Yesterday was quite a roller coaster! If you missed that post, I'm doing a 4-day Aryuvedic cleanse. Check out that post if you'd like the details.
After a slow and sluggish start, midday was wonderful. The sun was shining and I went outside with a book to soak up the rays. Sitting outside gave me energy and I decided to hand-water the garden, meaning, I watered using the watering can. It's a decent workout and, I thought, definitely qualified as a replacement for the Yoga practice I was just too tired to do earlier. As I watered my tiny vegetable patch I saw that I had quite a bumper crop of grape tomatoes and was rather sad that they were ripe on a day I couldn't eat them - usually, there's so few each day that there's only enough for me to scarf down as I water.
"What the heck?" I thought. "One tomato can't ruin the whole cleanse." So I ate one. It was magnificent! The best tomato I ever ate in my life. I knew better than to eat another - you can't top or even repeat perfection. And I knew, since it tasted so much better than all the other grape tomatoes I've eaten off that plant this summer, that my appreciating its taste was enhanced by my mono-diet of kicharee. However, I'll long remember that burst of flavor - and also the lesson that it's better to limit a treat and pay attention when having it and really enjoy it than to overeat or mindlessly eat and miss the experience.
Ironically, later in the day, we had a long downpour, so aside from the benefits to me, my watering was wasted effort. And along with the rain, dark clouds engulfed me as well. I didn't eat enough during the day and found myself hungry by evening. I was out of kicharee and too tired to cook a new batch. Reading over the directions for the cleanse I saw that I'm allowed four meals a day - I'd thought it was only three. Frankly, I'm not sure I can stomach the idea of kicharee four times a day so I'll probably try eating more at each meal today instead and see how that goes.
I had more energy yesterday. Ironically though, I got less done. This was probably due to my time outside and this is fine. The best way to do a cleanse is to focus on yourself. I also think that being outside, in the sun and nature, is always healing and definitely relaxing so it was a doubly good thing to do.
I am now cooking another batch of kicharee. I've doubled the herbs this time and hope that makes it more palatable. I also hope that this will be the last batch I'll need to cook. I'm looking forward to some "real" food on Sunday.
Tomorrow, we're off to see Harry run at Bard College. That will be a challenge! I would have liked to go into Rhinebeck for a lovely lunch after his race, but because of the cleanse, we'll be heading back home. Today, I'm baking a batch of "Brownies for the Brave" (http://madlyhealthy.blogspot.com/2010/08/brownies-for-brave.html) for him - I'm sure they'll be quite tempting, even without sugar!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
And Now For Something Different
I am on Day 2 of a four day cleanse. It's my first cleanse. The purpose of cleanses is pretty much what it sounds like - to clean your body.
The cleanse I'm doing is designed to be a lymphatic system cleanse, which will, theoretically, remove the toxins from my body. This is be a good thing as no matter how carefully we eat and how carefully we dress, clean our homes, etc. we live in a world where toxins are unavoidable. Even if I chose to go "off the grid" and live in the wilderness, our polluted air and water circulates everywhere. That this happens is the best reason I know to be environmentally conscious: what we do affects everyone and everything.
Although this can be discouraging to think about, I strive to be pragmatic. It is what it is and given this is the world we're living in, I like to focus on what I can do to stay healthy and reduce the negative footprint I invariably leave on the world.
But, back to the cleanse. The cleanse I'm doing is Aryuvedic - it's based on ancient Indian practices. I'm following guidelines established by Dr. John Douilliard, and Aryuvedic practitioner who is so good at what he does, he even explains the very complicated Aryuvedic principles simply and logically.
This cleanse involves starting my day with a drink of melted ghee (clarified butter) - fortunately, not a cupful, but an increasing amount of teaspoons each day. All I'm eating is kicharee - an Indian dish made with white basmati rice, split moong beans, and a variety of herbs. I sip hot water all day long. To round out the cleanse, I'm to do Pranayama each day (controlled breath exercises), meditation, light exercise. I'm also supposed to have an Epsom salt bath each evening, followed by a self-massage. To cap off the cleanse, at the end of Day 4, I will drink a cup and a half of prune juice. Or I can drink some castor oil. I'm planning on the prune juice as I'm thinking that after four days of kicharee and ghee, the prune juice will taste like the best thing I've ever eaten. I think the castor oil would just feel like punishment.
I'm also taking a variety of Indian herbs. If you'd like more details on either Dr. Douilliard, Aryuveda, or the cleanse, you can find it all here: www.lifespa.com (to get to the information on the cleanse, type "home cleanse" in the search box at the site).
So far, all I can report is that I feel cranky. Very, very cranky and I hereby apologize to my family (and anyone foolish enough to call me by phone this week) for subjecting myself to them. Perhaps this will change - after all, what I didn't mention and goes without saying is that coffee is not a part of the cleanse. I generally have a 12 ounce cup each morning. I now realize that without coffee my interest in doing anything whatsoever is nil. This morning, Pranayama, which requires me to sit for eight minutes breathing in and out of my left nostril seemed like just too much work. Ditto for Yoga. Ditto for the bath, self-massage, and meditation last night. So much work! So much effort! Just the thought of doing any of those activities made me cranky, so I did the best thing possible for myself and my family - I went to sleep at 8:30. I slept great for a solid ten hours and could have slept longer if not for the pesky alarm clock.
So there you have it. I'll try reporting again tomorrow, assuming I'm not in too foul a mood, and too logy to do so!
The cleanse I'm doing is designed to be a lymphatic system cleanse, which will, theoretically, remove the toxins from my body. This is be a good thing as no matter how carefully we eat and how carefully we dress, clean our homes, etc. we live in a world where toxins are unavoidable. Even if I chose to go "off the grid" and live in the wilderness, our polluted air and water circulates everywhere. That this happens is the best reason I know to be environmentally conscious: what we do affects everyone and everything.
Although this can be discouraging to think about, I strive to be pragmatic. It is what it is and given this is the world we're living in, I like to focus on what I can do to stay healthy and reduce the negative footprint I invariably leave on the world.
But, back to the cleanse. The cleanse I'm doing is Aryuvedic - it's based on ancient Indian practices. I'm following guidelines established by Dr. John Douilliard, and Aryuvedic practitioner who is so good at what he does, he even explains the very complicated Aryuvedic principles simply and logically.
This cleanse involves starting my day with a drink of melted ghee (clarified butter) - fortunately, not a cupful, but an increasing amount of teaspoons each day. All I'm eating is kicharee - an Indian dish made with white basmati rice, split moong beans, and a variety of herbs. I sip hot water all day long. To round out the cleanse, I'm to do Pranayama each day (controlled breath exercises), meditation, light exercise. I'm also supposed to have an Epsom salt bath each evening, followed by a self-massage. To cap off the cleanse, at the end of Day 4, I will drink a cup and a half of prune juice. Or I can drink some castor oil. I'm planning on the prune juice as I'm thinking that after four days of kicharee and ghee, the prune juice will taste like the best thing I've ever eaten. I think the castor oil would just feel like punishment.
I'm also taking a variety of Indian herbs. If you'd like more details on either Dr. Douilliard, Aryuveda, or the cleanse, you can find it all here: www.lifespa.com (to get to the information on the cleanse, type "home cleanse" in the search box at the site).
So far, all I can report is that I feel cranky. Very, very cranky and I hereby apologize to my family (and anyone foolish enough to call me by phone this week) for subjecting myself to them. Perhaps this will change - after all, what I didn't mention and goes without saying is that coffee is not a part of the cleanse. I generally have a 12 ounce cup each morning. I now realize that without coffee my interest in doing anything whatsoever is nil. This morning, Pranayama, which requires me to sit for eight minutes breathing in and out of my left nostril seemed like just too much work. Ditto for Yoga. Ditto for the bath, self-massage, and meditation last night. So much work! So much effort! Just the thought of doing any of those activities made me cranky, so I did the best thing possible for myself and my family - I went to sleep at 8:30. I slept great for a solid ten hours and could have slept longer if not for the pesky alarm clock.
So there you have it. I'll try reporting again tomorrow, assuming I'm not in too foul a mood, and too logy to do so!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Just in Time for the First Day of School: My Summer Vacation
I'm back from the most impromptu vacation of my life! I realized a week ago Friday that I was exhausted. It's not surprising - it's been quite a year. Just after I finished the course I've been taking at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition over the past year, I felt like a balloon that all the air was let out of. With school, starting my own business, packing my son off to college, the death of my father, and all the usuals in my life, it was a year that Zorba the Greek would have referred to as "the full catastrophe" - not that he'd have meant it as a disaster - just that it is life on it's own terms - with highs and lows, a full life.
But everything has its opposite. And a full life needs quiet time, too. Since I had neither the opportunity nor the desire to actually go anywhere, I vacationed another way. I stopped checking email (ironically, I tried setting up an out-of-office message and succeeded only in swamping my own in-box!). I stopped surfing the web (also ironically, after posting on facebook that I was taking a break from using the computer, I had a couple of replies before I even had the chance to log off!). I stopped reading the newspaper.
So much of my work is done on computer and usually it's fine - even wonderful. My school has a very active message board where students share information, work together, form friendships even. The computer has allowed me to get back in touch with friends from my past and my life is richer having them back in it. And, having a son just off to college, how would I know he's okay without checking to see that he's posted something...anything...on facebook?
However, sitting in front of an electronic screen too much is not the stuff a healthy life is made of. And it's exhausting. Here's an interesting article about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1
As for the newspaper, all that bad news is exhausting, too. My reading the news daily isn't going to make it better. My taking a week or two off from from it isn't going to make any of it worse.
So, that's what I didn't do. But what did I do on vacation? I renewed my meditation practice had fallen by the wayside this year (another irony - that as I worked to center my work life around teaching people healthy living I dropped one of the healthiest practices I had). To jump-start my practice, I joined the Chopra Center 21 Day Meditation Challenge. If you'd like to try meditation (or renew your practice), I highly recommend this. It's free and it takes just twelve minutes a day. Each day you'll get a different lesson or approach to meditation. By the end of the challenge, you'll have a habit of meditation established and that's the only thing about meditation that's crucial - to do it consistently. To start, go here: http://www.chopra.com/meditationchallenge
I also renewed my Yoga practice (yes, more irony that in my pursuit of learning to be a health coach, I'd also dropped this). Each day I did a short Yoga routine using any one of a number of Yoga dvds I own. My favorites are by Rodney Yee. Find information about him and his products here: http://www.yeeyoga.com/
My dog's benefitted from my vacation, too, as he's gotten more and longer walks. However, I'm not giving you the link to his website.
Now that I've had my vacation, I'm more relaxed and happier and that's always a healthier way to be.
How do you renew your energy when you're running on empty?
But everything has its opposite. And a full life needs quiet time, too. Since I had neither the opportunity nor the desire to actually go anywhere, I vacationed another way. I stopped checking email (ironically, I tried setting up an out-of-office message and succeeded only in swamping my own in-box!). I stopped surfing the web (also ironically, after posting on facebook that I was taking a break from using the computer, I had a couple of replies before I even had the chance to log off!). I stopped reading the newspaper.
So much of my work is done on computer and usually it's fine - even wonderful. My school has a very active message board where students share information, work together, form friendships even. The computer has allowed me to get back in touch with friends from my past and my life is richer having them back in it. And, having a son just off to college, how would I know he's okay without checking to see that he's posted something...anything...on facebook?
However, sitting in front of an electronic screen too much is not the stuff a healthy life is made of. And it's exhausting. Here's an interesting article about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1
As for the newspaper, all that bad news is exhausting, too. My reading the news daily isn't going to make it better. My taking a week or two off from from it isn't going to make any of it worse.
So, that's what I didn't do. But what did I do on vacation? I renewed my meditation practice had fallen by the wayside this year (another irony - that as I worked to center my work life around teaching people healthy living I dropped one of the healthiest practices I had). To jump-start my practice, I joined the Chopra Center 21 Day Meditation Challenge. If you'd like to try meditation (or renew your practice), I highly recommend this. It's free and it takes just twelve minutes a day. Each day you'll get a different lesson or approach to meditation. By the end of the challenge, you'll have a habit of meditation established and that's the only thing about meditation that's crucial - to do it consistently. To start, go here: http://www.chopra.com/meditationchallenge
I also renewed my Yoga practice (yes, more irony that in my pursuit of learning to be a health coach, I'd also dropped this). Each day I did a short Yoga routine using any one of a number of Yoga dvds I own. My favorites are by Rodney Yee. Find information about him and his products here: http://www.yeeyoga.com/
My dog's benefitted from my vacation, too, as he's gotten more and longer walks. However, I'm not giving you the link to his website.
Now that I've had my vacation, I'm more relaxed and happier and that's always a healthier way to be.
How do you renew your energy when you're running on empty?
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