Mother's Wisdom

My mom took her first yoga class ever with me on Saturday. And by with me I mean that I was the teacher. She said she liked it a lot and that she thought I was an excellent teacher. It is a very cool experience to be able to share a talent, skill or accomplishment with those in your life that have made those very things possible for you. And while it was amazing for me to hear those things from my own mother, it was something else she said that morning that really showed me the deep wisdom that she has.

When I am driving to teach a class, I have a ritual of singing Kirtan on the way. This helps me to remember that everything I am doing in my life is practicing Yoga. And driving is one of them. You can practice Yoga while driving: go the speed limit. Let cars pass you. Sit on your sit bones ect. And breathe of course. Kirtan also helps to lift my spirits ensuring I arrive to class with a light heart. So I turned to my mom in the car and asked if she would mind if I sang some chants. She said of course.

I began with a chant about Ganesha, so obstacles could be removed (and because it's my favorite) and followed up with a Siva chant since it was Saturday (see last post) and it's a Siva day (Saturday=Saturn...and OK I am totally not an astrologer-still figuring that out). I began a chant I really like. "Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo..." But then I came to a part in the song that goes really high. I did what I always do here and scrunched up my face, looked at my mom a little embarrassed and with eyes that said, "I don't think I can do this". And you know what she said, "Oh who cares Julie, just do it, you have to try. Just push through."

Om tat sat, Mom, Om tat sat.

Rama Bolo

It's Sunday. It's a Rama day. So what the heck does that mean you ask? I thought that today would be a good one for a little Vedic lesson. Basics in understanding what is being referred to when we speak of Rama, Siva, Ganesha..."who/what ARE these?"

I have been loving my new "epiphany" (it's not that ground-breaking because it's not that I didn't KNOW this before-but I am working now to actually LIVE this): that we are human BEings. Not human doings, not human havings. What we do and have will never determine how we BE; but conversely how we BE will determine what we have and do. And within the context of human BEings we hear a lot of "just be" talk. Well yes, it's wonderful to "just be" but there are some other really brilliant ways of "being" that we are guided to through Vedanta Philosophy with the three natures/aspects of "God". (I am going to use the term God in this post and you can take that or leave that or replace with whatever works for you. This is simply an exploration, not a postulation.)

So back to Sunday. I teach a Yoga class on Sunday mornings called Sunday Sadhana. Sadhana means spiritual practice. It's really lovely because I am able to delve into the more esoteric aspects of Yoga since it takes place at a studio as opposed to the more sanitized versions of the class I teach at the health club. We do some kirtan and talk about the aspects of the Sun and Rama. And so comes the background: there are 3 aspects or natures of God. I am going to explain each in its masculine/femine form (yin/yang, ha/tha), the nature and what it teaches us about being human:

1. Brahma/Saraswati: the creator. Here God creates all. In masculine it's the spider, in feminine, it's the web. The manifestor and the manifestation. In this we learn, that as divine beings, we are creators of our world. Our thoughts, words and actions create the life we live. We are divine authors. Here, we are humans being: CREATIVE.

2. Vishnu/Lakshmi: the preserver. Here God is in the act of living on earth. Vishnu/Lakshmi is abundance and how we live here in peace, in power, in surrender. It is the belief that Vishnu comes into the world in the form of an avatar (Rama/Sita, Krishna/Rhada, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed ect.). in order to remind humans that they are divine and of how to BE on earth. There is also Rama's faithful servant Hanuman. He is present to teach us that humans are servants, here to serve one another. In this we serve God. Here we are humans being: GRATEFUL, ABUNDANT, COMPASSIONATE, KIND, OF SERVICE.

3. Siva/Parvati (she is also known as Durga and Sivakami): the destroyer/transformer. Here we find the power of transformation. As all things are created, there is a natural cycle and what comes in this life, also goes. It is our duty to transform our lower natures (lust, anger, greed, hatred, jealousy ect) into divine natures (empathy, gratitude, love, compassion ect). Here we are humans being: TRANSFORMATIVE

In simple summary, humans are meant to BE: creating, serving, and transforming.

And so on Sunday, we sing "Rama Bolo!" where we are proclaiming "How grateful we are, how abundant is life, how kind is God, how can I serve my fellow man?"

Om tat sat.

Plan C

Plan C is the path you didn't 'see' before. It's the 'everything else' that you never before realized. There are two ways to think about this. One I learned from Sin Kuhn, a visiting teacher at the Yoga Farm. He called what I am referring to as Plan C, the 3rd Alternative. As he put it, there are three paths we can choose in any given situation, which I will explain-read on.

One night a few weeks ago, after taking a leadership and self-empowerment course, I had a rather strange dream. I dreamt I was pregnant. Even in the dream I knew this couldn't be possible. So I went to a friend (one who in real life is usually a voice of reason in my life) and she helped me to take another more accurate test that I didn't know exisited and it too read positive. At this point in the dream I was totally freaked out but also totally excited about the prospect of the experience ahead of me. And then my friend came to me with a box of pills. She pulled out a packet and it was labeled, "PLAN C". Ah-hah! (For those of you who don't get the 'joke' here, there is a "morning after pill" on the market that is actually called Plan B.)

Pulling together what I have been going through in making some major life decisions, my Saturn Return, and the many amazing people and opportunities in my life, I was able to intertwine Sin Khun's theories with one I was realizing for myself. And it looks like this:

Plan A/The 1st Alternative: What you know. The subconscious mind. The past replays itself. A broken record.

Plan B/The 2nd Alternative: What you know you don't know. What you can easily learn from another. What you can read up on. Your beliefs. The beliefs of others. Taking the path another has taken.

Plan C/The 3rd Alternative: Everything else. What don't know you don't know. The wide open unencumbered future. Creating your own path.

You see, Plan C is the path that opens the possibilities of being YOU. Because YOU have never lived before-in this life, in this body, in this family, in this job, in this role. And you came into all of these things for a reason. Plan C is taking risks, being scared, not knowing what the outcome will be. Like in my dream, I was scared, but I was also so very excited. Plan C is opening yourself to the possibility that anything and everything is possible. Is it scary? YES. Is it rewarding? YES. Is it the way we are meant to be living? I do believe so.

Take a chance. Go where no other has gone. Be wholly, authentically, beautifully YOU.


Om tat sat.

This is going to be interesting...

I began this blog when I was living at an ashram. Living the life of a yogini. Away from "the world". And that was nice, for a time.  And then I got nervous about finances. I still had an outstanding student loan, I was paying for my health insurance...my reserves were getting low for my comfort. You see, I wasn't quite able to 'let go' of all of my 'real world' concerns, and so it was time for me to leave.

I gained a pretty strong awareness that while I couldn't stay at the ashram any longer, I also couldn't go back to the way I had been living before the ashram: anxious.  Anxiety has been plaguing me ever since my freshman year of college. It hit me hard when I went to take a full body stretch upon waking one morning and felt a POP in my neck, followed by me not being able to move my neck. Yes, I had officially begun my relationship with worry manifesting in tight muscles around my spine. What was I was worried about about you ask? Well, everything and anything. It sucked! Whether anxiety is a learned behavior, genetic, circumstantial...I don't know. I think it's a combination of all of the above mixed in with our nutrient-deficient SAD (Standard American Diet) diet and fast-paced, expectation-filled modern lifestyle.

 

And so it's been quite the journey in this young adulthood of mine. Trying to figure out: how do I live a life I love in the modern world, doing things I love, and not succumbing to the spinning anxious thoughts that so often cloud my world?

I have taken many approaches: first, through diet. This worked. Changing my diet enabled me to stop taking the medications I was prescribed following the untimely death of my brother, 9 years ago today. (Shout out to Philip!)  So now I could live without Lexapro and Xanax but I was still spinning. And so I knew it was time to take the full-on mind/body/spirit approach. And hence my 7 month ashram stint. It was wonderful! I learned to BREATH. And CHANT. And TRUST. But it wasn't going to last forever. You see I knew deep down in my heart that I was born to live IN the world...(but not OF the world?!)   And so now, right NOW, I am delving into my next step in the process of being able to find that balance.

I have accepted an internship at one of the world's largest publishing houses in Manhattan. I will be working in Social Media Marketing. I worked in marketing in the 'corporate world' early in my career. I had hives. Since then I have been a produce buyer, health coach, wellness program developer, babysitter, candle-maker, yoga teacher...anything to avoid "the office". But now I am taking that dragon on again. I have discovered in all of my travels and different hats, that I am a pretty darn good communicator. I can speak and write well. And I like to do it. I like to communicate a message to many people. My current interest in the ease and efficiency of spreading information through social media excites me and I want to learn more!

AND...I am scared. I am trying not to take my past disappointments with me through the front doors of the big building between Park and 5th Avenues. I have learned so much and I only pray that I will be able to be a true Yogini in the office. I will share with you how this all works out-the challenges I meet, the characters I enjoy (or otherwise), and the work that I do. How I manage to fit in my passions for cooking and nutrition, maintaining my personal writing and still teaching yoga classes. I can honestly tell you I am scared, excited, nervous all at once. Perhaps this was a huge mistake. But one thing I will never be, is left wondering...

 

In every action I take, there is just one thing that I hope to find: peace of mind. So in that I can be a business woman at the ashram or I can be a Yogini at the business. The truth is it's all the same.

Om tat sat. Om shanti.

Bankruptcy of the Pocket or of the Soul?

I am in the midst of making a big choice. Whatever I do choose will lay out at least the next 3 months of my life, when surely I will be faced with yet another big choice. This is how it works. And when these choices present themselves, there are many ways of going in search of the answer, of which path to traverse. I have tried it all: talked to friends and family, prayer, meditation, and reading. I have found it particularly helpful to go into my many journals from the past to see what it was I was praying for before, so that I might understand why the opportunities at hand present themselves in the way that they do.

Whilst perusing my many scribbles, dreams and observations of the past few years, I came across a piece of writing a friend had shared with me. The author, Sterling Hayden, was himself a wanderer/seeker type. He had Hollywood in the palm of his hands at one point and walked away. He was in the service, he sailed...it seems as though he knew how to follow his heart, how to choose. And so as I find wisdom in his words, I share them with you:

To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, we are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known by yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea..."cruising" it's called. Real voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail to the seven seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford , is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security". And in the worship of security they fling their lives beneath the wheels of routine-and before they know it their lives are gone.

What does a man need-really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in-and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all-in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer?

In choice.

Which shall it be?

Bankruptcy of the pocket or bankruptcy of the soul?

-Sterling Hayden

Choice versus mere decision. Decisions lie in canceling certain possibilities in order to replace with something else. Choice comes from the heart. In choice there is power. If only we can listen...

Om shanti. Om peace.

Yoga Say What? Learn. Forget. Remember.

The true definition of Yoga might very well be different dependant upon whom you ask. While I was studying at the Yoga Farm we in fact learned that there are many translations regarding the meaning of Yoga. Today, I will share those meanings and how I see them pertinent in today's world.

A little background on the source and history of Yoga before we delve into WHAT exactly it is. Yoga Philosophy comes from The Vedas. The Vedas, translating to "knowledge" are writings transmitted to the world via sages/saints over three thousand years ago. So like with the prophets of the Bible and other spiritual texts, these people sat quietly, at times for years at a time, in order to receive these Truths to assist humanity in achieving its purpose. For those of us with a sense that we ARE indeed born with purpose, these texts become something to be examined and considered. With Vedanta Philisophy (this is the philopophy of the Vedas, also known as Yoga philosophy) being "the end of knowledge", Vedanta implies that once you truly understand the message, there is simply nothing left to know.

I had a moment of intense clarity the other day (LOVE those right?) where three words came to me: Learn. Forget. Remember. In these three words I relate to the Vedas & Yoga.

• In LEARNING: we are born and we learn so much about the world around us-right and wrong. For example, we learn that we eat fruits and vegetables not rocks and dirt. This is 'right'. We also "learn" that perhaps we are not talented enough, smart enough, or attractive enough. This is "wrong". So we learn and learn and learn until one day we say, "HEY-I don't think I have this all RIGHT. I don't believe what this and that person said and I want to get back to the way I was before I believed that!".

• And so we have to work hard to FORGET. This is what a lot of the Yoga practice is meant for. To release us from the false perceptions we have of ourselves and the world around us.

• Once we do this work, we can REMEMBER. We can remember who we are, why we came into this life, and the all important work we are supposed to do. We remember our purpose. THIS, is life.

Now back to the meanings of YOGA in order to apply them to LIFE:

Yoga is:

#1. A level of bliss, maintained. In this I see that it's something that is meant to be constant.

#2. Evenness of the mind. Here is the view that it is when we have enough control over our own thoughts to not get overly excited about things. While that may sound like a downer at first, when we think about that what goes up must come down (physics), we can understand that for every super-excited thought or reaction, we level it out with an equally depressed or lethargic state of being. So the more we can keep our minds steady, the less we suffer.

#3. Skill in action. This is where we delve into what is commonly called Karma Yoga or Seva. Here we participate in our duty; whether it be as a parent, janitor, banker ect., we do our work without expectation regarding the outcome. When we can do this, we cannot be let down as we never had expectations to begin with. In this we can approach #2 much easier!

#4. A scientific method to find truth. Indeed. It is written, it is proven, it's been done for thousands of years. It is NOT a religion, it does NOT ask for any steadfast belief or surrender, it only provides a method to LEARN. FORGET. REMEMBER.

#5. Union with the Divine. This is perhaps the most popularized definition, often referring to a translation of 'yoke'. In this we can say that here is the REMEMBERING that we are no different from any other person nor from whatever That is Who created all of this!

#6. The severance from the union with pain. As is #3, when we aren't expecting things to turn out a certain way, when we simply try our best and offer the results to the world rather than laying claim to them...we don't hurt. We don't identify with 'losing' because we had never intended to put our Self out for gain. Pretty. Darn. Cool!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed this little lesson in Vedanta and that you have seen that while indeed esoteric (no matter how I could try, I could never not be spiritual...if that makes any sense!), there is a lot of meaty, relevant and useful information in all of this.

Om Tat Sat.

Oops...I Did it Again

Holiday food hangover? Yeah...Well it's not too late to do a little cleaning up! I whipped up a little post-pig-out plan that will also give a sneak preview into the "51% Diet". This 3-day plan is a vegan and gluten-free version as it's meant for cleansing. I was thinking today about how COOL it is that our bodies, when given a chance, will correct themselves and get back into perfect running order. It's rather remarkable. With this plan, we'll start at dinner on day 1, and go full throttle for the following 2 days, leaving the last dinner up to you. It's really a lot of food, just rather easy foods to digest, packed full of nutrients, super easy and inexpensive. This is kind of like Step 1...beginning to lighten the load on the colon, getting things moving, and speeding up metabolism. You'll notice I have you eating 5 times/day. This keeps the metabolism going, sort of like stoking the fire, always throwing a couple logs on; not too much to put OUT the fire and not too little in which again, the fire will go out.

When I was watching "Food Matters", David Wolfe explained how he helped is cousin who was severely overweight, lose over 150Lbs on a raw foods diet. (This next part isn't so pretty but pretty cool...). Apparently, after a week or so, said cousin was losing his extra weight (mostly comprised of fats and toxins) through his colon. He was having up to -I think he said- 12 bowel movements a day! So as one who frequently worries about the health of the colon, I find this is rather promising! That his colon, which if he was that overweight was likely gunked-up, became clean enough to take on the process of pulling the 'bad guys' out of his tissue cells, into the colon and out of the body is so awesome. If you only have a few extra pounds to shed, this process should be much less dramatic but also very cool. Now because of the severity of his condition and the amount of toxins he was eliminating, he sought the help of a colon therapist who administered cleansing enemas. In this process, different liquids are placed into the colon to assist with the cleansing process. Depending on your condition could be water, coffee, green juice or oil. This will take some serious pressure of of the kidneys and liver. Something to keep in mind.

Now, on to breaking the cycle of...an extra serving of sweet potatoes, and extra slice of pie, oh and grandma's cookies!!! (Would be tres rude to turn those down-right?).

Shopping List/Pantry Items

1Avocado ripe and ready to nosh

1 organic tomato

1 banana

large container of organic lettuce mix

1 orange

1 grapefruit (or 2 oranges if you're on Statins for cholesterol)

Bunch organic parsley

1 container organic hummus

2 cups organic rolled oats

1/2 cup organic raisins

1/2 cup organic dates

1/2 cup organic sunflower seeds

1/2 cup organic almond slivers

1 bag brown rice pasta

1 package tempeh

1 jar organic tomato sauce

1 bag organic corn chips

1 loaf gluten-free bread

1 jar organic peanut-butter

1 bottle organic balsamic vinaigrette (or make your own)

Your fave milk alternative (I like almond milk right now)

1 box Detox Tea

1 box Chamomile Tea

Menu*

Day 1 Dinner

• 1.5 cups uncooked brown rice pasta-boiled
• 1/2 package tempeh (first steam for 5 minutes, then lightly pan-fry with some good oil & water mixture)


• Add sauce from jar to tempeh & saute. Add pasta and freshly chopped parsley and serve.


• (Eat half and save half for lunch tomorrow)


• Cup chamomile tea 1 hour before bed
  

Day 2 Breakfast

• Upon waking drink 2 large glasses of room temperature water


• Soaked Oat Muesli (prepared night prior-1 cup oats, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chopped dates, 1/4 cup almonds, 2 T sunflower seeds, cover Xs 2 with half milk, half water in glass container, put in refrigerator overnight, ready to eat in morning! Soaked grains, nuts and seeds are much easier to digest and yummy this way!

Day 2 AM Snack

• 1 piece gluten-free toast (I like Udi's)


• 1 T organic peanut butter


• 1/2 banana sliced on top


• 2 cup detox tea
  

Day 2 Lunch

• 2 cups lettuce mix


• Top with leftover pasta and tempeh dish & fresh chopped parsely


• Sprinkle with balsamic vinaigrette
  

Day 2 PM Snack

• 1 orange (I like to slice and really relish in the sweet juiciness!)
  

Day 2 Dinner

• Guacamole-1/2 avocado smashed, 1/2 tomato chopped, sprinkle with sea salt and fresh lime juice
  
• 1/2 cup hummus


• Handful of corn chip


• Cup of chamomile tea 1 hour prior to bed

Day 3 Breakfast

• 2 large glasses water at room temperature


• Soaked Oats Meusli

Day 3 AM Snack

• Same toast, PB, 1/2 banana


• Cup of detox tea

Day 3 Lunch

• Other half of avocado & tomato diced and placed upon:


• 2 cups lettuce mix


• Balsamic dressing
  

Day 3 PM Snack

• 1 grapefruit (I also love to slice this up and enjoy the juicy sweet/tart flavor. If I can't eat a whole one I save half for the next day)

Day 3 Dinner

• You choose! Listen to what your body wants, likes and made it feel good in the past meals/snacks

*This is meant to be a guide to eating an approximately half raw, vegen diet for a quick and gentle cleanse and not what to eat every day forever...

Other "Rules"

-Drink lots and lots of water

-If you have been experiencing any constipation, gas, or indigestion, buy some Triphala at a natural grocer and take with your tea before bed.

-Take whatever you like of this cleanse and implement into your daily routine going forward

-LOVE your Self, be GRATEFUL for nourishment, and keep it SIMPLE

-Keep up with the tea regimen until they are gone

-Notice that all liquids are either hot or room temp. Drinking cold beverages further solidifies foods in your system that require HEAT to break down. Your body works hard to get them into liquid form so cooling them down with cool beverages will disturb digestion.

OM OM OM!

The V Word

Is it just me or is everyone going vegan these days? I am hearing the term tossed around like crazy. Of course it could be one of those things that once your mind is on it seems to appear everywhere- like a car you like and you suddenly start seeing them everywhere on the road. But it has got me thinking. I spent a lot of my time over the holidays pondering my own diet as well as the human diet as a whole. (In reality, I would say a good 75% of my thoughts go there anyway.) But at this time of year when there seems to be extra time for walks and an inner desire for reflection, on the year past and on the one to come, food and diet were extra predominant for me as I am sure for many of you too.

I see many things in my life as synchronicities so that my sister had just happened to rent "Food Matters" on Netflix the week before I visited her in Massachusetts and had not yet watched it, it seemed like I was really ready to recieve the message of the movie. We had seen the previews of this film at IIN back in 2008 and here I am 3 years later (?!) finally watching it. Perfect timing. The main message I recieved, though there were many, was that of including more raw foods in the diet. One of the men in the movie stated that he believed the diet should be at least 51% raw. A lightbulb when on for me. That seemed doable. The going 100% raw seems scary, intimidating and limiting. So here is step one. 51% RAW.

So then we have to think about WHY. Of course we need to know why this makes sense. So here we go:

#1. Enzymes-there are naturally occuring enzymes in raw fruits and vegetables that help us with digestion and nutrient assimilation. When we cook foods past a certain temperature (117-118 degrees fahrenheit), these enzymes are denatured and cannot preform their vital function. So in essence, God/Nature/Mother provides us this awesome food with all the perfect combos of nutrients and enzymes for our bodies, and when we cook it too hot, we destroy it all. Womp, womp.

#2. Nutrients-Just like with the enzymes, the higher the temps we use, the more nutrients that seep out of the food or are denatured. ALSO-when we don't have adequate amounts of enzymes to properly digest foods, we tend to get an accumulation undigested food film along the sides of our intestines. Nice huh? Well this causes an issue for the water/moisture needed to get INTO the intestines to move things along (hello constipation) as well as the blood that needs to get through to carry the nutrients from newly-eaten food out to the cells of the body (and hello to you vitaman/mineral definciencies, inflammation and free-radical damage). 'Nuff said?

#3. Energetics/Prana-Oh the prana! This is a yogic term for 'life-force energy'. It's the stuff that makes us alive vs. dead. Think of it like the electricity running your computer. No battery/electric, no running...dead. Soooo...we want to be alive and energetic?!!? YAYA! So we should eat food that is just that? YAYA! Awesome.

Now back to veganism. Pretty much if you go raw, you may as well be vegan. Ideally I would eat a gluten-free, vegan, >51% raw diet...and someday I am sure I will. I would take all the correct vegan Omega-3, whole food vitamins, trace minerals from the earth, and B12 supplements. But I am finding this hard and expensive at the moment. So there has to be STEPS. I want to take others along this path of discovery and in the finding/creating the steps to living this way in the 'real world'. And so THIS is what I am working on. You hear me 2011?! I want to bring to the world easy steps to get to the highest vibration diet that is still FUN, YUMMY, AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE and (mostly) EASY. In the meantime, I think it's great for everyone to give your body a break from animal products for a week or two at a time. This can be a very nice, slow and easy cleanse. For now I go egg-free vegetarian with limited dairy and 51% raw :)

Thinking about going vegan? Check out these resources:

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Vegan Action

My last word & current thoughts on veganism are these: when profits and animals become intertwined, then there is likely to be exploitation. If your reasons for a vegetarian or vegan diet have anything to do with ethics and karma, this is something to think long and hard about. And even if it's purely for health reasons, it would still be good to think about how our subconscious mind, knowing of the partaking in animal exploitation, effects our health.

All for now. Om tat sat. (FYI-that is Sanskrit and means "All that is the Truth" and while I don't claim what I speak is Universal Truth, it is my Truth).

To a Happy, Healthy and Simble New Year!