Tag: mental health

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General Happiness Wellness

3-Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse

Clean out the Toxins and Boost Immunity

with an EASY and gentle Cleanse that does not require suffering through cravings and hunger pangs!

 

Now is the perfect time to begin to shift out of the damp heaviness and stagnation of winter and do some Spring Cleaning! Personally, I hate most cleanses. I just don’t enjoy the process and it sometimes makes me feel so much worse than I did before I started. Headaches, body aches and pains, exhaustion, starvation, etc.

However, I began studying and practicing Ayurveda several years ago and was introduced to the Kitchari cleanse. This is a gentle and effective mono-diet that removes the toxic build up in the intestinal lining, improves digestion, optimizes absorption of nutrients and improves the health and functioning of the whole body.

 

Weak Digestion = Weak Immune System

 

Our bodies are amazingly intelligent, and they know how to heal themselves. However, we are constantly bombarding them with toxins day after day, year after year and this can cause our self-healing mechanisms to begin to break down. Most cleanses suggest a lot of raw greens because of the high nutrient and enzyme content. Unfortunately, I know from my own experience that this can cause bloating, gas, headaches, nausea and other side effects. Although raw food may contain many important nutrients, your body can have a hard time assimilating them if your digestive system is slow and weak or filled with toxic buildup. Having a healthy digestive system is the key to properly absorbing nutrients and eliminating toxins.

Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine that has been practiced for thousands of years and Kitchari is an ayurvedic prescription for removing toxins and improving digestion. In Ayurvedic philosophy, immunity is achieved through building Ojas which is described as “the glow of radiant health”. The unfortunate fact is, most of us live a lifestyle that depletes our Ojas. We are overworking, under sleeping, not getting enough exercise and eating unhealthy nutrient deficient junk food. We are rushing, stressing, worrying, arguing, and multi-tasking ourselves into anxiety and exhaustion. The result is depleted Ojas and a weakened immune system.

 

Kitchari is an Anti-Inflammatory Gut Healer

 

Kitchari is an easy to prepare dish made of rice, mung beans and spices that are packed with health benefits. Mung beans are known to remove toxins, pesticides and other chemicals from the body and help to purify the blood. They are a good source of protein and fiber and provide high levels of essential micronutrients to nourish the body.

The rice combined with the mung beans creates a complete protein dish that provides all the essential amino acids the body needs in an easy to digest form. The spices in this dish have an impressive list of healing benefits and will improve the digestive fire (agni in Ayurveda) and stimulate the metabolism. Strong Agni is key for proper digestion, assimilation and elimination and these processes are the most important factors for health and immunity.

 

Spice Up Your Life for Radiant Health (Ojas)

 

The ingredients in Kitchari provide nourishment to all the tissues of the body and provide a boost in strength and vitality to the whole system. The blend of spices used in Kitchari are chosen not only for how they taste, but for the qualities, properties, and action they have on the Doshas (imbalances) in the body. The purpose of this cleanse is to eliminate toxins, reduce inflammation and heal the digestive system, thereby boosting the immune system and creating a powerful increase in Ojas (Radiant Health). Once you understand and experience the healing properties of these spices you can use them as often as needed to bring your system back into balance.

Ayurveda uses combinations of herbs and spices as medicine to heal all sorts of ailments in our bodies.

 

Here are some of the medicinal properties of the ingredients in Kitchari:

Organic Coriander Seeds

  • Improves digestion
  • Relieves gas
  • Helps with urinary or digestive disorders
  • Increases Agni (digestive fire)
  • Improves absorption of nutrients in the digestive tract
  • Calms muscle spasms
  • Reduces inflammation—even shown to help with rheumatoid arthritis

Organic Cumin Seeds

  • Stimulates agni (digestive fire)
  • Decreases gas
  • Helps with indigestion
  • Flushes out toxins
  • Relieves congestion
  • Contains antioxidants and iron
  • Soothes inflamed mucous membranes
  • Improves elimination 

Organic Fennel Seeds

  • Strengthens the digestive fire
  • Stops cramping
  • Increases mental alertness
  • Relaxes the digestive tract
  • Increases the burning of fat
  • Aids in moving lymph
  • Helps regulate blood pressure
  • Reduce water retention
  • Reduces constipation, indigestion, IBS and bloating
  • Reduces asthma symptoms
  • Helps purify blood
  • Preventative against cancer of the skin, stomach and breasts
  • Improves eyesight
  • Great for acne

Organic Cardamom Powder

  • Rich in antioxidants for anti-aging benefits
  • Boosts immune system
  • Supports respiratory health
  • Reduces cold and cough symptoms
  • Stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes
  • Has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties
  • Fights streptococcus, candida that cause gastrointestinal infections
  • Supports kidney and bladder Health
  • Supports healthy blood glucose levels
  • Promotes healthy metabolism
  • Support healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Organic Turmeric Root

  • Reduces arthritis symptoms
  • Boosts immune function
  • Helps support cardiovascular health
  • Helps prevent and treat cancer
  • Helps manage irritable bowel syndrome or IBS
  • Prevents and treats Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases
  • Builds Immunity
  • Reduces Body Pains
  • Boosts Skin Health
  • Aids Weight Loss and Digestion
  • Good for Liver Health
  • Antioxidant
  • Anti-Inflammatory

Organic Ginger Root

  • Reduces pain and discomfort in joints
  • Helps with nausea
  • Relieves Gas
  • Facilitates elimination of wastes
  • Clears the microcirculatory channels of the body
  • Facilitates better absorption of nutrients
  • Stimulates digestive fire to improve digestion
  • Helps clear mucus
  • Soothes nerves
  • Improves circulation

Organic Coconut – Raw Unsweetened Flakes

  • Helps boost metabolism
  • Aids in fat elimination
  • Aids in detoxification of the body
  • Balances and soothes the digestive tract
  • Improves digestion and absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals
  • Aids in the removal of free radicals that cause premature aging
  • Restores oxidative tissue damage
  • Supports immune system health
  • Acts as an anti-viral, antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitic agent
  • Good source of healthy medium-chain fatty acids
  • Improves insulin secretion and symptoms associated with diabetes
  • Reduces the risk of heart disease and improves good cholesterol (HDL) 

Organic Bay Leaf

  • Anti-Cancer properties
  • Protects against oxidative stress
  • Protects against bacterial infections
  • Helps alleviate flu symptoms and reduce fever
  • Slows the aging process
  • Speeds wound healing
  • Optimizes the digestive process, stimulates digestive juices, reduces gas
  • Reduces inflammation
  • Alleviates respiratory issues
  • Helps manage diabetes
  • Helps remove toxins from the body
  • May reduce celiac symptoms

Organic Cinnamon Sticks

  • Helps alleviate cough and phlegm
  • Prevents growth of acne causing bacteria
  • Good for skin and complexion, relieves dry skin
  • Enhances blood circulation
  • Promotes hair growth and strengthens hair roots
  • Reduces triglycerides
  • Balances blood sugar
  • Lowers LDL cholesterol
  • Reduces symptoms in type 2 diabetes
  • Dramatically improves digestion and absorption
  • Acts as an anti-bacterial agent that heals infections in the GI tract
  • Relieves sinus headaches

Mineral Salts

  • Helps eliminate waste from the body
  • Aids in the proper function of the digestive system
  • Boosts the digestive fire
  • Relieves pain in the colon
  • Soma Salt Reduces inflammation
  • Himalayan Pink Salt good for all constitutions
  • Sea Salt is heating and increases digestive fire, improves circulation

Organic Lemon Juice

  • Provides the sour taste
  • Stimulates Agni (digestive fire)
  • Helps relieve Gastritis pain
  • Relieves Cough
  • Helps with indigestion
  • Relieves thirst

The Miracle of Self-Healing Begins Now!

 

In preparation for the cleanse, I recommend minimizing or removing some things from your diet for at least 1 to 3 days before your cleanse. I usually start to taper off on a Monday and then begin my cleanse by Friday. The great thing about this cleanse is that it’s an easy reset and will conquer any cravings you are currently struggling with. If you’ve been craving sugar after every meal or craving too much caffeine, this will give you a clean slate and inspire you to eat healthier and get more exercise.

Begin limiting the following:

  • Alcohol
  • Caffeine
  • Meat
  • Dairy
  • Refined sugar, and foods that contain corn syrup and other processed sweeteners
  • Flour products such as cookies, pastry, cakes, doughnuts
  • Canned and Highly processed foods
  • Cold and Raw foods such as raw veggies, salads
  • Cold cereal, granola
  • Frozen smoothies (fresh smoothies and juices without ice are fine)
  • Fried Food
  • Candy and Chocolate

Eat whole fresh organic foods, mostly cooked from scratch, avoid cold leftovers from the refrigerator. Eat easy to digest foods such as veggie soups, fresh steamed veggies like broccoli cauliflower carrots zucchini. Roast veggies such as brussels sprouts, asparagus, sweet potato or butternut squash. Use cooked grains like quinoa, barley, farro, millet or rice. Eat lots of fresh whole fruits and berries. You can make baked apples or pears with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and sweeten with maple syrup or honey for a delicious desert.

 

Eat with the Cycles of the Day

 

Each day of your cleanse you can prepare some fresh oatmeal for breakfast and then make a batch of Kitchari which you will eat for both lunch and dinner. You can make enough for 3 days and keep it in the refrigerator if that’s easier for you, however I prefer to make a fresh batch daily. Your lunch should be your biggest meal of the day and have your dinner no later than 6 pm. This is an Ayurvedic Dinacharya (daily routine) practice of eating with the cycles of the day. Lunch is the time of day when the Sun (fire) is highest in the sky and this is believed to be the time that your digestive fire is the highest, enabling you to digest a larger amount of food more efficiently. Try not to eat anything after 6pm, your digestive fire weakens after this time. Ideally you would have breakfast at 7 am, lunch at noon and dinner at 5 pm.

Take a teaspoon of Tahini and 6 Golden Raisins before each meal and in between meals to stimulate the digestive process and lubricate the digestive tract. This will help eliminate the fat-soluble toxins as well as excess cholesterol in the body. Tahini is high in alkaline and high in minerals which will help strengthen the immune system. Tahini has more protein than milk and is loaded with B vitamins and Vitamin E, which will help with brain function and energy during the cleanse. Tahini is also an excellent source of calcium. Golden Raisins are also high in calcium, minerals and antioxidants loaded with health benefits and will insure against constipation during the cleanse.

 

Add Some Fuel to the Fire

 

Try not to overeat. The rule in Ayurveda is to keep your stomach at least ¼ empty. This includes liquids. It is also recommended that you avoid drinking cold drinks with meals. This will dilute your digestive juices and put out your digestive fire. This is the big mistake most of us make every day. We drink cold beverages with our meals. In Ayurveda you drink between meals but never or very little with your meal. The maximum you should drink is ¼ of your stomach capacity. Following this rule, after a meal your stomach is ½ food, ¼ liquid and ¼ empty. After learning this practice it became a healthy habit for me and I now eat this way all of the time. It’s easy once you practice it a bit.

Between meals it’s good to sip Fresh ginger tea. Ginger is a heating spice that stimulates your digestive fire. We want to keep our fire hot throughout the cleanse by only drinking hot or warm spiced teas and no cold beverages. Drink as much water as you like, however hot water is best or you can have it at room temperature.

To make Fresh Ginger Tea use a piece of organic ginger root about the size of your thumb and slice it into strips (no need to peel), boil it in 5 cups of water for 5 minutes on med heat, then reduce heat to low for 10 minutes. Strain and put in a thermos and drink throughout the day. If it tastes too spicy you can add a little honey.

Another option for increasing the effectiveness of the cleanse is to make up a batch of CCF Tea. This is a classic Ayurvedic detox tea made with Coriander, Cumin, and Fennel. This combination of spices builds the Agni (digestive fire) and stimulates the lymph to release toxins and flushes toxic waste out of the body.

Follow this easy recipe to make CCF Tea:

  • ½ Teaspoon Organic Coriander Seeds
  • ½ Teaspoon Organic Cumin Seeds
  • ½ Teaspoon Organic Fennel Seeds
  • 4 cups of spring water

Boil the water and seeds over medium heat for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Strain the water to remove the seeds and pour into a thermos to keep warm. I like to combine the two recipes personally. I just add the ginger to the water with my seeds and prepare it all together. I make a big batch and keep it in the refrigerator and heat up a cup at a time when want it. At first I thought the taste was a little weird but now I love it. It makes me feel good to be consuming something warm and spicy that’s good for me. Again, add a little honey (after you brew it; do not add honey to boiling water) if it seems too spicy for you.

 

Circulate, Detoxify & Nourish

 

Exercise is also recommended to stimulate blood flow and circulation throughout the body and facilitate the elimination of toxins from the blood and lymph. Exercise just enough to break a light sweat, do not overdo. Try going for an early morning walk outdoors at a brisk enough pace to stimulate a sweat. You don’t need to sweat profusely, just dampness on the forehead, armpits, or back of the neck is enough. You just need to stimulate the sweat glands. Also take a hot bath, hot shower or steam bath or use a sauna to help the body sweat. Try to do one or more of these activities for at least 20-30 minutes each day.

Nourish yourself. Get a massage, facial, craniosacral therapy or acupuncture treatment. Walk barefoot on the beach. Breathe deeply. Take a gentle flow yoga class or restorative yoga. Many of the studios are offering online classes now, so you don’t even need to leave the house. Read an uplifting book or listen to soothing music.

Pay attention to what you are taking in. Avoid negative energies such as TV or movies with violence, crime, intense suspense, etc. These will cause you to feel negative emotions which will release stress hormones into your body. Spend time in the garden or go to a park and picnic under a tree. Do things that open your heart and nourish your soul.

Goodbye Toxins! Hello Radiant Health!

 

There are many different versions of the Kitchari Recipe and you can find them easily with a quick google search. I am sharing with you my favorite, which I have made many more times than I can count. This is a delicious blend of ingredients that includes all 6 tastes, which is another lesson learned from this ancient practice. Ayurveda believes that in order to have balance in our body and mind, we need to include all six tastes in our meals. Each individual ingredient (food and spice) has an individual quality, energy, action and effect on our being. The six tastes are Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Astringent and Pungent.

This is one of the reasons Ayurveda is considered “The Science of Life”. Ayurveda looks at the 5 elements; Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, the cycles of the day, the seasons, and the climate and tries to live in balance with all of these qualities and energies. We each have a constitution (Prakriti, Dosha) that is made up of a combination of these elements and each person has their own individual combination. In order to balance the energies, you need to find where you are out of balance, what elements are being affected, and then bring them back into balance. One way to facilitate balance is to reset the digestive system with healthy medicinal meals that contain all six tastes. So, let’s get started!

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Here is the GROCERY LIST.

Buy everything ORGANIC, you don’t want to add more pesticides when you are trying to detox:

  • Split Yellow Mung Beans or Sprouted Mung Beans
  • White or Brown Basmati Rice (white is easier to digest; brown has more fiber)
  • Coriander Seeds
  • Fennel Seeds
  • Cumin Seeds
  • Turmeric Powder or Fresh Turmeric Root
  • Ground Cardamom
  • Fresh Ginger Root
  • Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks
  • Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
  • Bay Leaf
  • Fresh Cilantro
  • Fresh Kale or Spinach
  • 2 Lemons
  • Coconut Oil
  • Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (or homemade)
  • Fresh Vegetables (choose 2-3, avoid nightshades)

Vegetables may be added to your dish or served on the side. Consider carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, broccoli rabe, butternut squash, beets, green beans, cauliflower, rutabagas, yuca, kohlrabi, or radishes. I usually do sweet potatoes roasted with Garam Masala Seasoning with mine (recipe below) and I serve them on the side. However, you can choose any vegetables you want as long as they are fresh and organic. You can roast them, steam them or cook them in the Kitchari. Avoid frozen or canned as the necessary enzymes and nutrients are depleted during processing. Avoid nightshades due to the fact that they have a natural built in pesticide called glycoalkaloids which can affect the nervous system and cause inflammation in the body, exactly what we are trying to combat.

Ayurvedic Kitchari Recipe

 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Makes enough for 3-4 servings depending on portion size

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Cup Split Yellow Mung Beans soaked overnight (or already sprouted mung beans)
  • 1/2 Cup Rice
  • 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
  • 3 Cups Vegetable Broth
  • 1/2 tablespoon of Fresh Grated Ginger
  • 2 tablespoons of Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
  • 1/2 cup of Spring Water
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds or Powder (seeds have a very strong flavor, I like it, some don’t)
  • 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder or 1 tsp of Fresh Grated Turmeric Root
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cardamom
  • 1 Bay Leaf  1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 1-2 tsp Mineral Salt to Taste
  • 1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro
  • 1-2 wedges of Fresh Squeezed Lemon or Lime (to taste)
  • 2 Kale Leaves, stems removed, torn into bite sized pieces or a handful of fresh spinach leaves
  • Optional: 1-2 cups of chopped vegetables of your choice

Directions:

Rinse the rice and mung beans and set aside.

In a small glass or measuring cup mix the grated ginger with the coconut flakes and water and set aside.

Using a 3-quart pot melt the coconut oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric and cardamom to the pot and cook until sizzling and fragrant (1-2 minutes).

Now add the ginger and coconut mixture along with the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and cook for 2 minutes.

Now add the rice, mung beans and vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

Once you have a good rolling boil going you can add your chopped vegetables (optional). Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Set timer for 30 minutes.

Now is the time to prepare your vegetables if you are serving them on the side.

Check your Kitchari occasionally and add extra water if needed.  If you want a more soup like consistency you may need to add more liquid. Otherwise it should be more like a porridge consistency.

After 30 minutes stir in the salt and taste to see if your rice and mung are soft. If you used white rice and sprouted mung beans your dish should be just about done. If you used brown rice and split mung beans, you may need to cook another 10 minutes.

Now add your chopped kale or spinach and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Lastly, top with fresh cilantro and squeeze of lemon or lime juice and serve.

 

Sweet Potatoes Roasted with Garam Masala

Ingredients:

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
  • 2 Tbsp melted Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Mineral Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400

Wash potatoes and cut into wedges. Place in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with the garam masala, coconut oil and salt. Toss well to coat wedges with the spice and oil. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Turn over with spatula and cook another 10 minutes. Serve with Kitchari.

I hope you enjoy this cleanse as much as I have throughout the years. It’s actually so easy to stick with and the results are amazing. It will motivate you to take better care of yourself on a daily basis and give you the jump start you need to improve your overall health and wellbeing. Ayurveda played a huge part in my own recovery from 30 years of addiction and depression which had taken such a toll on my physical health that, at 48 years old, I felt like I was living in a 90 year old body. My healing journey began in Bali in early 2012 where I met an Ayurvedic doctor who showed me how to heal myself. In a few short months, I completely recovered and have been pain free for almost 8 years. I hope this inspires you to learn more about these ancient practices that heal the Body, Mind and Soul and teach you how to live a beautiful, joyful and healthy life!

 

Many blessings to all,

 

Kay White

Founder of Villa Kali Ma

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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of “The Soul’s Code”

In James Hillman’s beautiful book, The Soul’s Code, he describes a way of thinking about symptoms and disorders that restores the dignity that Western medicine takes from madness.

He claims that our symptoms are not coincidental, and suggests instead that the particular curses we bear are related to our specific soul’s code, or destiny. The deepest and most painful challenges we face are related by inverse proportion to who we will become when we are completely unfolded and activated. In that sense, our destinies are tied up with our symptoms and would not be possible without them.

I have found Hillman’s discoveries to be not only beautiful but true. I have no doubt that my own experiences in madness are inseparable from the gifts that I bear for this world. I have also found this to be the beauty/truth when working with others. If I bother, I can see in each symptom, especially the truly horrible, awful, devastating ones that almost annihilate a person, a precious and life-force-studded seed that holds the full potential of their soul’s code.

The writers of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, in creating that hefty catalog of human woes, traffic with the idea that humanity’s diverse ecology of subjective inner-world experiences can be observed, described, sorted and named. Just as the naturalists once decided upon the phyla, kingdoms, families, histories and names of the flora and fauna of our outer world, psychologists have imposed scientific order on our inner world.

The different families of psychological suffering that psychologists have discovered are more or less distinct from each other. Each disorder has discrete experiences with distinctive features that are shared amongst all the people who grapple with that same category of struggle.

I acknowledge the value of this undertaking. The phenomena that the DSM aims to catalog have an undeniable reality, and I believe they are described accurately enough to help practitioners understand more about patterns they might not personally relate to.

The DSM’s naming of these patterns can be helpful for validation. Finding ourselves more or less reflected in a description we may be able to say to ourselves, “Wow, my suffering is real, look, there’s a name for it, and it really is as bad as I feel that it is.” There is a time and place for this type of validation, in my experience – and it often helps family members take our troubles seriously. I love the DSM for this, because in a society where nothing is real unless science says it is, it’s helpful to have science say that my experience really exists.

In other moments, the DSM’s way of holding the psychological phenomena they observed as signs of being disordered or sick leaves me with a feeling of disregard for my experience that denies its beauty and value. I’m not sure why they did not choose to group their observations according to the more common and predominant phenomena of our inner world –types of human joy, psychological health, strength, spiritual experiences, and resilience.

The DSM was birthed by the Western medical model, which is notorious for its negative slant and its interest in excising. Western medicine loves to isolate and cut out an infected area of the body or soul as though the presence of that symptom were not deeply related to the rest of the person who produced it. In contemporary psychology with an overly DSM-heavy take, the attack on “infected” areas of our souls creates a lot of problems, not least of which is the fact that practitioners miss the real origin of the problem (usually not located in the exact place that you find it, but usually in some deeper, more causal place).

The even more problematic fail in my opinion is that overly DSM-happy practitioners may forget that the infection is just the messenger. By shooting it we accomplish nothing other than shutting down the conversation! And if working with the soul’s code has taught me anything, it’s that if our souls don’t succeed, you can bet they will try, try again to get that message through – sending as many symptoms as it takes to get our attention. Not only is it violent, it’s fairly pointless to keep cutting off the heads of our disorders – symptoms just grow back unless you stop attacking and see what that hydra was trying to tell you.   

For that reason, it might be nicer to see the DSM as start but not the final word in the discussion of our psychological patterns. As I said, the DSM is a great tool for realizing, “Wow, this pattern of experiences I am going through is a documented phenomenon – it really is a thing that other people have dealt with as well – what a relief to know I am not alone!”

What we say, think, and do next with that information is very important too though: How do we interpret the presence of this pattern, and how do we personally choose to relate to it? Is it an enemy to be stamped out, or a kind friend come to tell us some uncomfortable but valuable truth?

Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, and someone who managed to find love in one of the darkest pockets of humanity’s heart, maintains that it is, in the end, the meaning we make of our lives that improves them more than any other factor. For some, the meaning of having a disorder may be as simple as concluding, “I have this genetic disease and I must live with it, but it does not determine me, and I will not let it decide my whole existence.” A person whose soul is interested in a different story might say, “I have this pattern showing up in my life – I will use it to create deep and powerful artwork that touches all of mankind. It is part of my soul’s code.” Another woman may say, “This disease will be my greatest teacher. I will learn everything I can from it and have it make me grow strong in character and love.” In other words, you could say it’s all in the interpretation, which is up to the nature and choice of the person with that disorder.

One meaning that I like to make of the DSM is to see each catalogued item as a call to activate a special and specific potential destiny. I would love to someday see a radically new edition sitting on the shelves of every practitioner’s office – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Soul’s Code.

 

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I Am Already All That I Need

I love this quote by Nisargadatta Maharaj. This is such a great reminder of how beautiful life can be if you live by these principals.

I used to have an attitude or belief that my problems were all that mattered. I was always thinking about my problems, my life, my wants, my needs, my stuff, my lack, my suffering, etc. I was very busy trying to get things to be the way I wanted them.. the way I thought they should be. I was always a victim and something was always happening to me! Everything that happened in life that didn’t fit with my set of personal preferences was a problem, so I had lots of problems. I had an attitude that I deserved a better life and it was not fair when things didn’t go my way. One of my frequently used phrases was “why does this always happen to ME?!!” All my bad choices and circumstances (alcohol, drugs, abusive relationships, etc)  were because somebody did me wrong, either in that instant or at some distant time in the past, and It wasn’t my fault!

Through my process of recovery, I was able to change my attitudes and beliefs and realize that most of my suffering was caused by my own self-importance and misguided sense of what life was all about. Once I started practicing yoga and meditation I started to see everything more clearly. I began to have the insight through the practice of self-inquiry, and I was able to see the truth in each situation and how my attitude about it could change everything! If I practiced having an attitude of gratitude, my life looked much better than if I had an attitude of entitlement. Slowly, I got down off my high horse and began to live more humbly. One of my favorite quotes is from Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” which says:  “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less”. I found this to be profoundly true in my own life. I had been thinking about myself and my perceived problems constantly. I was making unimportant things important and leaving behind the most important things; like my children.

Once I began practicing humility, I became willing to see my own neurosis. The more I lived from this place of humility, the more real and honest I became, and the better I felt about myself. I had to stop pretending to be someone I was not and accept myself just the way I was, a train wreck, which would take a long time to clean up and get back on track.

Eventually, through continuing to practice gratitude and humility and by letting go of self-importance and entitlement, I began to see myself in a better light. I began to love the real me. I finally found the love that I had always been seeking, and it was right here inside me. I had been seeking love outside myself for decades, living the life of the “hungry ghost” that Gabor Mate talks about in his book about addiction and trauma. He describes the hungry ghost as “the domain of addiction, where we constantly seek something outside ourselves to curb an insatiable yearning for relief or fulfillment. The aching emptiness is perpetual because the substances, objects or pursuits we hope will soothe it are not what we really need.”

What I learned from my own experience is that what I really needed was to love and accept myself. Love is knowing I am everything…already! There is nothing I need to do, be, acquire, aspire to, perfect, etc. I just needed to be me, and love who I am. So now, years later, the train of my life is flowing pretty smoothly along the tracks to wherever life is taking me. The things I thought mattered most, the things I thought I had to GET in order to be HAPPY, I still don’t have them. Life still happens without concern for my list of preferences. Life is still life but I have changed my attitude about it. Now I practice acceptance and gratitude, which gives me FREEDOM from wishing that what has already happened were different than it is.

Now, instead of thinking about myself all the time, I think about how I can make a difference in the lives of others. How can I help another person find the love inside themselves? How can I help others to find FREEDOM from suffering?  How can I show up in a way that inspires and uplifts everyone I meet? Now I know that life is not about getting…It’s about loving and giving and connecting to others in a meaningful way. Turns out, if you align yourself with love and humility, life is beautiful, and you don’t need anything to make it so.

Wishing you all love and happiness!

Namaste

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Self-Love, Self-Respect and Self-Worth: The Keys to Happiness


 I spent decades looking outside myself for someone to love me, treat me with respect, and make me feel worthy, but because I didn’t love and respect myself, I attracted relationships that reinforced the lack of those things I was seeking. I spent many years in relationships that were not healthy; self-medicating with alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of not having Self-Love, Self-Respect, and Self-Worth. Of course, this only reinforced my thoughts and feelings of unworthiness. The proverbial vicious cycle.

I never found healthy love, respect or worth until I learned to love and respect my Self. The Self that I had never realized. The completely lovable Self residing deep in my heart. Through the discovery of this aspect of my being, came a complete transformation of my life.

If you don’t love your Self, it’s a thinking problem, a belief that you have agreed to. It’s all in your mind. You are judging yourself and condemning yourself. Or maybe you feel unlovable because of things that happened to you in your past and you feel like a victim of circumstances. Either way, it is a disconnection from the truth of who and what you really are. This is because the Ego self is ignorant of the truth. I learned to overcome the negative aspects of the Ego by spiritual practices such as yoga, breathwork, meditation, and studying spiritual philosophy. I found that you can learn to love yourself no matter what happened in the past. You can forgive yourself and others and overcome anything that is keeping you from being happy. You can let go of being the Judge and the Victim. I did! And I am just like you! We are the same, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. 

The reason we are here, having these experiences, is to transform. We are here to experience Self-Realization. To learn to love ourselves unconditionally. We can free ourselves from the mind (judge and victim) and become who we came here to be. We can discover our gift and begin to share that with the world. We can leave behind the negative thought processes and begin to vibrate a positive energy into our lives and the lives of those around us. When you discover the truth of who you are, you will no longer think you need people or things to “make” you happy. Happiness will come rushing into your life!

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” ~Bob Marley

“You don’t attract what you want, you attract what you are.” 
“You must be what it is that you are seeking- that is, you need to put forth what you want to attract.” ~Wayne Dyer

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15 Ways Yoga Can Heal Your Life!

Studies have shown that the spiritual practices of yoga, meditation, deep relaxation and controlled breathing exercises can increase the effectiveness of drug and alcohol treatment programs by helping us to connect to a power greater than ourselves. 

Here is a list of some of the proven benefits of yoga:
Reduces feelings of depression
Calms feelings of anxiety
Reduces stress and tension
Develops greater self-awareness
Calms compulsive thinking
Improves self-esteem and sense of wellbeing
Promotes better sleep habits
Improves mental function, including memory and cognitive function
Regulates endocrine, nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems
Boosts immune system
Improves organ function
Supports healthy digestive system
Healthier heart and blood vessels
Increases strength, firms and tones muscles
Improves posture

I know this is true because I experienced all of these myself within the first few months of daily practice. These practices healed my body, my mind, and my life!

Peace & Blessings,

Kay

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“I Found God in Myself and I Loved Her…I Loved Her Fiercely” – Ntozake Shange

I came across this quote recently and it resonated with me.  I felt so blessed that it did! Now that this rings true for me, I see how in the past I had no eyes to see these words. “I Found God in Myself and I loved her…I loved her fiercely.” This quote would have meant nothing to me and I would not have even noticed it. Loving myself was not even in my vocabulary before I got sober and transformed my life.

I now know that my relationship with myself is the most important one I will ever have.  I used to think I needed to find a man and get into a relationship in order to be happy.  All those relationships just made me more unhappy.  Then I would drink and use drugs to self-medicate my misery or to mask the pain and pretend I was having “fun”.  I would stay in those bad relationships endlessly because I felt so worthless and afraid to be alone.  I never found what I was seeking because I was always looking outside myself for something to, “make me happy”.

After getting sober I began working on healing myself and my life.  I discovered yoga and meditation and began practicing several times a week.  Yoga teaches the 8 limbed path to enlightenment, beginning with the Yamas & Niyamas which are ethical ways of living and being in the world.  These practices began to change things in me.  I began to feel better in so many ways.  I began to like myself more and my body and mind began to heal.

The practices helped me connect to a deeper meaning in life.  I began to see myself as a spiritual being having a human experience.  The more I practiced and looked within my own heart, the more I felt the power of my Soul.  As my mind and body changed, I felt a deeper connection to the Earth and to all beings.  My love for myself and for life grew and grew until I felt a happiness that I never thought possible.

I sincerely hope that all of you who are struggling with similar issues will give this path a try.  Do some research about what yoga is.  There is a movie called “Yoga Is” that you can stream on Amazon that explains a lot.  I know many people who have transformed their lives through this practice.  I also went to rehab and sober living, which helped, but the transformation came through yoga and meditation.  I wish you all a future being, “happy, joyous, and free”!

Namaste

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How I Learned to Train My Mind to be Present and Banish all Negativity

I used to suffer from an extreme sense of impending doom.  I was either worrying about the future or I was filled with self-judgement and shame about the past.  I was never at peace.  I didn’t even know that peace was a possible state of mind.  I learned that through the practice of yoga and meditation, I can train my mind to dwell in the reality of my life, not the story that my mind was repeating to me over and over, ad nauseam.  

Immediately upon getting sober, reality set in, and all of the pain that I had been avoiding through self-medicating hit me like a freight train.  I was plunged into all the feelings I had been trying to keep myself from feeling or even acknowledging.  Intense regret, remorse, self-hatred, shame, and despair took over my thoughts.  All I wanted was relief from these thoughts and feelings but I knew my old ways of coping didn’t work for me anymore. 

I began learning how to train my mind by practicing yoga and meditation several times a week.  I found that during these practices I felt more calm and peaceful than any other time of the day.  I began studying the principals and philosophy of the ancient yogic teachings and adopted them as a new way of living my life. The teachings gave me a new perspective to see life from.  I learned how to dwell in the present moment, not the past or the future.

I also took an online course called “Innner Engineering” from a indian mystic named Sadhguru which really help train my mind and got me started down the path to healing my life. Then I learned to train my mind and redirect my thinking by reading books and listening to audio CD’s while driving in my car.  The one’s that helped me the most are Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” and “The New Earth”, Wayne Dyer’s “The Power of Intention”, Michael Singer’s “The Untethered Soul”, and Anita Moorjani’s “Dying to be Me”.

These teachers showed me the way to freedom from the constant barrage of negative thinking that had been my life long habit.  Through these teachings and through the practice of yoga and meditation, I now live in a completely different world from the one I used to live in.  I am able to take life on life’s terms and enjoy it.  I love my life now! Even though I don’t have everything I want, I am grateful for my most precious gift…Peace of mind!

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Eckhart Tolle:

“Are you worried? Do you have many ‘what if’ thoughts? You are identified with your mind, which is projecting itself into an imaginary future situation and creating fear.  There is no way you can cope with such a situation, because it doesn’t exist. It’s a mental phantom.”

Remember…you are creating your future with your thoughts today, so make them good thoughts!!

Peace & Many Blessings,

Kay

Are you or a loved one looking into recovery? Click here to visit our site for more information. 
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What If You Could Heal Your Life With Food?

 I grew up on Hamburger Helper, instant mashed potatoes and canned green beans. My favorite beverage was Diet Coke. My mother was a victim of the convenience food epidemic and our kitchen was loaded with processed foods.  It wasn’t until high school that I discovered food that doesn’t necessarily come in a box or a can. I was also raised eating tons of meat, dairy and sugar.  McDonalds was my comfort food.  Almost every day, up until I was 48 years old, I would crave a Hamburger Happy Meal for lunch! I believed, because I didn’t know any better, that it wasn’t a “meal” unless it included meat and dairy. I ate this way most of my life and didn’t even question it until I was at a point where my health and life had crumbled around me and I couldn’t go on anymore. 

After years of suffering through a completely dysfunctional existence, I finally decided to check into rehab and get sober. I had no idea how much that decision was going to change everything about my life.  My depression fluctuated from mild to severe with occasional suicidal ideation since I was 17.  I also suffered from low self-esteem, guilt, shame, co-dependency and love addiction. My health was deteriorating and I severe back pain, joint pain, and sciatica down both legs. I had been self-medicating for three decades using alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes.

After going to a 30-day treatment program and getting sober, I started practicing yoga and meditation and studying how food played a role in my mental and physical health. I found top biochemists, nutritionists, and naturopathic medicine doctors that taught me how to use food as medicine and to eat to be healthy, not to satisfy cravings. I had stopped eating processed foods and started eating a healthy whole foods diet.  Within months, all of my body pain left me and so did the depression.

New studies by neuroscientists now show that when it comes to your mental health, your behavior, and even your mood, it may not be the brain calling the shots; it may be your gut that’s in charge. Now there is hard evidence linking conditions such as debilitating stress, anxiety and depression to the gut’s microbial residents, known as the microbiome. Scientists are now finding that the bacteria in the intestines have a major impact on our state of mind.  Your gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters that communicate with the brain by sending information that affects your wellbeing.  Therefore, your mental health is very much dependent on the healthy microbes in your gut.

Researchers have shown that there is a dynamic interaction between your gut, your brain, and your immune system and that in order to maintain overall health of your whole being, you must have healthy gut bacteria.  In order to ensure your gut is healthy, avoiding processed foods and foods high in sugar and fructose is essential.  Sugars and especially processed sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup feed the harmful bacteria and throw off the balance of the gut’s microflora.  This can weaken the immune system and cause a variety of health problems, both physical and mental.

Some of the warning signs that your gut flora is off manifest as subtle forms of depression such as irritability, hostility, extreme fatigue, inability to concentrate, withdrawing from loved ones, perfectionism, guilty feelings, and self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, food, and other addictions.

Researchers have discovered that dietary changes can be used as the sole treatment for these mood disorders. One study found that women who regularly consumed foods containing probiotics (such as the bacteria in yogurt) or fermented foods, showed improved brain function and relief of symptoms compared to those who did not consume the probiotics.  The study showed that this significantly affected the parts of the brain that control the processing of emotion and sensation.

The healthy bacteria in your gut are vulnerable to your diet and lifestyle and can be harmed by the foods you choose to eat and use of household chemicals. Some of these that are the most harmful are conventionally raised meats and other animal products that come from animals that have been fed genetically modified grains and have been injected with antibiotics (which includes all factory farmed meats and dairy). Processed foods, sugars, processed sweeteners and food grown with pesticides also harms the health of your gut bacteria. Hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps should also be avoided.

One of the most natural ways to begin to heal mentally and physically is to eat a healthy diet that supports healthy gut bacteria.  At Villa Kali Ma we provide our clients with a healthy diet of delicious and nutritious organic foods to support the healing of the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. We teach our clients how to live a balanced life in harmony with how nature intended.  Women learn how to shop, plan and cook healthy meals that support their mental and physical wellbeing. I know that this works because I suffered for three decades and healed in just a few months by the same methods we teach here at Villa Kali Ma.  This is not difficult to do because the food is delicious and you will feel so much better physically and mentally that you won’t want to go back to your old habits.

Peace, love, and many blessings,

Kay

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