad brought me the flavored water he's been drinking....he wanted me to check it out.  According to him, the label said NO calories, NO sugar, NO this, NO that!  So he thought it was great.  Well, I looked at the ingredient list, and guess what's in it?  You got it.

So I did some more research.....And here's a snapshot.

Aspartame, originially marketed by Monsanto (the food industry devil), is commonly sold by the brand names Equal or Nutrasweet, and marketed as a zero calorie sweetener.  The most common products it's found in is "diet" soda, flavored drinks, yogurt, pudding, alternative sugar packets, chewing gum, frozen food, packaged foods, and even vitamins and cough drops.

Basically the company that originally produced aspartame, G.D. Searle, was due to be prosecuted for fabricating test results indicating that aspartame was safe, but legal matters were held up and delayed by attorneys (who later took lucrative positions within the industry), until the statute of limitations expired.  One study showed that of seven monkeys that were being fed aspartame mixed with milk, one dies and five others have grand mal seizures.  Another one done by Neuroscientist Dr John Olney informed G.D. Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the three ingredients in aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice.

In an article titled "The Aspartame Scandal", Betty Martini reports, "The FDA has received more than 10,000 consumer complaints on this Nutra-poison.  That's 80% of all complaints about food additives, yet they have done nothing to alert the American consumer on this Nutra-Poison."

Aspartame has been linked to at least 92 different adverse effects including:

Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Anxiety, Birth defects, Blurred vision, Brain tumors, Cancer, Depression, Diabetes, Diarrhea, Dizziness, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, Heart palpitations, Hypertension, Joint pain, Memory Loss, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscle spasms, Nausea, Numbness, Parkinson's, PMS, Rashes, Sexual disfunction, Vertigo, Vomiting, Weight gain.

 So what to do?!

-Go through your kitchen and throw out everything that has any of the following artificial sweeteners listed on the label:  Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium (K), Saccharin, or Sucralose. I don't care if it cost you money, your health is on the line - throw it away!!!

-Avoid any product claiming to be "low calorie", "diet", "sugar free" or "no added sugar".  All of these likely contain artificial sweeteners. 

-Do not use Equal, Nutrasweet, or Splenda!  Use Organic RAW sugar, organic agave nectar, or organic locally grown honey instead. 

A great resource for all of this clean, green, disease free eating is this book I'm currently reading called The GREEN body cleanse by Dr. Edward F. Group III.  And I also just watched a brilliant documentary called Forks over Knives.  It will give you tremendous insight into the effects of what we're eating.  You can watch it streaming on Netflix.

Needless to say, I threw my dad's poisoned water down the drain.  He will not be buying that again.  I encourage anyone who is passionate about this to let me know so we can talk about what else you can do to clean and green your life....for the health of yourself, your family, your community, and the planet.

Peace, love & veggies!

(stolen from Kris Carr - check her out on crazysexylife.com)

Meditating with an 80lb pitbull

I've been sitting for meditation every morning lately and I'm so happy to be back to the practice...sometimes it's for 15 minutes but sometimes it's much longer and what I notice is that I WANT it to be longer, I actually love that time now.  I used to sit through it wondering how much time had passed and if it was a sufficient enough practice.  But now, I relish in that moment of just me and silence, or rather just me and my mental chatter, but still that's A LOT quieter than the day-to-day norm.

Just to make it a bit more interesting, my brother's 80 pound pitbull has been meditating with me.  Actually he won't leave my side these days so it's either lock him out and he cries or let him sit near me.  And what's amazing is that he actually just totally chills out with me.   By spending a lot of time with him, I've grown even more in tune with the beauty of animals, even BIG aggressive-looking ones...they feed on your energetic presence.  This morning he licked my nose *kiss* while my eyes were closed sitting in lotus.....a pleasant surprise. 

As soon as I roll out of bed, I hit the loo, grab a warm glass of water and lemon to cleanse the system and sit for meditation.  It has been the most important way for me to stay connected to my Self.  My days are more productive and on track with my highest goals.   I have grown to love the practice, even with a pitbull by my side.

The bigger picture

How did I get the courage to leave everything and follow my dream to travel and study yoga?  There was definitely fear, but surrounding the fear was TRUST - an inner knowing (clarity) that this was my path, it felt right, that I was following my "dharma" - then everything was easy.  Looking back, I can say this inner knowing and clarity came from my yoga practice. 

I was reflecting on this after my meditation practice this morning.  I started to do a Light Channeling Meditation and I can immediately feel the difference, mostly in my perspective.  I'm seeing the bigger picture, at least more consistently.  I was realizing that it had been a while since I had zoomed out, felt the trust in the higher, that all of it is part of a bigger picture. 

So once again, I'm brought back to the practice and how necessary it is - to do asana and to meditate -- to feel deeply into my body, mind, and spirit -- because when i feel inside, I can feel the divine. 

Being happy in transition

I’m going though this time of transition, which after reading the amazing piece “Fear of Transformation” from the Essene Book of Days (posted below), I’m thankfully reminded that the fear that encapsulates my being when I’m not sure whats next is perfectly normal….that these are the times of the most growth even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.  This part particularly resonated with me….”I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a “no-thing”, a no-place between places. ... That’s just a scary, confusing, disorienting “nowhere” that must be gotten through as fast and as unconsciously as possible.”  I love this.  Here, in particular the NY area of the US, we are a 'goal driven, must know where we're going, what we're doing' kind of place.  This has its benefits of course, but it doesn't lend a lot of allowance for taking time to re-assess things.  You constantly hear questions like, "Well, whats next?" or "What are you going to do now?" and if you don't have a solid answer you get the polite "Ah, well thats ok".... a.k.a.... "Really? You don't know?!" 

I've been consciously trying to live in this 'I don't know' because I believe this time is all part of it --  its not a nothing, meaningless, voided, waste of time in my life but another important growth period.  I want to be in the 'nowhere' happily and fully embrace the beauty of this moment...this moment of unsettling fear and anxiety, but also this moment on the brink of  opportunity for change, for something new, for growth.  I think if we all embraced this time with more calm awareness and trust that our lives would take a more heartfelt and inspired direction to the next phase. 

Fear of Transformation

From The Essene Book of Days

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings.  I’m

either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few

moments in my life, I’m hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.

Most of the time I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my

trapeze-bar-of-the-moment.  It carries me along a certain steady rate

of swing and I have the feeling that I’m in control of my life.  I

know most of the right questions and even some of the right answers.

But once in a while, as I’m merrily swinging along, I look ahead of me

into the distance, and what do I see?  I see another trapeze bar

swinging toward me.  It’s empty, and I know, in that place in me that

knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it.  It is my next

step, my growth, my aliveness coming to get me.  I know in my heart

that for me to grow, I must release my grip on the present well known

bar and move to the new one.

Each time it happens to me, I hope or pray that I won’t have to grab

the new one.  But in my knowing place I know  that I must totally

release my grip on my old bar, and for some moments in time I must

hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar.  Each time I

am filled with terror.  It doesn’t matter that in all my previous

hurtles across the void of unknowing I have always made it. Each time

I am afraid I will miss, that I will be crushed on unseen rocks in the

bottomless chasm between the bars.  But I do it anyway.  Perhaps this

is the essence of that the mystics call the faith experience.  No

guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyway because

somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of

alternatives.  And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a

thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of “the past is gone,

the future is not yet here.”  It’s called transition.  I have come to

believe that it is the only place that real change occurs.  I mean

real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time

my old buttons get pushed.

I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked

upon as a “no-thing”, a no-place between places.  Sure the old trapeze

bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that’s real

too.  But the void in between?  That’s just a scary, confusing,

disorienting “nowhere” that must be gotten through as fast and as

unconsciously as possible.  What a waste!  I have a sneaking suspicion

that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are

illusions we dream up to avoid the void, where the real change, the

real growth occurs for us.  Whether or not my hunch is true, it

remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredible rich

places.  They should be honored, even savored.  Yes, with all the pain

and fear and feelings of being out-of-control that can accompany

transitions, they are still the most live, most growth filled,

passionate, expansive moments in our lives.

And so, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear

go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to “hang-out” in

the place between trapeze bars.  Transforming our need to grab that

new bar, any bar, is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place

where change really happens.  It can be terrifying.  It can also be

enlightening, in the true sense of the word, hurtling through the

void, we just may learn to fly.