Creating Peace With Food In this plate of food, I see the entire universe supporting my existence. Zen blessing from Thich Nhat Hanh
Learning how to eat Step by step The 40 day practice: and additional Kriyas and meditation to support you on this journey. Got to feel it to heal it: Been willing to move through the pain Getting off sugar and caffeine What to eat & fad diets Trusting your body Meditation before a meal Prayer before a meal Resources Additional Meditations
During this 40 day Sadhana together, there are a few things I want to inspire you with. The most important thing is to realize that, the body is the seat of consciousness. In order to love ourselves, we have to deeply love our body and relate to it that way. No matter what size, what weight or how it looks as we begin to age. And until we fall in love with this divine vessel that we have been gifted for this short life experience, all else is fruitless. The 40 day practice we will engage in, will heal the traumas and patterns from the lower chakras. We are claiming back our domain, our worthiness and power. It is possible to heal this connection which pains so many of us. I am on the journey with you. Know that this is an adventure, there is no where to get to. Just feeling in harmony with yourself and your choices is the key here. Living with mindfulness around food and what your body craves as nourishment will bring joy in all sorts of unexpected places.
How To Eat These practices are simple and will allow more presence when eating food. Which will allow more nourishment and thus the feeling of self love naturally grows. Do your best to: 1. Abstain from eating while driving 2. Or in front of the computer 3. Or not paying attention to what you are eating. Make it like a meditation: It s about bringing sacredness and pleasure back to eating. It can help to set a timer to slow down the process of eating. Minimum 15 mins at the table. Designate a time to eat and do it in a space that is clean and free from clutter. Soft flute music or meditative music helps. Avoid loud talking or music at this time. In an excerpt from Women, Food, and God, Geneen Roth shares seven guidelines to eating more consciously. Eat when you are hungry. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music. Eat what your body wants. Eat until you are satisfied. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others. Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.
The 40 day practice Sahibi Kriya to Master your Domain When you control your domain you act from the center of your being. In the realm of mind it means you can hold and project an important thought. In the realm of body it means you are able to circulate blood from the core to the outlying limbs and glands. This kriya gives you that command in both realms. The deep muscular tension released through these exercises enables the blood to flow freely to all parts of the body, feeding the cells with oxygen and nutrients, and flushing the body of toxins and the byproducts of normal metabolism. 1. Lie on the back with the feet together. Flex the feet toward the head. a. Make a firm circle of the mouth and begin Breath of Fire through the mouth. b. Continuing with Breath of Fire, raise the legs straight up to 90 degrees and lower them to the ground keeping the feet and toes flexed and the knees straight. Move rhythmically with the breath for 5 minutes. Inhale and hold the legs up briefly. Slowly lower the legs to the ground as you exhale. c. Resume the exercise raising alternate legs to 90 degrees. Breathing in the same manner, move rapidly for 2 minutes. This exercise is said to help correct menstrual irregularities. 2. This is a two part exercise done in Cow Pose. a. First extend alternate legs up and back as high as possible. Begin Breath of Fire through the circled mouth raising and lowering the legs rapidly in rhythm with the breath. Continue for 4 minutes. b. Remain on the hands and knees. As you raise the right leg up and back, simultaneously extend the left arm straight out in front of the body. Lower them and raise the opposite arm and leg. Continue alternating the arms and legs, moving rhythmically with Breath of Fire through the circled mouth for 2 minutes. Inhale, exhale, and relax onto the heels. 3. Come into Frog Pose. Squat down on the toes, knees wide apart. Heels are touching, and raised up off the ground. Place the fingertips on the ground between the knees. The face is forward. Inhale as you raise the hips up, keeping the fingertips on the ground, heels up, knees locked. Exhale down, www.shaktischool.com face forward, knees Copyrighted: outside of Sukhdev arms. Continue Jackson moving Do not copy, rhythmically share, or and distribute rapidly without consent 52 times.
4. Sit in Easy Pose with the navel pulled in and chest out. Tuck the chin in to form a straight line from the base of the spine to the top of the head and lock yourself in this posture. Extend your arms up to 60 degrees with the palms facing each other. Keep the arms straight with no bend in the elbows. Inhale and extend the arms up to 90 degrees, then exhale and lower the arms to 60 degrees. Continue for 5 minutes taking one complete breath every 2 seconds. The recording of Jaap Sahib by Ragi Sat Nam Singh is used. Extend the arms straight up to 90 degrees on the first accented beat Namastang or Namo, then back down to 60 on the second beat. Do not move at all during musical phrases. Do this as a perfect drill through verse 28 ( Chaachree Chand). Move in perfect rhythm with the music. To end, inhale, exhale and relax. Physically this exercise stimulates the heart circulatory system and glandular system. It works powerfully on the mental realm as well, training you to concentrate and gain control of your mind and 'sahibi' or control over your domain. 5. Remain in Easy Pose. Breathe long and deep and meditate to the music for 5 minutes. (The song Himalaya by Sat Peter Singh was played in the original class. You can select any uplifting and relaxing 3HO music.) 6. Lie down on the back with the legs crossed at the ankles and hands crossed over the heart. Relax in this position and breathe long and deep for 5 minutes. (The song Promises by Sat Peter Singh was played in the original class. Select any uplifting and relaxing 3HO music.) ¹ Available in cassette at a healing.com. An alternate version by Sat Nirmal Kaur is available at spiritvoyage.com The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan
The Meditation: I inspire you to do this for 40 days. If you have never even done 11 mins of this practice, begin with 3 mins. Then work up to 7 mins, 11 mins, and you may be inspired to do 22 mins and 31 mins. That sure is a game changer. Sat Kriya HOW TODO SAT KRIYA Sit on the heels and stretch the arms over the head so that the elbows hug the ears. Interlock the fingers except the first ones (index) which point straight up. Begin to chant Sat Naam emphatically in a constant rhythm about eight times per 10 seconds. Chant the sound Sat from the Navel Point and Solar Plexus, and pull the umbilicus all the way in and up, toward the spine. On Naam relax the belly. Continue at least 3 minutes, then inhale and squeeze the muscles tightly from the buttocks all the way up the back, past the shoulders. Mentally allow the energy to flow through the top of the skull. Ideally, you should relax for twice the length of time that the kriya was practiced. 4 You may build the time of the kriya to 31 minutes, but remember to have a long, deep relaxation immediately afterwards. A good way to build the time up is to do the kriya for 3 minutes, then rest 2 minutes. Repeat this cycle until you have completed 15 minutes of Sat Kriya and 10 minutes of rest. Finish the required relaxation by resting an additional 15-20 minutes. Do not try to jump to 31 minutes because you feel you are strong, virile or happen to be a yoga teacher. Respect the inherent power of the technique. Let the kriya prepare the ground of your body properly to plant the seed of higher experience. It is not just an exercise, it is a kriya that works on all levels of your being known and unknown. You might block the more subtle experiences of higher energies by pushing the physical body too much. You could have a huge rush of energy. You may have an experience of higher consciousness, but not be able to integrate the experience into your psyche. So prepare yourself with constancy, patience and moderation. The end result is assured. 4 If you have not taken drugs or have cleared your system of all their effects, you may choose to practice this kriya with the palms open, pressing flat against each other. This releases more energy than the other method. It is generally not taught this way in a public class because someone in the class may have weak nerves from drug use. 4 Notice that you emphasize pulling the Navel Point in. Don t try to apply mulbandh. Mulbandh happens automatically if the navel is pulled. Consequently, the hips and lumbar spine do not rotate or flex. Your spine stays straight and the only motion your arms make is a slight up-and-down stretch with each Sat Naam as your chest lifts. COMMENTS: 4 Sat Kriya is fundamental to Kundalini yoga and should be practiced every day for at least 3 minutes. Its effects are numerous. 4 This exercise works directly on stimulating and channelizing the kundalini energy, so it must always be practiced with the mantra Sat Naam. 4 Sat Kriya strengthens the entire sexual system and stimulates its natural flow of energy. This relaxes phobias about sexuality. It allows you to control the insistent sexual impulse by rechannelizing sexual energy to creative and healing activities in the body. 4 People who are severely maladjusted or who have mental problems benefit from this kriya since these disturbances are always connected with an imbalance in the energies of the lower three chakras. 4 General physical health is improved since all the internal organs receive a gentle rhythmic massage from this exercise. 4 The heart gets stronger from the rhythmic up-anddown of blood pressure you generate from the pumping motion of the Navel Point. If you have time for nothing else, make this kriya part of your daily promise to yourself to keep the body a clean and vital temple of God.
Got to feel it to heal it: Been willing to move through the pain Living in a world of instant gratification and insane buziness, when we are healing something deep, such a the primal connection to food. We are been asked to slow down. When I say slow down, I know that it triggers me. I have so much to do! I am a working mother! How can i slow down? But what I have found is that when we declare to our selves, to the Universe, that we are ready to work with this and heal it, there is so much that come to support us. Unexpectedly, but our job is to trust. Deeply. The resources always show up and we are always taken care of. The most important thing on the healing journey is the willingness to go deep into the uncomfortable places of our Being. That means just sitting with what pains us. Whether it s loss, a trauma, an un-forgiveness. We all have our karma and baggage. And we must face it in order to heal. This is what we have come for in this life. Healing. So be open. It can help to name it. To write about it. When you set a intentional space to go and visit that place in yourself, be willing to become your own medicine woman. You can call on a friend at the beginning if this feels like it s too much for you. I sure did and it helped a lot. Just to have someone witness you and hold you as you visit your pain. Visiting your pain will allow you to heal it. There is nothing you can put on top of the pain that can heal it. We must feel it to heal it. This is the most difficult work but it s actually much easier to visit the pain and heal it then it is to resist it. That is what causes us the real pain! Often our unhealed patterns and traumas are at the root of our physical ailments. Our nature is to be well. It is our birthright to be healthy, happy and holy.
Letting go of caffeine and sugar This can be really scary for some of us! Just hearing those words. I Know. I have been there. And still.sometimes. We become so dependent thinking that we might die if we have to give up this thing that we love so much, but that we also have a love/hate relationship with. And with all the promo of bullet proof coffee and all the marketing around stimulants these days, it s easy get swept up in thinking all that is actually good for us. And for some it may work and they have no stuff around it. Well I am speaking to those of us who are really ready for the next level of health and vitality! Whenever I let go of caffeine and sugar, everything shifts. It can be subtle but profound. Here are a just a few of the benefits you may experience. 1. You will slow way down. 2. Become more connected to your intuition 3. Feel more energized and leveled throughout the day. 4. Have more patience. 5. Be more content with things as they are. 6. Be way more present. 7. Allow yourself to feel your emotions fully. 8. Allow yourself to be seen. 9. Allow yourself to be more human. 10.Relate to people in a more authentic way 11.Experience authentic happiness 12.Channel your energy towards things that inspire you.
Step by step plan to let go of caffeine & sugar 1. Do not go cold turkey! If you re body is used to a certain amount of caffeine a day, you need to start gentle and wean slowly. It s a drug for real. And if you have been doing a lot, it can throw your hormones off. 2. IE: if you drink two cups day, go down to one and then one every other day. 3. Note: For some of us who have an all or nothing kind of attitude, you may need to go cold turkey, It s the only way I can do it and I then have to suffer through the headaches etc 4. Here are some great things to switch to temporarily only. Caution, these are still stimulants and are a good way to get off coffee. But remember, the aim here is to get off all stimulants and allow the nervous system to come back to homeostasis. Our intuition to fully come online and our hormones to be balanced again. Our natural state is well being Level 1 to get off coffee - use these only temporarily: 1. Yerba Mate 2. Match Green tea 3. Green tea 4. Cacao Powder Level 2 to get off the above - all in recipe book 1. Dandi blend 2. Ginger Cinnamon Chai 3. Green drinks 4. Chai smoothie 5. Non caffeinated Chai teas 6. Tulsi teas 7. Nettle tea 8. Pau D arco tea Go to Recipe book for full instructions
Getting off sugar This one is just better to let it go completely. This can the root, as with caffeine of many health issues that people are facing today. Thyroid stuff, gut issues, candida overgrowth, hormone issues. Do 40 days, and see what shifts. It s miraculous. 1. Get really clear on why you want to give up sugar. 2. Write the benefits out and keep them close to you. 3. Treat this like a spiritual practice. 4. Find a buddy or sister to do this with. It s so much easier. Hence the FB support group I have set up. 5. Discover new recipes that will allow you to bake sugar free. Here is a fantastic recipe book, I Quit Sugar By Sarah Wilson I still love things sweet! But I use the following to get satisfaction: These are my favorite and best brands as far as I am concerned : 1. Monk fruit sugar by Lakanto 2. Stevia - vanilla flavor by Omica 3. Protein powder - Sun Warrior classic vanilla 4. Mesquite powder and lucuma and great natural sweetner to add to smoothies or hot drinks and sugar free. 5. Probiotic coconut yogurt. Beware! This is too good and not cheap ; ) 6. 2 green drinks a day will really cut sugar cravings. - See recipe book 7. I recommend also letting go of fruit and consider in this 40 days of doing a candida cleanse if you are going to do this all the way. 8. You can experiment with a little bit of blueberries to see how you do after a couple of weeks or so. That would be the only fruit I recommend.
Doreen Virtue s prayer for letting go of sugar. Post this on our fridge, on your desk and anywhere that you will see it!
What to eat & Fad diets There is such a maze out there about nutrition and what is right for this or that. To cure this ailment or that deficiency. I feel the only way to really decipher what works for your body is to experiment. But also understand that all things begin vibrationally first and that is where we need to do the work and focus. And whatever we eat, do it mindfully, allow yourself to be fulfilled by whatever you are eating. That is the true practice in the moment. Trusting your body Trust your bodies ability to heal. It s divinely designed that way! The body has infinitely intelligent cells that are constantly renewing. Highly recommend Bruce Lipton s work on this. A book named The Biology of belief
Prayer before a meal It makes a big difference to take that extra moment to bless our foods. Here are a selection of some beautiful prayers to engage in before a meal. For the meal we are about to eat, for those that made it possible, and for those with whom we are about to share it, we are thankful. From the humanist benediction In this plate of food, I see the entire universe supporting my existence. Zen blessing from Thich Nhat Hanh The food is brahma (creative energy). Its essence is vishnu (preservative energy). The eater is shiva (destructive energy). No sickness due to food can come to one who eats with this knowledge. Sanskrit blessing We receive this food in gratitude to all beings Who have helped to bring it to our table, And vow to respond in turn to those in need With wisdom and compassion. Buddhist Meal Gatha We give thanks for the plants and animals who have given themselves so that we can enjoy this meal together. We also give thanks for our friends and family who have traveled here today. May this meal bring us strength and health. Variation on a Native American thanksgiving
Blessed be the Earth for providing us this food Blessed be the Sun for helping it to grow Blessed be the Wind and Birds for carrying its seed Blessed be the Rain for the water s loving flow. Blessed be the hands that helped prepare this meal, May those hands and our hands, bodies too, be well and quick to heal. Blessed be our friends, our families, and all of our loved ones. Blessed be our mother earth, our father sky and sun. Christian mealtime prayer Dear earth who gives to us this food, Dear sun who makes it ripe and good, Sun above and earth below, Our loving thanks to you we show. Blessings on our meal. Secular mealtime prayer This food is the gift of the whole universe the earth, the sky, and much hard work. May we live in a way that makes us worthy to receive it. May we transform our unskillful states of mind, especially our greed. May we take only foods that nourish and prevent illness. We accept this food so that we may realize the path of our practice. Thich Nhat Hanh s meal chant Om, beloved mother nature, you are here on our table as food. You are endlessly bountiful, benefactress of all. Grant us health and strength, wisdom and dispassion, and help us share this with one and all. Hindu mealtime prayer
Let us be together; let us eat together. Let us be vital together, let us be radiating truth, radiating the light of life. Never shall we denounce anyone, never entertain negativity. The Upanishads Resources I don't want to give you too much, so here are my top four recommendations: Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays - recommended as book to read during your 40 day meditation Women, food and God by Geneen Roth The Biology of belief by Bruce Lipton Recipe Book - I Quit Sugar By Sarah Wilson
Meditation for addiction This is a great tool to add for 11 mins a day. Even 3mins can do the trick! Especially if you are dealing with the caffeine sugar addiction: Sit in an Easy Pose, with a light jalandhar bandh. Straighten the spine and make sure the first six lower vertebrae are locked forward. Eyes: Keep the eyes closed and focus at the Brow Point. Mantra: SAA-TAA-NAA-MAA Mudra: Make fists of both hands and extend the thumbs straight. Place the thumbs on the temples and find the niche where the thumbs just fit. This is the lower anterior portion of the frontal bone above the temporal- sphenoidal suture. Lock the back molars together and keep the lips closed. Keeping the teeth pressed together throughout, alternately squeeze the molars tightly and then release the pressure. A muscle will move in rhythm under the thumbs. Feel it massage the thumbs and apply a firm pressure with the hands.
Silently vibrate the five primal sounds the Panj Shabd SAA- TAA-NAA-MAA, at the brow. Time: Continue for 5-7 minutes. With practice the time can be increased to 20 minutes and ultimately to 31 minutes. To Build Intuition 4 stroke Breath Tune in with the Adi Mantra 3 Times (Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo). Interlace your fingers except the Jupiter Fingers (index fingers) point up. Cross thumbs. Eyes are 1/10 open. Bring fingers just under your nose where you can see the tip of your Jupiter fingers. INHALE -through O mouth 4 Times." EXHALE once through the nostrils. Use your diaphragm on the INHALE.
These exercises are time bound. Open up your chakras and open up your self sensory system. Continue for 16 minutes. To End " INHALE: stretch your arms out palms face up. Hold 20 seconds. EXHALE INHALE: stretch your arms out palms face up. Hold 20 seconds. EXHALE INHALE: open the fingers and make them like steel. Squeeze all your energy and bring it to your arms. Relax.