Lao Zsu says to sit and wait
Be there looking for nothing
Just say, Today's the Day
Day after Day

The turtle holds the sphere
The snake winds around
The wall holds the clock
The seconds wrap around
Growing into each hour, each day
Lao Zsu says to sit and wait
Just say, Today's the Day

Is it enough for you?
The wall holds the mirror
The mirror holds the face
Perched with grace?
Not on the wall, not on the fence
Just say, Today's the Day
Let the seconds wrap around
Each time and place

The wall jumps the fence
The fence cracks the mirror
The snake wraps around
The turtle's elegant neck
Look in the mirror
Lao Zsu says to sit and wait
Just say, Today's the Day
Place wraps around time
The seconds sit and wait
Today's the Day, just say

Day 5

SPRING DETOX w Jem Ah

Well, it's 12:35 at night and I just got home from a huge long day.. this day started at 6am, with working out. Went to a talk on health foods, and had a consultation with a nutrition/fasting expert. Very inspiring.

Work was a long festival/activity day, after which I joined my coworkers at a pub and drank up some herbal teas. It was nice to chat with them and unwind. Wish I had been able to catch a taxi home, but Itaewon on an evening before a holiday, too many partyers out and no taxis to be found. Alas am home.

I made it through the day evenly and am feeling bright. The fasting is over, but the detox is still on - - coming out of the fast is very important. I'm not eating much tomorrow, but have bought some fruit and herbs I will blend into a very watery smoothy for my first meal. Tomorrow just fresh fruit, and then some fruit and soup the next day. That's it! Feel great.

I learned today if one is extremely exhausted on the detox, they are detoxing too fast, or for too long. I felt really good all the way through, so I think it was a good pace and timing for me.

I might post more about afterthoughts and insights I gained on the fast. A bien tot.

Day 4

SPRING DETOX with Jem Ah

It's pushing the midnight hour on day four. I am such a burn-the-candle-at-both-ends kind of person.. It was a busy one. It seems, there is not hunger, and there is not stomach. Instead, I have gotten more spacey as the day went on. My short term memory and ability to manage the temporal world have slid a bit.

Not eating is like not being a part of the normal human community. This is an interesting space to be in, as a faster. I do like it. I think for me this 5 day cruise is a good one. After this experience, I would be ready to aim for a 10 or 12 day fast, if it was chosen at a good time.

As it is, I have a stellar weekend planned, headed to the East coast mountains for some hiking and time by the sea with a good group of people. I want to be able to partake in meals and have enough energy to pike those peaks.

This morning, I went to boot camp (circuit training) and it's tough on a regular day. While fasting, it is similar, if not less sluggish, but by today, the fourth day, I could feel my energy reserves had run low. I did manage to do the exercise at fairly good speed 80 percent of the way through, and then it was, reerrrrrrrrrr. And I had to stop. I was a little light-headed, so I rested, and after 5 minutes felt good again, and glad for the exercise.

Fasting makes you more conscious of the energy you have, and consider your choices you make throughout the day. I had planned to go right into an appointment on the other side of the city before work, but when the time neared, I gauged that it would be better to just be lazy for a couple of hours before work, and it was just the right adjustment to balance the energy scales to propel me through the rest of my day.

Overall in my classes, I felt cheerful and light. For a few days, fasting can enhance performance. I had some creative ideas about a couple of new articles I want to write. This feeling of lightness is a good time to be receptive to catching new habits or plans.

I will definitely want to try this again. I have done it before, but this time it was very even and graceful, for the most part. I felt aware of my limits and surprised at how much of our daily energy is pretty much just prana, give or take.

So that's it. I have lots going on, but after our fast we have a day off, "Children's Day," which will be nice to cook up a little bit of broth to ease back into the eating world, so by the weekend I'm good to go on my trip.

Tomorrow's the last day! See you tomorrow.

Day 3

SPRING DETOX with Jem Ah

Ahhh, getting ready for bed. What happened today?

I was up at 6 and did boot camp at 6:30. It wasn't so bad. Felt very invigorating; not any worse than waking up at 6 usually is.. :-)

After that I came home, showered, salt water flushed. Out the door by 9:30, taught a private (language lesson) at 10:30 for an hour, and was at work from 12-7pm. Teaching on a Monday was pretty much the same as always. I wasn't really tired, just bored of having only lemon juice to eat on breaks. I think part of what happens when we fast is that we realize how much food is entertainment for us a lot of the time. Easy to get out of touch with our true hunger rhythyms.

After work I went to the sauna. Did some sweating out of toxins, then got a scrub down (most of body skin loofahed off by ajumma.) That was a delight as usual (it's always worth it in the end).. came home, had a bit of fresh juice. Did a yoga session, now drinking my tea and thinking how fast the day went. Monday is slain! Yeah hooray.

Time for some shut eye. ~. ^

Day 2 - SPRING DETOX with Jem Ah

Another great day. It was a Sunday, so of course relaxing. Woke up at 6am and took the salt water flush, then lied down for half an hour. It did it's deed! I was up and puttering around til about 9:30, then crashed and had a snooze for half an hour. Up and out the door for yoga class at 10:30. Massage at Healing Hands at 1:30pm, precluded by a little post-yoga walk in the sun and browsing at shoes with Jema.

Post massage came home to stock up on lemon water, change laundry, then ventured to Anguk-station surrounds, to pick up Olive Leaf extract, which I'm supplementing my cleanse with now, and will in the future. Also found there: organic cacao and organic crunch peanut butter. Will put that to good use later!

This evening I made a veggie broth using:
1 potato, halved
one whole onion, decorated with cloves
red pepper, half
fresh spinach, half a pack
celery stalks, half
garlic cloves, 7
fresh ginger root, one

I also made a pot of Indian chai, without the tea and the honey. So my menu choices while working tomorrow include the Master Mix, chai, and broth. I may leave the broth at home til the evening.

During a cleanse it's nice to indulge in fragrances: I dug into some coconut oil after a dry brush. It's much more tropical in here!

Going to bed eeeeeearly though not so tired. Pranayama and short meditation, then lights out by 10pm.

Morning plan is to attend boot camp at 6:30 at Studio X as usual. Not sure if this will continue throughout the fast or not.

Bring on Day 3, and Monday! Aoooo how will it go?

Lemoniscious

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 ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1St7sRFEEE