Yoga Head To Toe

Why we decided to go from a meat based diet to a raw food diet right after a Costco run is beyond me. I had just spent $200 on fish and poultry – enough to stock the freezer until we made it back to Costco in a few months. Regardless, the decision was made so I decided to take the slow transition approach. I would use up the meat we had slowly and prepare smaller portions until it was gone. The actual decision wasn’t as flippant as it sounds. Over the last 4 years or so I have been studying health and nutrition through reading quite a few books. As I gathered information our diet slowly transitioned to one based on high quality fish and meat, fresh fruits and mostly raw vegetables. Almost two years ago we stopped eating most pastas and breads and even gave up my most beloved Haagen-Dazs and Ben and Jerry’s Ice creams (I used to love a mix of Haagen-Dazs vanilla chocolate chip with Ben and Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Crunch). We have experienced the effects of good eating habits – more energy, weight loss, even temperament, clearer skin, able to focus more and so on. We also gave ourselves leeway when going out to eat, attending parties or family BBQs. So with everything going so well why eliminate meat (Oh.. and did I mention dairy also) from our diet?

Simple answer – to take the next step towards amazing health. One of the primary reasons we have been consuming meat and dairy was because of the protein they provided. However from high quality vegetables, grasses, sprouts and nuts you can get all the protein the body needs. These protein sources are much more compatible with the body with none of the side effects that come from meat/dairy consumption. There is an amazing amount of resources and products out there for people living on a vegan or raw food diet once you start looking around. Recently we changed from dairy cheeses to organic vegan cheeses made with rice or nuts – the stuff is really good. We also added wheatgrass juice, made from powdered wheatgrass, to our diet which we drink every morning – a truly excellent food source with amazing benefits. There are easy, great tasting vegan/raw food recipes for almost any kind of food even pizza! Make the transition. Take time to ease into it and I am 100% sure you will be glad you did.

Sometimes we need to change our attitudes about things. Our attitudes are our road blocks in life. They are similar to belief systems; both can limit your ability to experience truth. If you want to be healthy you must eat healthy, live healthy, breath healthy, think healthy and know yourself as healthy. “Knowing” is far more powerful than thinking. To know is simply to see the truth for what it is. Robert Morse. ND – The Detox Miracle Sourcebook: Raw Foods and Herbs for Complete Cellular Regeneration

On Saturday morning I decided to break from my usual yoga studio and routine and take a 2 hour restorative yoga class at a retreat near my home. WOW….It was amazing and it was just what I needed.       I mainly take Iyengar yoga classes and restorative classes are in intricate part of the schedule. About every 4th week is dedicated to restoring the body after the earlier weeks of hard asana work. During these restorative classes we continue to do postures but usually the selection is gentler on our bodies and more focused on stretching, shifting and breathing. In the restorative class on Saturday asana practice took a back seat. I believe maybe 4 postures total we integrated into the session. What we did do is learn through several techniques to let our bodies totally relax. We were given guidance on one way to breathe and then did pranayama for a long stretch of time – a first for me. We worked on clearing and calming the mind and how to return to that state if our thoughts wander. We worked on focusing our minds on a mantra. This was the first time I felt like I was truly immersing myself into some of the other limbs of yoga like pranayama (mindful breathing), pratyahara (turning inward), dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation). Now I would like to take what I learned and integrate it into my asana practice and in turn into life in general. As Rolf Gates explains in “Day 3” in his book Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, yoga is not a linear movement through the 8 limbs. It is “doing everything all the time”. Practicing and cultivating all that is yoga all the time.