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taking a little break

Monday of this week, I started my first dedicated 40 day sadhana. 2 days down, 38 to go and so far so good! I'm actually looking forward to this because I can already feel a difference in the practice just by sheer intention. It's amazing how powerful intention is - it changes everything.

This morning I began a fast; more specifically, the Master Cleanser. I've been doing these periodic fasts for almost 10 years now and I know just how much my body loves them from time to time. I can remember, 9 years ago, when I would have to go to several stores to find even one that sold the Grade B maple syrup I need to make the special lemonade...now it's readily available at Whole Foods but it's seldom on the shelves. This detox has become such a phenomenon they can't keep it in stock! Yesterday I got there literally as 2 others were about to grab the last few bottles altogether and only by my sheer moxie did I reach in front of them and claim one for myself.

I usually see more of this happening in the spring, when it's instinctive and natural to cleanse before the summer. But apparently the Master Cleanser is a year round favorite. I personally don't have specific timetables for doing this, I just find myself called to it from time to time.

I've done the MC for up to 21 days, which was the length of time I managed to stay on it last year. Ideally I'd love to do a 40 day at some point, but I'll know when it feels right. For now I'm just planning to go for the recommended 10 days and I'll see how I'm feeling about it at that point.

I'm pretty excited about the combination of daily yoga and the MC happening simultaneously. Something tells me it will be, or is, a fabulously symbiotic partnership.

Monday night my yoga set was tough; I felt fatigued and weak but I hung in there and still managed to enjoy myself, which is my intention for every set. But last night was definitely MUCH better. I credit skipping Coffee Bean for the change, and the awesome power of Kundalini yoga on my body. I'm always stunned at how quickly Kundalini practice increases my stamina and strength. I've never seen anything else have this kind of effect. To see such a noticable improvement day by day is just so inspiring because once you get past the physical challenge of things like stretch pose, you can work at a deeper level and really start to go places and have fun!

I also noticed that since I'm doing my yoga set before bed, and I was eating after work, there wasn't really enough time in between when I had anything other than fruit or salad. My stomach would still have food to digest when I was doing inverted poses like shoulderstand and that just doesn't feel good or help my body. So I know that taking this little break from digestion will give the yoga a clear field to work its magick and my body can work its miracles.

This detox comes under a lot of criticism from folks who don't enjoy it or think it's too extreme. I can certainly understand that but not everyone is meant to follow the same path. I personally don't do the salt water flush and substitute gentle Triphala as a means to get the bowels moving because I can't face the flush and even the "gentle" teas out there make my stomach hurt. It works for me. Others like the salt water flush. Some like the teas. It's really all beautiful when it works for you.

So I'm looking at this as a lovely vacation from the burden of digestion...a spa experience for my body, mind and spirit as I combine a form of yoga I adore with a cleansing technique that's always worked wonders.

Note** Despite what Stanley Burroughs says in the original MC booklet, I do NOT view this as a weight loss technique. I've seen more than a few disappointed souls who went into this purely to reduce the size of their derriers and were severly let down in the end. Their bodies were certainly healthier and cleaner, but whatever weight they lost returned (all or most of it anyway) within days of resuming solid foods. Every body is unique so each body will respond uniquely to this method, but remember this is first and foremost a cleanse, not a "diet". ;)