The Deity Detox April 28, 2009

Five Day Detox.  Dear Lord, Help Me!!

It is one that I have undertaken many times over the years.  The last time I did this was over the winter solstice and I was chanting Ganesha for three days straight.  I dedicated all my energy to removing the obstacles that lay in the way of forward momentum.  In fact, I buy one of those fancy juice cleanses that is shipped right to my door; mixed perfectly, packaged efficiently, and numbered in order from one to six.  No thoughts, just drink. 

I go through these spells where I feel sluggish, tired, cranky, or down right pissy.  As a yoga teacher these feelings, carried into class with me, become a liability.  Not that I have to be happy go lucky all the time, but I am the kind of girl who tends toward the sunny side of life.  Each time I undertake this cleanse I am in a place that I need to focus, things have become frazzled, and I can feel the warm bread and cheese lining my insides.  I tend toward potato products in the weeks before my commitment to juicing is made.  Got to get it all in before I force it all out.

Three main reasons for my detox?

My body feels like crap

That brain of mine is going in circles

Conversation with god have ceased to exist

   For me the mind body connection is apparent & the spiritual malady that comes along with loosing focus on my body temple is a foregone conclusion.  In fact, many faiths offer guidance or encouragement when it comes to fasting for reasons of spirituality.  

“The philosopher is like a man fasting in the midst of universal intoxication. He alone perceives the illusion of which all creatures are the willing playthings; he is less duped than his neighbor by his own nature. He judges more sanely, he sees things as they are. It is in this that his liberty consists — in the ability to see clearly and soberly, in the power of mental record.”  Henri Frederic Amiel 1821-1881, Swiss Philosopher

   In the Bible there are references in both the new and old testaments.  These therefore instruct both Christians and Jews on spiritual preparation. Fasting is seen as a self-sacrifice that makes one humble, more accepting(receptive) of God’s will. 

• Moses fasted for forty days before receiving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28). 
• Daniel fasted for three weeks before receiving his vision (Daniel 10:2-6). 
• Elijah fasted forty days before speaking with god (1 Kings 19:8). 
• Jesus fasted for forty days in preparation for His temptation by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13)  
• There are also passages that endorse fasting for grief, distress, repentance, and atonement.

   Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.  It is regarded principally as a method of self purification. By cutting oneself off from worldly comforts, even for a short time, a fasting person gains true sympathy with those who go hungry as well as growth in one’s spiritual life.

• Surah 2 verse 183 says:  O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint

  Rooted in moral and psychological insight. Fasting, according to Buddhism, is an initial stage of self-discipline on the path to acquire self-control. The Buddha’s spiritual awakening is closely linked to fasting.  

  Native Americans fast as a way to bring them closer to their faith.  Though differences among tribes exist, fasting is common among boys entering puberty (vision quest) and to celebrate and honor the changing of the seasons.  There is a belief in many tribes that fasting restores mental balance, clarity, and spirituality.

I Love my mouth

  

I resort to food in times of emotional instability and boredom.  I am constantly sticking things on my tongue to relish in the texture and the taste.  Far from a woman who enjoys the food I eat taking pleasure in the experience, I am the kind of girl who will stuff my insides with food that I do not need, do not enjoy, and does not in fact satiate me.  Right before I finally throw my hands up in submission I go on a rampage.  Give me carbs or give me death I say!!

  

It occurs to me as I enter into my detox, my version of the fasting process, that I am trying to temper my lust for oral satisfaction.  I become quieter, I think less about food (and sexy time), my body begins to lighten, my mind starts to clear, and I am once again able to hear that still small voice that offers true satisfaction.  Emerging from a detox I feel connected to all that is.  Colors are sharper, sounds are distinct, my body vibrates, there is often a smile across my face, and I feel in Love again with life.  The “proof is in the pudding” as my granny always says.  There is incentive again to take care of my body temple.  I can listen with a compassionate ear to my fellow man.  I have the energy to assist where I am needed.  For days and months on end I am in a perpetual state of awe.  

You just can’t beat sexy time with god ;0)

 

Of course I inevitable get busy, my eating becomes habitual instead of devotional, I loose my gratitude, and I slip back into a place where I covet warm cheese and bread.  I am human after all….

When I reach that crazy place I’m glad I can recognize it and make a fresh commitment to myself.  I call up Blue Print Cleanse (www.blueprintcleanse.com) and order a three or five day supply.  I get back on track.  I become aware of my connection to the Universe, my relationship with my body,  my urges.  Regaining  balance, I’m refreshed and whole.

I encourage you to try it- what have you got to loose when there is so much to gain?

p.s.  Wish me luck!!

Thousand-Hand Guan Yin April 22, 2009

Guan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion, revered by Buddhists as the Goddess of Mercy.

Her name is short for Guan Shi Yin. Guan means to observe, watch, or monitor; Shi means the world; Yin means sounds, specifically sounds of those who suffer. Thus, Guan Yin is a compassionate being who watches for, and responds to, the people in the world who cry out for help. (toaism.net)

The bewitching performance of Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance performed at the 2005 CCTV Spring Festival Gala by 21 hearing impaired girls and boys with the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe (CDPPAT) in Beijing caused a nationwide sensation. 

The movements were of breathtaking precision. The marvelous choreography, lavish costumes and perfect lighting were a thrilling experience. The audience never stopped wondering at the extraordinary accuracy of the 21 dancers’ “thousand hands” gesticulating as if they belonged to one body. 

The dance was led by Tai lihua and choreographed and directed by Zhang Jigang. On September 28, 2004 at the Closing Ceremony of the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games the eight-minute debut of Thousand-hand Bodhisattva as a “theme song” wonderfully shocked the whole world.  (information c/o www.tradebit.com)

Holy Cow That’s Amazing!

It reminds me of a post By Jonathan Fields that I read the other day.  (http://www.careerrenegade.com/what-sells-better-hope-fear-or-susan-boyle/)

The conversation revolved around what is most motivating- fear, hope, or what he terms as “dream manifestation”  I am not sure who exactly conceived this beautiful spectacle but one thing is for certain, it is the manifestation of somebody’s dream.  

Think about all the hard work that went into this performance.  The rehearsals, costumes, lighting, the offstage personel that cue the dancers, the producers, the event staff, the cleaning crew, box office, and each and every person who participated by showing up to watch.  In fact five years later we are still in awe as this travels across the internet in emails, blogs, facebook, and twitter posts-!!

It moves me, motivates me, and encourages me to reach higher than I have ever imagined.  These are the shared experiences that life is all about.  It is indeed true that no man is an island.  This is an outpouring of Love.

 

A prayer for today…

As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
A thousand hands will naturally come to your aid
As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
You will reach out with a thousand hands to help others

 

May each of you feel the thousand hands of Guan Yin emanating from you in the service of others.  May each of you feel the thousand hands of Guan Yin reaching out for you in your time of need.  Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!

Ziggy Marley is my Hero April 21, 2009

I heard these sweet and simple words a few months ago at a yoga class in NYC.  We had just flown through the most invigorating and challenging postures of my life, we were settling down into a juicy hip opening sequence, and then these inspiring words overcame me.  

“Love is My Religion”

Over and over again I have myself been searching for the meaning of life.  I have been seeking a way to show and share myself to and with others.  I have been high on life and at moments I have been at the very bottom of sorrow with no apparent direction.

Many of my friends will say that I am full of rainbows and butterflies.  That my addiction to glitter and hugs is refreshing (and at times annoying)

When I am feeling at the top of my game.  When I am positive that there is order in the Universe and a specific purpose for me in it.  At moments of pure joy, elation, and in the gentle throws of ecstasy.  I am in Love.

I laugh at the notion that a post about Love would be cheesy.  That I wouldn’t have enough to say or that it wouldn’t be all that interesting.  I laugh at myself for these thoughts because they are in direct conflict with the notion of what I am trying to convey.  

Love is all you need.  Love is my Religion.

In the Bible, Love is used over 610 times (NKJV)  In fact an original translation of Love would have read as Charity

In the Qur’an, 69 times

In the Bhagavad-Gita it is an underlying theme

In Hebrew there are three words for Love; Riya (friendship) Ahava (commitment) and Dode (physical)  There is a great video from Nooma’s Ron Bell about the Fire of Love.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NTn0tuwhbM

The Greeks had Agape, Eros, Philia, Storge

Love is the basis for the Golden Rule and it is the word we use to express an emotion when no other word seems to fit.  

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol. And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I dole out all my goods, and if I deliver my body that I may boast but have not love, nothing I am profited.

Love is long suffering, love is kind, it is not jealous, love does not boast, it is not inflated. It is not discourteous, it is not selfish, it is not irritable, it does not enumerate the evil. It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth It covers all things, it has faith for all things, it hopes in all things, it endures in all things.

Love never falls in ruins; but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will be superseded. For we know in part and we prophecy in part. But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded. When I was an infant, I spoke as an infant, I reckoned as an infant; when I became [an adult], I abolished the things of the infant. For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known.

But now remains faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Here is what the Big guns say about Love…

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives”- Dalai Lama 

“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing” - Mother Teresa

“Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable”- Mahatma Gandhi

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”- Nelson Mandela

“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“All you need is love”- John Lennon 

 

This thing is Huge!

As I lay there on the floor of my beloved Hell’s Kitchen yoga studio there was this wave of acknowledgment that washed over me.  There was a voice inside that spoke so clear that it could have been God herself speaking to me, in fact through me.  ”Show Love to each and every person. Be charitable.  Move through life in a state of openness, surrender, and receptivity.  In all things dare to shine and share the glory of God, the Infinite Universe.  In all things be that which is greater than all of us- Love.

Try it.  I bet you’ll like it.  I imagine you might be thrilled at the response you get.

 

;0)

Ostara and Easter April 10, 2009

OSTARA* (O-star-ah) – Also Eostra (Yo-stra). The Sabbat observed at the Vernal Equinox and often referred to simply as the “Spring Equinox”. This Sabbat celebrates balance and life renewed, but it was not a Sabbat for the Old Celts until the Saxons brought it to their attention around C.E. 600. Observed as a sabbat similar to the Christian holiday of Easter. Ostara is named for the Teutonic Goddess Eostre and is symbolized by the egg.  Pagans celebrate Ostara with various rituals celebrating fertility, nature and new growth. Egg races, egg hunts, egg eating and egg painting are common activities. A man and a woman might be chosen to act out the roles of Spring God and Goddess, playing out courtship and symbolically planting seeds. Neopagans also celebrate by eating fresh spring foods like sprouts, dandelion greens, and nettles. Some undertake a fast during this period, to clear away the toxins of the winter. Many Wiccans plant an herb garden (for later use in spells) on Ostara. Home altars might feature spring flowers, seeds, jasmine or flowery incense, and the gemstone of jasper.

EASTER*- In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, which begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days (not counting Sundays). The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for “Three Days”). Easter is a celebration of the Resurrection of Christ.

Whatever your particular tradition I hope that this season offers you nothing less than the opportunity to enjoy your loved ones, make new friends, and a chance to sit in observation of that which is greater than all of us. In light of the season I have included the first movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony entitled “The Resurrection”  My personal favorite is Mahler: Symphony #2 In C Minor, directed by Pierre Boulez: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.  This 90 min feast for your ears is available on I-Tunes.

 

*thanks in part to Wikipedia

Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey April 1, 2009

Ron Bell, founder of Mars Hill Bible Church and Nooma, describes a view of breathing as our experiencing the name of God.  

 

Imagine how powerful you may feel with the insight that every single Breath you take is an expression of the very Life Force that is in each of us.  That the ground we walk upon is indeed Sacred.  To stand still and Breath is the ultimate act of connection to your Higher Power.

The Yogis call this breath work Pranayama;  (“Lengthening Prāna”): Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, “āyāma”, to lengthen or extend. Also interpreted as control of the life force.  Literal translations include A. A. Macdonell’s “suspension of breath”and I.K Taimin’s “regulation of breath”.

There are a number of techniques to Cleanse & Detox, to Balance, to Uplift & Ignite, to Focus, and to Center.  

Be encouraged to attend to your Breath today with Care and Observation.  Notice how your body moves on each Inhale and each Exhale.  See if there is a place that you might Soften and Surrender.  Once we begin Conscious Breath, a Conscious Connection with the Life Force that is in each of us, we begin to open to the subtle systems of our Selves.  We create the opportunity for Communion.

Be Blessed, Be Bold, Be Loved (and Breathe)  ;0)