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Spring Opportunities & Tips @ The Yoga Place |
It is laid out in three parts.
The first part outlines the opportunities and challenges that spring presents
to you – this is primarily the opportunity for a new start, new possibilities,
and new directions. On a personal level this relates to the opportunity to shed past
patterns which are redundant or unhelpful and to implement changes which reflect
more of who you are. This opportunity to hitch a ride on spring energy comes around
only once a year. To make the most of it you will need to create space, eliminate
and lighten up for the journey. You will also need to ensure that you have a strong
Personal Foundation.
The second part looks at five actions you can
do to create this space and lighten up
The third part looks at these five actions in more detail
Note : If you
suffer from hay fever or constant colds be sure to look at this hint
Part One - The opportunity for EXPANSION
Oriental medicine recognises that the body is a microcosm of the macrocosm - in other
words, when your body is in balance and in harmony with the environment, your body's
energy systems should be mirroring those of the environment.
The key themes for Spring are
Expansion, a time of renewal, a time to shed off the accumulated excesses of winter,
a time of new possibilities, new directions and new growth. This is a challenging
and exciting time.
Look around you. Observe how energy is rising and
expanding. It is becoming warmer. New buds are turning into shoots- plants are growing
rapidly (expansion). Birds are mating to create new life. Notice the spring in your
step, the feeling of rising and expanding energy, a sense of optimism, of new possibilities,
of the feeling that now is the time for new beginnings and new projects – the birth
of a new sense of self.
Your challenge is to create the
space in yourself and your life so that you can hitch a ride on Spring's energy to
develop and expand this new YOU - and to create the momentum which matches this Spring
energy to carry this new YOU forward.
Your first step is to lighten up and create a space for this new YOU. The
starting point is to eliminate the junk that is holding you back and consuming your
space and energy. If you want to be able to move forwards and make changes you will
have to remove those things in yourself and your life which are keeping you weighed
down and stuck in the past. These include limiting ideas, emotions, negative relationships,
bad food, unresolved situations and material possessions. There are some useful tips
a little bit further on in this article regarding eliminating, lightening up and
creating space.
There are two challenges that you will need to heed as you create this new
space for yourself to expand into.
Your first challenge is "direction". Who is the new YOU going to
be? Who are you really? what are your true values ?. These answers will determine
the "direction" you will need to take as you expand into the space you
have created for your Self. Your challenge and opportunity is to become more who
you really are. To accomplish this you need to eliminate other people’s ideas
of who you should and shouldn’t be that don’t fit in with who you are at heart. This
is a major issue for most of us because our ideas of whom we should be to be accepted
have all been strongly influenced by our families, friends and society. The mass
media and advertising all play very heavily in this area. If you pay careful attention
to the language you use you will be surprised at how many times you use words like
should and shouldn’t. There are some hints later on about how to align yourself
with your true values.
Your second challenge is to remain grounded and focused - but not blinkered
- during this process. In Taoism and Chinese philosophy there is a statement which
says that the amount of Yin we can experience in life depends on the amount of Yang
we have. If we want more Yin - which stands for expansion and the upward movement
of Self expression - we need more Yang - the downward, stabilising movement which
keeps us stable and centered Another way of saying the same thing using modern language
is " a tall building needs a strong foundation" .
Your challenge is to strengthen your own Personal Foundation so that you can express
Your Self more in a grounded way. Without this foundation, you run the risk of fragmenting
yourself - huge visions and many ideas but no capacity to select (choose) what really
matters for you and create something material. Choice is ultimately governed by having
space and eliminating. In order to say "yes" to something you have to say
"no" to something else. Being able to say "no" is therefore a
process of letting go, of saying "this is not me" and eliminating the idea.
Once a choice has been made, creation becomes a process of taking your vision and
materialising it.
To materialise your vision you will need focus and flexibility.
You will need the have the capacity to maintain direction combined with the flexibility
to adapt to meet changing conditions. According to Chinese medicine these are qualities
of good liver and gall bladder energy function.
We run specific Ayurvedic detox programs and Health coaching to support this process.
or call for information (9555-754 or 0417655-601)
Step Two - Eat less food - even better is a light
fast, a three day liver cleanse or Dr. Sandra
Cabot's Liver cleansing diet. Give your body the "Spring Cleaning" it is
supposed to have. This was a tradition that the ancients practiced but we gave up
when we got scientific because it was an old wives tail and science is masculine,
left brain, linear and logical.
Step Three - Eat in a way that is friendly to the liver and gall bladder meridian
energy systems. Spring activates these systems which in Chinese medicine belong to
the Wood element. Good liver energy is crucial for vision, flexibility, emotional
evenness and a strong immune system. Increase light spring foods. The human body
has evolved over millions of years. For 99.99999% of this period, humans had to eat
food that grew in the area they lived in - no importing from somewhere else or cold
storage was around when we evolved. So in spring they ate spring type food - sprouts,
leafy greens etc. A good way to work out what is right for you to eat now is to look
at what is cheap, local and fresh in the greengrocer - this is what is ripening now.
To reduce the load on the liver, remove or reduce bad fats and preservatives. One
function of the liver is to metabolise fats. Another is to break down toxins. So
you need to remove or reduce fats - this includes dairy products. However, the liver
does need some fats to operate properly. These fats are called essential fatty acids.
There are a number of excellent sources of essential fatty acids such as leafy greens
(especially the bitter ones), LSA, evening primrose oil etc. (See Sandra Cabot's
Liver Cleansing Diet)
Include Herbs for the liver
Tip # 2. - Come to Spring Yoga classes
to realign yourself to Spring's energy
Come to Spring Yoga classes - We special classes to help align your body to the Spring
energy and to boost your elimination function
The classes are in the early morning because that is when energy is rising (spring
energy = rising and expanding energy) and elimination function is at its maximum
(in Chinese, the function of the large intestine peaks between 5am and 7am)
We run a specific Spring sequence course that runs for 8 weeks. This starts on September
17 th. It comprises of 2 classes per week on Monday and Thursday mornings. The classes
run from 6am to 7.30am. The course costs $180. Call to book your place on 9555-7544
or e-mail info@yogaplace.com.au
Casual classes cost $16.50. If you buy tickets they cost $110 for 8. You need to
use these over a 2-month period.
The Location is 374 Darling Street, Balmain. (cnr Darling and Jaques St., entrance
on Jaques St.)
| Monday 6.00 - 7.30 am | Spring Sequence - General |
| Thursday 6.00 - 7.30 am | Spring Sequence - General |
If you are a hay fever sufferer I recommend you follow my recommendations on food.
General Notes on "Fasting"
1. These fasts are not total absention fasts - their objective is two fold. To give
the system a rest so it can begin to detoxify, and to feed the function of the liver
and gallbladder.
2. "Coming off" the fast is very important. If you break your fast with
for example a meal heavy with staturated fats you will damage yourself and may very
well be in a worse state than before you started the fast. This is because the fast
will open up your system and it will become more sensitive and absorb what you eat
more effectively. So my suggestion is this - build into your fast slowly and come
out of it slowly. If you deny yourself too heavily by entering the fast too quickly
or maintaining it for too long, part of you will feel desparate as it is starved
and it will binge to make up for what it missed.
3. From the perspective of Ayurvedic medicine people have differerent constitutions
and are effected differerntly by fasts. For example, some people have natural catabolic
constitutions. These people tend to use rather than store energy. If you are one
of these naturally thin people who finds it difficult or impossible to put on weight
you need to be careful with fasting because if you continue for too long you will
loose vital tissue and vitate vata dosha. If you fall in this group the general rule
is don't fast for more that 3 days in a row.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are those of you who have strong anabolic constitutions.
If you fit into this group your body will tend to store energy and you will be in
that group that finds that loosing weight is very difficult no matter what you do.
4. If you have any doubts about any of this fasting, speak to a qualified health
practitioner before you start
Liver - Gall Bladder Kichari
This recipe comes from "The Ayurvedic Cookbook" written by Amandea Morningstar.
You can order it through Amazon bookstores.
| The Ayurvedic Cookbook | Amandea Morningstar | |
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Warm ghee in large saucepan. Add cumin, mustard and coriander seeds. Sauté
until the mustard seeds pop. Add turmeric and spilt mung beans and sauté /
stir for 30 seconds. Add 6 cups of water and the barley, burdock, dandelion, ginger
and kombu. Bring to the boil and cook covered for 50 minutes or until the barley
is tender. Add additional water (about 4 cups) to keep the Kichadi moist, stirring
occasionally to stop it from sticking to the bottom of the pan - watch out for this!!
. Wash and chop the broccoli and greens and add them 15 minutes before serving along
with the salt and coriander powder. Stir and cook for the remaining 15 minutes.
Note: If your immune system is down or you are recovering from an infection, add
5 shitaki mushrooms.
Radical Three day Liver Gallbladder fast
This is a rather radical fast which you should follow for not more tha 3 days at
a time.
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner:
Leafy greens thrown into hot water with a touch of sea salt and small amount of well
cooked brown rice. (one handful each time)
Liquid:
Water, bancha tea