Dig Deep - Dr Blossom & Dr Svoboda at Samadhi Yoga, Seattle

We started the morning chanting the mantra for Ganesha. Om Ganapati namaha. It is a mantra to remove obstacles on your path to illumination. It steadies your senses to bring your awareness back inside. We chanted for some time. Chanting, I find, can be hypnotic. After awhile it feels like the vibrations you make through sound make their way through all parts of your body. You can feel that after effect for some time later. Definitely a tuner for the body akin to tuning a musical instrument.


First question. Do you agree that faith is a good thing? I think my mind stopped there. Big question which remained throughout the asana practise we did with Dr Blossom . The focus of faith in your practise. For me it has been the strength of my arms. Believing that my upper body will support balancing postures. Hmmm. Faith that it will turn out OK in the end. Faith that we don't become incontinent. Faith that an idiotic politician won't blow up the world. Faith that we will always have clean water to drink. Faith that we chose well in our endeavours. What are you searching for anyway :)

Dr Svoboda mentioned the idea of the 4 degrees of human speech.

• Vaikhari - he likened this to the talking heads we see on the news. All chatter with no connection to any part of their body. This area is connected to ether/space. The chatter has no weight. It dissolves into space. The focus is on the past and future. This type of speech dispels energy. People feel tired all the time.


• Madhyama - this is connected to the heart. This is where thoughts/mind come into play. It represents the internal dialogue and knowledge and wisdom (or lack thereof). Although more in depth it is still concentrated in the air element and therefore remains without substance. It's knowledge is based on the first reality, the physical manifestation.


• Pashyanti - the centre of desire, water, and located just beneath the solar plexus is the speech of visualisation. It is the bridge between conscious and unconscious mind. This is where mind logic starts to leave the room. Concentrated energy can have otherworldly results.


• Para - this is super consciousness. This is the speech of the seers or wise. Found through inner wisdom and silence. It is pure intention.

We discussed various methods of tuning in to our earth element, the element of grounding. We discussed the idea of concentrating on kundalini falling before it rises. Keeping your feet on the ground before you reach for the stars. This is the opposite message to the high energy, power, gymnastic style yoga so popular today amongst the lulu lemon chic.

The asana practise to actualise these thoughts concentrated on the muladhara. This is the first chakra, the base which makes us human and experience. Focus on creating weight at the base of your spine when you sit. When you stand think about the feet like roots of a tree. When you do arm balances, your arms now have the mula bandha, the tension and focus of creating grounding. Know your base before you rise in asana and everyday activities. The best grounding of all - your breath. Steady, focused breath. Back to tuning the rhythm of your body.

Our second practise was standing for 30 minutes. We watched the breath begin at the back where the kidneys are located (kidneys in oriental medicine represent fear - the antidote to faith) and moved the breath down the back to the base of our spine and then up the front of the body. With eyes closed it was a practise to honour Ganesha, a turning inside and watching the rhythms of our human movement. Who knew so little could be so intense.

It has been a couple of weeks and I think about the idea of grounding all the time. I'm a fan of the slow food, life whatever movement. After moving around the world for 10 years I have been the worst culprit at speed. The result? Jumbled thoughts, easily bored, shallow breathing, dry skin, loss of satisfaction or feeling comfortable in your skin. These are all the discourse of the air element where speech becomes more of the first type, meaningless blabber. Interestingly the first message that was given to me when I began my year of wandering in India - know your roots. Very true.

Om Ganapati namaha - here's to the King of Elephants!

Putting out the fire - Burdock Root

The cooling kichadi in the Ayurvedic Food section mentioned Burdock Root. Burdock is a potent blood purifier and is great for Summer breakouts, rashes, kidney inflammation, hypertension, colds with fever and toxins in the blood and the lymphatic system. It has also been used traditionally to help relieve scalp conditions such as dandruff and is an hair strengthener when used topically as an oil. The Yoga of Herbs (Dr Frawley & Dr Lad) mentions that it is good for helping high pittogenic emotions like anger, aggression and ambition. It can be used as a tonic (everyday use) without aggravating Vata (dry, cold, light qualities) It's tastes are bitter, pungent and astringent.

I used the herb in cooking which is easy to do. I used the dried herb instead of the fresh. For some reason both the local co-op and general grocery store were out of the fresh variety. As for the taste, the most obvious one is bitter. The fresh herb is known to have a pungent and sweet taste and Pitta can handle the sweet taste so using the herb with rice or other grains tends to lessen the bitter and astringent feeling. The bitter taste on consciousness is to help us to see clearly. From the slight sense of dissatisfaction that it promotes, it pushes us on to see things as they really are.

An interesting anecdote comes from Wiki - "After taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves to his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed dispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things together. The result was Velcro."

Cooling Kitchadis

Kichadis are a simple stew of basmati rice and split mung dal suitable for everyone. Herbs and vegetables can be used for specific treatment and are used in cleansing therapies such as Pancha karma because they are easily assimilated and digestible.


I used the Cooling Kichadis from "The Ayurvedic Cookbook" by Amadea Morningstar. She has a few recipes in there, including ones for lung treatment, spleen-pancreas and a kidney kichadis. These particular recipes take about 1 1/2 hours to make, most of which the stew is simmering.


I made a batch and used the remainder for wraps for lunch. Although the recipes call for the consistency to be soft but not gummy, sometimes I add extra water and make it into a soup for lunch. I feel content afterwards. There doesn't seem to be any side effects like other food can feel, like sluggushness or indigestion or burning heartburn. I feel great eating this at dinner because I rest better with food digested in my system. The liver likes a clean slate when it does it's cleaning up for the day, which is around 11pm-2am.


The reason it is called a cooling kitchadis is because it has ingredients in there that cools the system. It's summer time and the fiery amongst us need a bit of cooling down. Fennel is a great aid for digestion, which doesn't increase the fire like most other digestives do. Coriander is also cooling for the system and also an alterative (purifies blood) diaphoretic (causes sweat to reduce heat in the body) diuretic (reduces water) and carminative (dispels gas). Burdock root also has these properties and is a powerful blood purifier (see herb of the week post)


The final product. It may look a little like a recipe from Oliver Twist but the benefits are worth it. It took me a little time to get used to the bland appearance. We are used to "good" food having such flamboyant presentation. I eat it at least twice a week. Ironically it has become my lazy food even though it takes awhile to prepare. Once you figure out the basics it's all up to you on how varied you make it.


Grubs on!

Shirodhara treatment

Shirodhara is a restorative practise of continuous gentle liquid flowing over the forehead. The name comes from the Sanskrit words Shiro (head) and Dhara (to flow) The liquids used in shirodhara depend on what is being treated, but can include oil, milk, buttermilk, coconut water, or even plain water.

It's great for conditions of nervousness, anxiety, and insomnia and as a general relaxant. It has been known to treat more intense health problems but I went for the relaxation.

Since it is Summer my pitta (fire) is at it's peak, so the practitioner used a pitta reducing medicated oil and the oil was cool. This is great for me since I have a fiery mind and the heaviness of the oil and cooling nature put the fire out.

The oil flows for about an hour. The bowl of oil was positioned mostly over my forehead (or ajna chakra, 6th chakra or 3rd eye if you like) but he allowed the oil to flow down the side of my hair and the back of my head. I felt this incredible release of tension and felt an enjoyable tingling through my head. Then my head started to feel heavier and heavier. Close to the end of the treatment my head felt like it was on concrete. It started to hurt. All the pressure of my stress felt like it was in one spot. I sat in that pain for awhile and decided to not avoid it. It was a trip. The moment the oil stopped pouring, the pressure was relieved. I got dressed and left. I didn't feel relaxed. Actually I didn't feel anything, like nothing happened at all.

Then....as the evening wore on the pleasureable waves came over me again. I felt that sweet heaviness in my mind but not sleepy. That night apparently there were roadworks with jackhammers going on in the street near our house. I slept with the window open and heard nothing.

It is Day 3 and I am still sleeping like a rock. I feel like I am in slow motion during the day but I still get what I need done. I don't feel frenzied at work and mostly I noticed how uptight we all are about the small stuff. From this vantage point (until it wears off I guess) it is easier to see how we get wrapped up in needing things to be a certain way. My breathing is more relaxed and I realised I wanted to smile more. I'm also singing to my new CD in the car, Cessaria Evora. It's in portugese and I don't even know portugese ;)

So for next time I may bring a pillow of sorts. I'm also thinking of making it a practise a week before my period which is prime time for vata (air, dryness, nervousness, emptiness, cold) to creep in. It cost me $95/hour. Seems like a lot but try it once as a treat for yourself. It may not get to the root cause of why you feel stress about things in your life but it sure is great for a reprieve. Sometimes we forget how it feels to be relaxed, to be in our natural state.

Ziveli!