DAY 1
SPRING DETOX w Jema and friends
I am on day one of my detox regimine guided by my good friend/fellow yogi Jem Ah. There are a few of us doing it together, and it will be for five days.
We are doing the MASTER CLEANSE, with some variations: daily probiotics and antiparasite supplements, Yogi teas, and veggie broth. Jema has thrown in some delights that she made herself: an all natural hair tonic and facial serum, which I'm looking forward to trying out.
The master cleanse usually involves strictly a mixture of lemon-water as such: fresh squeezed lemons, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The ingredients have to be of the highest quality, and this mixture may be drank throughout the day as one likes.
This morning, I started my day with an amazing iridology session with Jennifer Thompson:
www.healthybliss.net
She adviced me that my iridology type is: lymphatic constitution, with anxiety tetanic subtype. You really have to hear this woman talk to get the full effect; she is very practical and knowledgeable in her advice. She consults clients about nutrition, esp raw foods. As I was starting a cleanse today, she was a great motivator and helpful to start off the day. Incidentally, she recommended some foods that I haven't tried, such as maca powder, olive leaf extract, and coconut oil. I also relearned that corn is actually good (for my type) as it possesses good quantities of magnesium, as do most yellow vegetables, such as squash.
After the consultation, I went right into a healing yoga class with Jema, which was great as usual. It was in the Mind Body Seoul studio, which has been remodeled and is very beautiful and cozy. I really enjoyed it but had to jet to make my massage appointment at Healing Hands. Two hours of bliss, it was.
Jema gave me my first bottle of The Cleanse, and all my other stuff, except for the sea salt I will need for tonight. (Salt water flush, oooooooooo.) After the massage I meandered around a bit, and picked up some more lemons and coconut oil at the foreign food market, than perused the book store. I ended up taking off with a book I've been meaning to buy for a while:
HEROTODUS: THE HISTORIES An ancient greek traveler, sometimes called the "father of history" as he is a master storyteller. He traveled with only one guide, though most elite of those days wouldn't be seen without 20 to 100 or so attendees. He was intensely curious about other nations, and the makeup of the world around him. I'm looking forward to digging into this book. It is a good one to do while I want to elevate my mind from my present surroundings, oui.
If I go back to see Jennifer the iridologist again, I would certainly not forget my mp3 voice recorder. I should get in the habit of taking that thing with me.
In making the lemon concoction, I have discovered that, in the collection of water bottles that has settled in my apartment, shared with other expats and often a sofa to surf for overnight travelers, is that there is one perfect water bottle in which the lemon concoction just ---- tastes so much better than it does in any of the other water bottles. I know this because I have spent some time making this stuff and filling up most water bottles available to be filled. I'm not sure how to explain it, why this one is better. Is it the color? The thickness of the jug?
My mind, as I roll the lemon before cutting, to help facilitate the yielding of its juice, goes back to the last time I flirted with the master cleanse. I often looked at websites about the healing powers of the ingredients; lemon, maple, and cayenne, and would visualize them working on the cells of my body as I prepared the mixture, or drank it.
It is also good to be very conscious of what we are putting into our minds as we wander about the world in the open state that comes with fasting, as we are more sensitive. Hahaha though we must be toughies, our little group. Our evening plan is to hit a play called
Suicides in Vegas.
Awesome. It is now 6:30pm exactly, and I have achieved my mini-mission of writing something about this thing. Time to go read and luxuriate for a while before the play begins.
Adieu ~
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Insomniac....
Sleep, where are you?? I am flying through the clouds, the thoughts in my head, my pink plastic airplane piercing each illusory one with every km/hr torque. I'm romanticizing, and theorizing, and there are a few tailspins here and there. Who's to care? That much I don't dare. If I were to wear it, I'd choose
186
But I can't know if that is my size, in the cosmic closet. I thought it was. I was trying on all the others and none can compare.
When do I get an answer??? I've been waiting so long. The waiting isn't a choice, it's the drum in my heart, and it speeds up at that sight. Blood gushing and swirling, live force abound. O2 has become some kind of dream. My dream was to eat the lights.
Do you ever sit down and eat, and think how strange the human body is? What if we could be fed by light, by the thought of love? A smile, an intention. Can't we? Aren't we?
I have travelled through cities, bogs and even it seems, spent some time in dungeons of my own dark thoughts, only to realize the walls that once seemed so heavy and mildew-cast were in fact, as poofy as cotton candy gone gray. Some tears, a breathe can melt them down and pull up the veil that banned the freedom.
I can see it, and do it, and with the expansion of the breathe sweep away the remains. Quantum physics, anyone? I would be a total believer, except for the absence of tears in the eyes of the scientists.
I haven't cried in so long. I have wanted to, some passionate release. I am so permeable now that I am contained, by the whim for transcience. Like the cheshire cat.
Working on my evaporating powers.. I can say I have met some with them.
Sleep, where are you?? I am flying through the clouds, the thoughts in my head, my pink plastic airplane piercing each illusory one with every km/hr torque. I'm romanticizing, and theorizing, and there are a few tailspins here and there. Who's to care? That much I don't dare. If I were to wear it, I'd choose
186
But I can't know if that is my size, in the cosmic closet. I thought it was. I was trying on all the others and none can compare.
When do I get an answer??? I've been waiting so long. The waiting isn't a choice, it's the drum in my heart, and it speeds up at that sight. Blood gushing and swirling, live force abound. O2 has become some kind of dream. My dream was to eat the lights.
Do you ever sit down and eat, and think how strange the human body is? What if we could be fed by light, by the thought of love? A smile, an intention. Can't we? Aren't we?
I have travelled through cities, bogs and even it seems, spent some time in dungeons of my own dark thoughts, only to realize the walls that once seemed so heavy and mildew-cast were in fact, as poofy as cotton candy gone gray. Some tears, a breathe can melt them down and pull up the veil that banned the freedom.
I can see it, and do it, and with the expansion of the breathe sweep away the remains. Quantum physics, anyone? I would be a total believer, except for the absence of tears in the eyes of the scientists.
I haven't cried in so long. I have wanted to, some passionate release. I am so permeable now that I am contained, by the whim for transcience. Like the cheshire cat.
Working on my evaporating powers.. I can say I have met some with them.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Princity prance
It's a Friday in Seoul. Going to an exhibition tonight, an arty range of hats on display in cheongdam. Should be a little like a madhatters tea party, with any luck.
Morning yoga is such a treat, at body and seoul, where i be every other weekday morn. Then do the freelance dance, where will it take me??
A creative urge is nagging me, in my left ear, a whispering. Unfortunately it gets caught in the wind tunnel in exit 54 on the left labyrinthe of my brain, and sometime the esoteric sandstorms of my etherical body pick it up and sweep it right away. But I do listen, for a minute..
Time to play! Well work and then play. It's better if you're confused and not sure which is which, from time to time. It can happen, so easily.
Fingers on the keys, pen in the hand, marking, checking - voices, concordance. Meaning and sound, figures abound through the wriggling lives in the inner city. Plug in and move. It's now ~
Morning yoga is such a treat, at body and seoul, where i be every other weekday morn. Then do the freelance dance, where will it take me??
A creative urge is nagging me, in my left ear, a whispering. Unfortunately it gets caught in the wind tunnel in exit 54 on the left labyrinthe of my brain, and sometime the esoteric sandstorms of my etherical body pick it up and sweep it right away. But I do listen, for a minute..
Time to play! Well work and then play. It's better if you're confused and not sure which is which, from time to time. It can happen, so easily.
Fingers on the keys, pen in the hand, marking, checking - voices, concordance. Meaning and sound, figures abound through the wriggling lives in the inner city. Plug in and move. It's now ~
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A Room of Her Own
My room, right now, is in Pokhara, Nepal. I took a room before trekking through the Poon Hills, and when I came back to the Noble Inn hostel, vacancy was up so I was demoted to a darker, ground level room. The old lungs didn't like it so much, so when I had the chance, I asked to be moved back to my sunny 3rd level room with windows and a view, so that's where I rest. It has a solar-powered shower that is HOT water (why don't we always use such brilliant technology?)
I had grand intentions of blogging all the way through my trip, but I found that wasn't what my heart really wanted most of the time, to be sitting at a computer reflecting on my journey rather than out doing it. Now though, all these images and experiences are banked up in my brain, and my typing fingers are hungry for a good run across the keys. I can't catch up on yesterday, as can none of us, so I'm starting in the ever-present NOW.
There is a huge lake on the corner of Pokhara. It is the second biggest city in Nepal, where most of the trekking ventures start off from. It's a tourist town, and the locals push their wares on you with a friendly "Hello" or "Namaste," but compared to the soul-drilling intensity of India, it's pretty laid back.
Yesterday, I took a walk around the edge of town, determined to find the trails that lead up to the mountains overlooking the lake, so I could visit the beautiful white Peace Pagoda, built by the Japanese, that rests there. It's a lovely Buddhist monument, with a helicopter landing pad right beside it. Touche. A touch of class, those Japanese always like to imbue. It was a sweaty trek through the jungle to find this place, but I found a nice wide open path, and met a few people passing by on the way, who of course graced me with a "Hello" or "Namaste" on the way, as well as several tough little old women with bunches of firewood on their backs, picking their way through the roughage to seek their woodly jewels.
On the way back, I had planned to circumnavigate the lake in the other direction, but couldn't find a nice wide path. Instead I beat my way through with a stick, trying to knock down the lacy spider webs that I was getting covered with before I got covered with them. 45 minutes and a couple of spider bites later, I decided to retrace my steps and get to the nice, clearly-marked path that said "Boats - This Way." Another 45 minutes and I was down at the lakeside, and for 250 Nepali rupees a friendly local rowed me across back to town.
The air is so clear and fresh, I just sat in silence most of the way, sitting in the middle of the boat as I was asked. I did wonder about the fish in the lake, and was told that of course, yes, there were many fish. How big are they? Oh, 25-30kg. Seriously? Not putting my toes in there anytime soon.
I remembered the lake in Neyyar Dam, near the yoga ashram where I spent a month. Us melting students would go jump in the lake any chance we could on our few minutes of break time. Have any of you experienced "Dr. Fish?" It's a phenomena sweeping Europe first I believe but took foothold as a craze in Seoul, Korea. You can sip tea and dip your feet into the pools, where the fish nibble at the dead skin on your feet. Not a venture for the faint-hearted, I say. It wasn't til my second visit, and a couple of stiff cocktails actually that I got the gumption to actually do it. It was enjoyable, if not a novelty to knock off the list of life's must-tries. However, at this lake at the ashram, the fish were HUNGRY, and the more they tasted human flesh, the more they wanted it. I kicked them away when they got too feisty, because I saw the marks left on other students. Gouges! It's true. So the moral of the story is, don't try finding "Dr. Fish" at the lake in Pokhara, Nepal. They must be verging on the size of Loch Ness monsters, I'm sure.
That's my fish story, for now.
I had grand intentions of blogging all the way through my trip, but I found that wasn't what my heart really wanted most of the time, to be sitting at a computer reflecting on my journey rather than out doing it. Now though, all these images and experiences are banked up in my brain, and my typing fingers are hungry for a good run across the keys. I can't catch up on yesterday, as can none of us, so I'm starting in the ever-present NOW.
There is a huge lake on the corner of Pokhara. It is the second biggest city in Nepal, where most of the trekking ventures start off from. It's a tourist town, and the locals push their wares on you with a friendly "Hello" or "Namaste," but compared to the soul-drilling intensity of India, it's pretty laid back.
Yesterday, I took a walk around the edge of town, determined to find the trails that lead up to the mountains overlooking the lake, so I could visit the beautiful white Peace Pagoda, built by the Japanese, that rests there. It's a lovely Buddhist monument, with a helicopter landing pad right beside it. Touche. A touch of class, those Japanese always like to imbue. It was a sweaty trek through the jungle to find this place, but I found a nice wide open path, and met a few people passing by on the way, who of course graced me with a "Hello" or "Namaste" on the way, as well as several tough little old women with bunches of firewood on their backs, picking their way through the roughage to seek their woodly jewels.
On the way back, I had planned to circumnavigate the lake in the other direction, but couldn't find a nice wide path. Instead I beat my way through with a stick, trying to knock down the lacy spider webs that I was getting covered with before I got covered with them. 45 minutes and a couple of spider bites later, I decided to retrace my steps and get to the nice, clearly-marked path that said "Boats - This Way." Another 45 minutes and I was down at the lakeside, and for 250 Nepali rupees a friendly local rowed me across back to town.
The air is so clear and fresh, I just sat in silence most of the way, sitting in the middle of the boat as I was asked. I did wonder about the fish in the lake, and was told that of course, yes, there were many fish. How big are they? Oh, 25-30kg. Seriously? Not putting my toes in there anytime soon.
I remembered the lake in Neyyar Dam, near the yoga ashram where I spent a month. Us melting students would go jump in the lake any chance we could on our few minutes of break time. Have any of you experienced "Dr. Fish?" It's a phenomena sweeping Europe first I believe but took foothold as a craze in Seoul, Korea. You can sip tea and dip your feet into the pools, where the fish nibble at the dead skin on your feet. Not a venture for the faint-hearted, I say. It wasn't til my second visit, and a couple of stiff cocktails actually that I got the gumption to actually do it. It was enjoyable, if not a novelty to knock off the list of life's must-tries. However, at this lake at the ashram, the fish were HUNGRY, and the more they tasted human flesh, the more they wanted it. I kicked them away when they got too feisty, because I saw the marks left on other students. Gouges! It's true. So the moral of the story is, don't try finding "Dr. Fish" at the lake in Pokhara, Nepal. They must be verging on the size of Loch Ness monsters, I'm sure.
That's my fish story, for now.
So much time, so many books..
BOOKS on this trip:
Sivananda Yoga Teacher's Training Manual
The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga - Swami Vishnu Devananda
The Bhagavad Gita - S.S.
Radha's Prem - S.S.
Moksha - S.S.
Practice of Devanta - S.S.
Thought Power - S.S.
Hindu Gods and Goddesses - S.S.
India Lonely Planet, 2009
A Room of Her Own - Virginia Woolf
The Cobra's Heart - Ryszard Kapuscinski
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
Commited - Elizabeth Gilbert
Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Seven Bhoomikas
As promised, here are the seven bhoomikas (stages) of knowledge, according to Jnana yoga:
1. SUBHECCHA - longing for truth. The desire for enlightenment.
2. VICHARANA - right enquiry. (Who am I?)
3. TANMASA - tenuous mind. Attenuation/thinning of thoughts.
4. SATTVAPATHI - self realisation. The attainment of purity. Sanchita and agami karma are no more; only parabdha karma remains.
5. ASAMSAKTI - non-attachment. The yogi plays their role in the world.
6. PADARTHABHAVANA - non-perception of objects. The yogi takes action only when prompted.
7. TURVAGA - transcendence. No karma remains. The body drops off within 3 days.
Most awake people are living in the first three stages. A sage makes it to the fourth. A person in the final four is titled, respectively: Brahmavid, Brahmavidhara, Brahamavidyavara, Brahmavidvarishta.
The purpose of my journey in India is to discover, Who am I? I am a worldly person, with spiritual inclinations. I want to cultivate some habits and awarenesses on this trip that will point me in the right direction. I want to use all of my energy for whatever my soul mission is. Is that too much to ask?
1. SUBHECCHA - longing for truth. The desire for enlightenment.
2. VICHARANA - right enquiry. (Who am I?)
3. TANMASA - tenuous mind. Attenuation/thinning of thoughts.
4. SATTVAPATHI - self realisation. The attainment of purity. Sanchita and agami karma are no more; only parabdha karma remains.
5. ASAMSAKTI - non-attachment. The yogi plays their role in the world.
6. PADARTHABHAVANA - non-perception of objects. The yogi takes action only when prompted.
7. TURVAGA - transcendence. No karma remains. The body drops off within 3 days.
Most awake people are living in the first three stages. A sage makes it to the fourth. A person in the final four is titled, respectively: Brahmavid, Brahmavidhara, Brahamavidyavara, Brahmavidvarishta.
The purpose of my journey in India is to discover, Who am I? I am a worldly person, with spiritual inclinations. I want to cultivate some habits and awarenesses on this trip that will point me in the right direction. I want to use all of my energy for whatever my soul mission is. Is that too much to ask?
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