clarity

I survived the ten day master cleanse. But I didn’t really have a lot of time to organize my thoughts and express them in words.

I’ve come to be able to take ten relaxed breaths on my headstand too. My practice has grown a little bit more, and I’m hoping that it will continue to grow slowly but surely. I am grateful for having a great teacher and for being to share my practice with my husband.

I’m not so sure I can keep this blog going, or any other blog again. I think because people I know take my words so seriously I’ve ended up self editing. and self edited posts are a pain to read. So I don’t know. Maybe I will come up with another anonymous blog just like when I started blogging. But I really don’t know right now.

An Attempt to Cleanse the Body Day 4 and 5

Yesterday was day 4 of our master cleanse. I miss solid food so much. it was pretty eventful.I had less white stuff on my tongue. But I was really tired of the lemonade taste. I wanted so much to taste something else. My other problem was lack of bowel movement. I have not eliminated since day 1, and I was really worried about being poisoned by all the poo from saturday night’s dinner. (day 1 was sunday) But because I had yoga today, I decided to take the laxative tea after yoga class instead. I could not risk staying up all night because of the laxative.

Day 5 today and we attended yoga class. Our teacher was so very kind. I was obviously out of it. I was dizzy and nauseous when we arrived at the studio. I was scared I was being poisoned by my rotten long overdue poo. But I pushed myself to practice my asanas. I was convinced I was going to pass out during the sun salutations. I had cold clammy hands and cold sweat over my body, and I was unsteady on my feet. But I made it through, and I felt better after the sun salutations. I was able to complete the asanas I was taught. But it was a struggle. And I was so tired after class. I drank the laxative tea at 10am, but it’s 6:30pm and still no poo. I slept all afternoon today. I really wasn’t feeling well. I cannot wait for the poo to come out. My stomach has been painful for the past two hours and all I’ve got to show for the pain is gas. I have been farting so much my dog refuses to sit near me. I wonde when the laxative tea will work. I hope it comes through before bedtime, I don’t want to stay up late.

An Attempt to Cleanse the Body Day 3

Day three of our ten day cleanse.

I woke up feeling hungry today. But ashtanga is practiced on an empty stomach. I was scared I would pass out during class. But I didn’t. And today was our best practice ever. We were able to reach further, and do more today. But I was in zombie mode during supta kurmasana.

I completed my marichyasana ABCD today, all on my own. I am so grateful I was able to bind myself without pushing or pulling from the teacher. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to have a great teacher, I just really want to be able to do it by myself. I had been working on it for months and months. Today, I did it. and I am thankful for my teacher wo helped me learn how to do it.

I was also able to do a partial bhujapidasana. It was far from perfect. It’s a work in progress. But I am really happy I can lift my feet now. I am still afraid of falling to the floor and squashing my face into bloody crap (i am 129lbs afterall, and that will be a tremendous force on my face if I lose my balance and fall forward..)

Big surprise of the morning was getting new poses from the teacher. He gave us kurmasana and supta kurmasana. I had difficulty getting into kurmanasana. The teacher had to lift my heels to help me get my legs straight. And then, he had to push my chest down to the mat. It was painful. I was being stretched in places I had not stretched since fourth grade. I thought that would be it, but our teachere went and gave us the supta kurmanasana. i honestly have no idea how he got me me to bind. It was amazing to have my fingers touch behind my back, but I don’t remember much else. I think my head went to a place far away from the pain. My insides hurt. I was squashed everywhere inside, all at the same time. But I survived, and I felt so much better after the closing and taking a rest.

It’s 1:30pm and the day is not yet over. This cleanse has given me better practice. I have to be able to last seven more days. I have cravings like no one can imagine. I dreamed about food last night. I think about food a lot. I want to eat ribeye steak medium rare. I want baby back ribs. There are so many things I want to eat. But I’m not hungry, just greedy. I’m tired of the taste in my mouth. I miss the salty, sweet, savory and the meat. Surprisingly, I don’t crave chocolate. I just want some beef. Dear God of All Things, please help me finish this cleanse.

An Attempt to Cleanse the Body Day 2

Day 2 begins with the salt flush. i hate it. It makes me gag. But I’m scared of the laxative tea. So I do it. I drank a lot of lemon juju today. I’m still not hungry, but there is something unsatisfying about drinking the lemon juju throughout the day. I want a variety of flavors. I miss the different smells and textures of food too. I want to eat a cow. I really really do.

I had this mild headache that comes and goes. My skin is drier than usual. No movement in my bowels yet, maybe tomorrow after our two hour ashtanga yoga session. I’ve been farting more, which leads me to believe i have a lot of trapped gas..they stink worse than usual too. Everytime I fart I feel like dying. My tongue has turned white. I’ve been rinsing my mouth with water every two hours or so. My pee looks better and smells less like pee. It also seems clearer.

I can walk and talk normally. I did a lot of things today and did not feel faint at all. It’s amazing. I had no idea that this lemon juju could keep me full in the stomach and full of energy to do things. We’ll see tomorrow if I survive the grueling ashtanga class.

I swear on the fourteenth day I’m going to eat lechon!

An Attempt to Cleanse the Body

We’ve decided to do a master cleanse to purge our bodies of toxins. I am not sure if this will have a profound effect on our health, but I read about people feeling so much better after the cleanse. My brother’s girlfriend has tried it and she looks great. I am hoping we will feel better after the cleanse.

There are several things that I hope to get rid of through this cleanse:
1. frequent loose bowel movement that alternates with constipation
2. frequent headaches
3. bad skin (combination dry and oily, with red blotchy patches)
4. falling hair
5. lack of urination
6. unhealthy food cravings
7. allergies

It is day one of our master cleanse diet. We are trying to go on it for ten days. It’s 5:30pm. I am not hungry at all, but I want to eat beef. I have a mild headache, with the pain coming from around my temples. My tongue feels thick and has begun turning white. There is a weird taste in my mouth that I can’t seem to get rid of. I can feel a bit of phlegm collecting in the back of my throat. But I feel these are mild discomforts considering I had not eaten all day. I am a little worried about tomorrow, but then again it is only for ten days. I think the worst of it might be having to taste the same flavors everyday for ten days.

I really want to complete the ten days and break the fast on the eleventh day with a glass of cold orange juice. Our schedule looks like this:

day 1 to 10: salt water, lemonade mix 6 times, water whenever you want.
day 11: orange juice, clear soup, other fruit juice,water all you want
day 12: smoothies, creamy soup, milk, water all you want
day 13: vegetable soup, congee, soft bread, pasta, fruits, water all you want
day 14: fish, more vegetables and fruits, other meat in matchbox size serving, water all you want.

I hope we survive! =)

———

Here’s the Recipe:

The master cleanse diet is created by Stanley Burroughs in 1941. But only in 1976, he published a master cleanse book. In short, the diet only permits you to consume the lemonade mixture for the whole duration of the master cleanse – You are required to drink a minimum of 60 oz of lemonade a day and drink plenty of water too. But you are not allowed to eat or drink other foods rather than the lemonade for 10 days.

Do note: there were many changes from the period of time when Stanley Burroughs published the book till today (1976 and 2009). For example, the U.S.D.A. has changed the classification of maple syrup and many websites are giving the wrong information on the type of maple syrup you can buy.

Before you embark on the master cleanse journey…

It is advsiable for you to obtain a copy of the master cleanse guide written by either Katie Jones or Raylen, so you would know exactly what to do and what to expect. Even though the web contains most of the master cleanse instructions, the content in these sites may not be organized and structured as well as these guides. As a result, you may miss out some of the most important information that can help you in the master cleanse.

Below, we have listed down a single serving recipe of the master cleanse diet. Most of the time, you may want to make the lemonade for the whole day otherwise it’ll be a hassle for you to make the lemonade each time you want to drink it.

You would need to mix the following ingredients together in order to make the lemonade mixture.

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of organic maple syrup grade B

1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder

10 oz glasses of distilled water (This is around 295ml of water)

Lemon juice – you would approximately need half a lemon to make 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. If you want to create the lemonade for the whole day, it can only last for 8 hours before it turns bad (even you have put it into the fridge).

Do take note not to use canned lemon juice as the vitamins and nutrients are no longer in the canned lemon. It is essential for your body to absorb the lemon nutrients because you are drinking the lemonade for 10 days.

You can’t add the cayenne pepper in the morning when you prepare the lemonade for the whole day, otherwise it will turn bad within a short while.

Maple syrup – Use 100% pure organic grade B maple syrup.

Cayenne pepper – do not underestimate the power of cayenne pepper. It is one of the best healing herbs in the world. The pepper can increase the blood flow in the body, have a rich source of vitamins B & C and can save one from heart attack. We would recommend you to buy the powder form of cayenne pepper.

Most people find it difficult to drink the lemonade with the cayenne pepper in it. If you find it difficult too, here’s a tip… Put the cayenne pepper powder into empty capsules and when you drink the lemonade and maple syrup, just swallow the capsules. This is more effective than buying cayenne pepper pills that are produced by the pharmaceutical companies.

Laxative Herb Tea

Usually one can take the green or peppermint tea but take note that it should not be caffeinated. This is usually taken before the start of the master cleanse and the instruction from the book is to drink it every evening before you go to the bed.

Note: You don’t want to drink the laxative tea together with the salt water flush as it would cause diarrhea.

Salt Water Flush Recipe

You would need to prepare a teaspoon of organic sea salt (not iodized salt) with 25 – 35 oz of warm water. Mix well and do your best to drink the solution in one go. If it is difficult to drink, use normal temperature water then. The purpose of the salt water flush and the laxative tea is to help you in bowel elimination.

It is best to drink the salt water flush before drinking the lemonade in the morning as it is more effective with empty stomach.

money

“santosha, or contentment, is a notion we are all quite familiar with. Ordinarily, human beings experience elation when their incomes unexpectedly rise or they experience a windfall of some type. Yet happiness of this kind is momentary and shortlived.” -Yoga Mala p.14

“Santoshad anuttana sukha labhah. (owing to contentment, there is an unexcelled attainment of happiness.)” – Patanjali yoga sutras ii : 42

When I was young I imagined living in a house with maids and a driver by the time I turned thirty. I imagined, I would have two children and would spend most of my time painting and reading books from my vast library contained in wall to wall shelves around my big house. I am thirty now, and I do have a lot of books but I rarely spend entire days reading. I don’t have two children, instead I have an eight year old turtle and a one year old dog. I don’t have maids or a driver, but I do have a good husband who doesn’t mind doing housework and driving me everywhere I need to go (schedule permitting). My childhood dream involved earning enough money to afford the picture in my mind. Needless to say, I have not earned as much as I would have liked. And in all honesty, I want more money.

I am grateful that my life has been comfortable thus far. I can afford to spend a little bit of money on luxury items. By luxury, I mean, things I want that I can certainly live without. I want more. I think I am greedy. I already have a home but I want a bigger one with a yard. I already have shoes but I want more in other styles or color. I can afford to eat out every once in a while, but I would like to be able to try different restaurants and eat all the food I’ve never had before. Want is such a great challenge to me. I want so many things that money can buy. Does this make me shallow?

But I do want to be happy. I want a life of freedom. Freedom from clients who treat us badly. Freedom from having to take clients we don’t like just because we need the income. Freedom from having to do things because we need to. Freedom from the worries of not getting enough projects. Freedom from having to work so hard for so little. And why do we work so hard? because we need money to feed ourselves, and our wonderful pets. We also need money for yoga.

I don’t know what to do with santosha. If I lay in contentment, I am afraid that I will not push myself hard enough to attain financial freedom. But maybe I am looking at this all wrong.

substitute teacher

Yesterday we had a different teacher. When we looked into the studio we expected to see Jon Cagas on his mat. Instead we heard loud female voices. We panicked. I texted our teacher asking if we had class. He said we did except Connie was teaching. We both freaked out at the thought of a new teacher so i had to ask if Connie was the new Thursday teacher. Thank goodness she’s not. I have nothing against Connie, it’s just that I am very comfortable with Jon as our teacher and it took us a long time to develop that trust.

We practiced our breathing just as Jon showed us last Tuesday. I think we did okay with our asanas. But it felt strange to be with a different teacher. Connie was there when we needed correction for alignment, and she helped me with my marichyasana D. The class was not bad, just different. It got me thinking. What do we do if Jon stops teaching? Have we grown up enough as yogis, for our practice to survive?