Food, BE Thy Medicine

Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine” and I think we all hear this and know how important it is to eat well… OR, do we? I think we are all becoming increasingly more aware of the POWER OF FOOD to make us sick but I’m not sure that most of us has really embraced the idea that food has the POWER TO HEAL too.

The “vital energy that animates the body”, according to the Eastern philosophy is called Prana or Chi. We see this force in action when we are cut or wounded. Immediately, Life-Force rushes in to begin the healing process, to bring our bodies back into balance because THAT is our natural state of BEIng. And, there are only a few ways we can take in this Life-Force: We can 1) Eat It 2) Drink It or 3) Breathe it. Meditation and breath work, like the practice of Pranayama in yoga, are the most well-known methods used to increase vitality but consuming foods that still contain the Life-Force, like fruits and vegetables and is also crucial.

I recently started juicing and I LOOOOVE it 🙂 A large portion of our nutrients we absorb are taken in through the membranes in the mouth aka through our teeth and gums (that’s why yogis always advise us to chew foods thoroughly). When we drink things like these nutrition-packed juices, a huge amount of this liquid loveliness is absorbed directly into our bloodstream and the results are oftentimes miraculous. Many of you have asked me for recipes, information etc so I’ve included a link to Joe Cross below (Joe’s movie “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead was a gift with purchase when I bought my juicer and I just love him, his mission and his message!)

Link to Joe Cross: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja

Joes 10-Day ReBoot: http://us.aolsearch.com/search?q=10+day+juice+fast+recipes&s_chn=16&s_pt=aolsem&v_t=aolsem&s_cs=8353038533910512826&s_it=mid_relsearch

5 Minute Master

What would you say if I told you that you could have the body you’ve always wanted but you have to do what I tell you to do for 5 minutes a day? Would you be excited to try it? This was the question I posed to my husband when trying to figure out what most people are willing to do to create the change we say we want. “Nope!”, was the immediate answer. So, I sweetened the pot a little and asked “What if I told you that you could have the body you want and a million dollars?” He started to laugh and said, “5 minutes a day? EVERY day? Probably not.” WHY?!”, I asked in protest. He said “Because I don’t believe I can be a millionaire in 5 minutes a day” “Fine!”, I said, determined to get a yes out of him so I said “What if I said I can help you get the body that you want, the bank account you want and make you a better lover..” to WHICH he responded, “I’M IN!” before I could get the “5 minutes” part out of my mouth! 😛

I came up with the idea of The 5-Minute Master many years ago when I realized how much meditation had changed my life. At first, I couldn’t even hold my thoughts for 5 seconds without my mind wandering away. (The disobedient Dog for those of you who know me!) By the time I progressed to being able to concentrate for 5 minutes, I was a totally different person. I wasn’t anxious every day. worried about this and that. I could direct my mind to find answers instead of ruminating on the problem. In just 5 minutes at a time, I was BEcoming a master!

It hit me that just setting the goal, not even succeeding at it, put me “ahead” of the pack because the majority of us…don’t. Just trying made my chances of success exponentially greater! Success has been defined as “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal” (thanks for the inspiration Silly Sally <3) EVERY time to set a goal and REALIZE it, the easier it gets to master larger and larger goals. I realized that most people don’t ever “get there” because most don’t ever truly try. For me, 5 minutes a day, EVERY day, was challenging so I decided to challenge you to try it! If you set out to win every battle, the promise is there that you will win the war.

The Power of Meditation

Meditation has always been a core structure in my learning. It was one of the first things I was directed, by Spirit, to learn. It revealed to me the many layers of my mind and how they exchanged information with one another. It taught me to calm my mind so I could understand my world and my emotional reaction to it. It elevated my consciousness enabling me to understand huge bodies of information easily. It has been a daily practice of mine for 20+ years and a part of every gathering, group and class I’ve facilitated since the day I began teaching. It is the one tool that everybody loves, anyone can practice and everyone can learn. Meditation has the power to change your life and your health forever.

5-Minute Master

One of the first books I read on strengthening the power of the mind suggested an exercise to increase concentration that included focusing on the flame of a candle for one minute. As a starting point they suggested to have someone time you for one minute while you counted how many times your mind wandered in that minute and then you could seek to improve from there. Seemed reasonable enough. So I had my husband watch the clock and I started counting. When I couldn’t stand it any longer I finally said “Stop! I can’t stand it! It HAS to have been a minute by now!!” And he looked at me in amazement and said “It’s been 38 seconds.”

So I practiced every day. Like getting on a mental treadmill, I practiced and within a month I could hold my focus for not only one minute but I was going for two! I started to realize that I could think what I wanted to think when I wanted to think it. WOW! Revelation! And with my new-found power, my life started to change. I realized that big changes could happen with as little as one minute a day. I wondered what I could do with five!

Change can be easy and it doesn’t take alot of time. Practice anything, meditation, exercise, learning, ANYTHING for 5 minutes a day and your life will improve! It’s NOT about time, its about CHOICE!!

Meditation and Integrative Medicine

Most people think of meditation in the ancient Buddhist or Hindu form. These systems were developed to train the adept to take control of the mind, body and environment and the techniques tend to focus on emptiness, nothingness and the annihilation of the ego. I think that’s why people think meditation is difficult and they’re right! That is difficult but people don’t know that this is the end result for which the yogi/sufi/guru sought and there is a whole lot of process that goes along with that.

Western science really became interested on the ways of the yogi when they saw results like the ability to lower body temperature, heart rate and respiration. Besides this, practitioners experienced an increased feeling of joy & sense of peace. And even though the experience of deep emotion was still present, practitioners were able to maintain perspective. Western medicine is creating their own version of soma and they are calling it Mind-Body Medicine. It includes bio-feedback, meditation, cognitive therapy and spirituality.

Major medical institutions, including Mayo Clinic are, and have been for years training their staff in the practices of Integrative Medicine. Energy healers are now being hired as sub-contractors by hospitals. Dr Oz even has a Reiki master work on his patients before he operates on them. The concepts of Energy and the mind-body connection are being taught, promoted and implemented by the majority of hospitals, clinics and wellness facilities and it’s all pointing to the power of the mind to control the body. Can you imagine if instead of getting pills in a bottle that the prescription pad will read “Meditate, take a moment, step back and chill out every 4 to 6 hours”? In a way, that’s where we’re headed and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!