CAN THE MODERN WORLD BE TRANSFORMED THROUGH ANCIENT WISDOM?

In Light of the Devastation and Destruction that has ushered in this week’s Solstice, it can be helpful to Remember that Spring Solstice marks a time of Re-Birth, as the cycles of Death and Birth are inherently Connected.

As we all are deeply saddened by the world’s situation and send our prayers to Japan (and Libya and beyond), may we also find space to contemplate the ways in which we can create a new, more positive future.

It seems that part of this process has many of us looking to the past, to a time when we were more connected to Nature and to one-another.  Yoga and Ayurveda represent the Vedic body of wisdom that gracefully support this process from an Eastern perspective.

In the West, my life has also been deeply touched by the wisdom of the native people and the shamanic world-view.  I have found incredible parallels between the Vedic path and the Shamanic path, in that both harness the transformative wisdom of the natural world.

I am honored to be a part of welcoming two educators of the Andean tradition, Mallku and Alanna, to Portland, OR this upcoming weekend.  I met Mallku three years ago in his hometown of Cusco, Peru and was touched by his gentle strength and the power of his being.  I hope you will join us for an enlivening and educational weekend of understanding and hope for our future.

With Gratitude,

Gianna

About Mallku & Alanna

MALLKU, sensitive Artist and a Promoter of Andean Culture- collaborated during the 1980′s as a co-editor of books on Natural Medicine. In 1997 he presented his book The Awakening of the Puma (Inka Initiation Path), in which he revealed his expertise in understanding the Esoteric Knowledge within Andean Archaeo-astronomy. In 1999 he paid tribute to the Sacred City of Machu Picchu in his book Machu Picchu Forever, City of Pilgrims. His extensive research has earned him well-deserved recognition and acknowledgements, including the publishing of his books in Poland and Hungary. MALLKU is an international lecturer and teaches about the Ancient Culture of the Andes, promoting a Shamanic experience as one of the Paths of Liberation for the present generation.  Mallku is a very active person in his region and is actually the new president of the Association of Andean Writers based in Cusco.

ALANNA AISHA is an expert in body techniques; through the dance and meditation she teaches women and men to release mental and body blocks and use our body, mind and spirit to achieves our goals. She is the director of “Pachamama Journeys” and lives at the Andes, in Cusco, near the great Inka city of Machu Picchu and use the magical scenery of this land to teach about the Andean shamanic path and to enjoy beauty and freedom through the dance.  Alanna is the author of the book The Pilgrim, a Timeless Journey to the Crystal City of Machu Picchu.

More info and details of workshop can be found at:

www.privateyogatherapy.com/upcoming-events/

KITCHARI
(pronounced kit-char-ee)

1 cup     Basmati Rice
2 cups     Mung Dal (split yellow)
7 cups (approx.)     Hot Water
a bit of     Salt
2 Tbs.     Ghee
3 tsp.     Mustard Seeds
2 tsp.
Cumin Seeds or Powder
2 tsp.     Fennel Powder or Seeds
2 tsp.     Turmeric Powder
2 tsp.     Coriander Powder
1 pinch     Asafoetida (Hing)

Carefully pick over rice and dal to remove any stones, rinsing both in water. If you don’t have split yellow mung dal, whole green mung been soaked overnight will also work.  Begin to heat your water.

Sauté the seeds in the ghee until they pop. Then add the other spices. Add the mung dal and salt. Sauté for 1 or 2 minutes. Add boiling water, bring to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the dal is about 2/3 cooked.

Now prepare any vegetables that suit your constitution (see below). Cut them into smallish pieces. Add rice and these vegetables. Stir to mix, adding extra water if required.

Bring back to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. Aim to have minimal water remaining, leaving the lid on the pot to allow any excess to slowly be absorbed.

4-6 Servings

Kitchari means mixture, usually of two grains. This is one kitchari recipe that is particularly nourishing and easy to digest.

Options for vegetables:
Vegetables such as zucchini,
asparagus, sweet potato
For Vata or Kapha conditions:
add a pinch of ginger powder
For Pitta: leave out the mustard seeds
Caution: Kitchari mono-diet can lead to constipation if taken exclusively for several days, as it is low in fiber. To ensure proper elimination, the following may prove helpful if taken once a day, away from kitchari meals: psyllium husks or seeds with water OR oat bran OR prune juice.

Recipe derived from the Ayurvedic Institute of Dr. Vasant Lad.

http://www.ayurveda.com

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Want to learn more about kitchari and cleansing?
Listen in to BEYOND 50 RADIO INTERVIEW  on Ayurveda Spring Cleansing with Gianna & Richard Haynes recorded Feb 2011

Click here to listen to archived call (episode 217)

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In an older time, before technology so closely influenced our daily life, our ancestors lived closely in tune with nature’s rhythms.  They followed the rising and setting of the sun, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the transitions from one season to the next.   This connection to the universe was their medicine; they honored the innate wisdom of nature to heal their bodies and minds and to nourish their spirits.

As the new season dawns, we acknowledge the Ayurvedic perspective of Spring as a time of cleansing, rebirth and growth.  As the sun gradually returns, it offers renewed energy, and seeks to clear the accumulation of cold and damp qualities gathered throughout winter.  It is during this transition that the kapha-dosha (cold, damp, moist, heavy) is provoked, stirring up toxins that are ready to be released from our bodies, in favor of a fresh start.

While Spring is an optimal time, yearly cleansing at the transition of the seasons is helpful to alleviate digestive issues, allergies, and sluggishness, while improving immunity, digestion, and sleep, promoting a cleaner body and clearer mind.  Ayurvedic cleansing differs from the rigidity of many detoxification programs in that it promotes a gentle, loving approach that encourages our bodies to release and eliminate that which no longer serve us.

The complete Ayurvedic cleansing program, Panchakarma, consists of a combination of elimination and rejuvenation therapies including special diet or herbs, massage, sweating, purgation and internal and external applications of oil tailored to the unique constitution of the individual.  Full Panchakarma ought to be done under the supervision of a skilled practitioner, although an abbreviated, yet effective version of cleansing and internal oleation may be done at home with a prior consultation and practitioner guidance.  To learn more, enjoy this recently broadcasted radio interview on the subject of Ayurvedic detox: LISTEN

If you are interested in doing an Ayurvedic cleanse this Spring, please contact Gianna to talk about what’s right for you.

Ayurvedic Medicine:  Fasting & Cleansing

FEBRUARY’S HEART-HEALTHY RECIPE

Kapha-Balancing (without too much ghee)

Tired of the same healthy breakfast?  Try a new grain to wake up to the morning.

Introducing….Buckwheat!

1 part Buckwheat groats

3 parts water

A bit of ghee or butter

fresh berries or honey or stevia

cinnamon to taste

Boil the water, then add your buckwheat.  Let boil until water is absorbed.  Stir in ghee, sweetener and cinnamon to taste.  Enjoy!

Buckwheat is a deliciously nutty and overlooked grain available in your health food store’s bulk food section.

It is great for Kapha types or for those who suffer from excess mucus or congestion this time of year, it is an ideal alternative to heavy, sticky grains like oatmeal.

Heart-Opening is an important, albeit often over-used concept, to take into account in this day in age when we are so often encouraged to think, rationalize and understand conceptually.

In honor of February and its many correlations to our beloved organ, the heart, enjoy these Yoga and Ayurveda anecdotes ponder this month!

Heart-Opening Yoga Poses: Are you hunched over your computer screen right now? Yoga poses can help to both physically and emotionally open the heart-space. Gentle back-bending poses such as cobra and upward dog or simply raising the arms, then taking the shoulders and elbows back behind you, can encourage more breath into heart and release tension or stored emotions in this space.

Open-Heart Surgery: Ayurvedically speaking, did you know that heart disease can be described by Vata, Pitta or Kapha symptoms? Heart conditions that are more nervous in nature tend to be Vata, and include symptoms like heart palpitations, numbness in chest area, dry cough, discoloration around the eyes, and fear and anxiety. Pitta-symptomatic heart disease includes burning in the chest, hypertension, heat throughout the body and is associated with angry outbursts and denial of one’s true heart. Kapha-type heart disease is more congestive in nature, due to overeating, excess mucus or fat, heaviness in the heart-space and an unwillingness to let things go.

Emotions of the Heart: Ayurveda’s holistic approach to health honors both the requirement to nourish the heart physically and emotionally. Stored emotions create blockages in the body. Deepening into the heart-space means cultivating awareness of any pain, heaviness, constriction, lightness or expansiveness we might feel around our physical heart when we interact with different situations or people. Think of someone you love deeply or something beautiful that brings you immense joy, and feel how this simple thought expands and lifts the heart.

Living from the Heart: What does is really mean to live from the Heart, and not from the MIND? Take a moment to imagine if your day’s work involved only FEELING, and no THINKING.  What would it change?

In order to stop self-styled yoga gurus from claiming copyright to ancient ‘asanas’, India has completed documenting 1,300 ‘asanas’ which will soon be uploaded on the country’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, making them public knowledge.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-pulls-the-plug-on-yoga-as-business/articleshow/7432959.cms

The Final Cure for Disease

Apart from that inner Self or higher nature all things are a deviation, disturbance, or disease.  Until we learn to rest in our true nature we are prone to all the processes of decay and degeneration inherent in the external world.  Hence the only final cure for disease is Self-knowledge.

– Dr. David Frawley, American Institute of Vedic Studies

Ever notice how when we do something that brings us joy, that is fun or creative, we just feel good – healthy, youthful and free?  This is our true nature.  On the contrary, stress, frustration and worry cause imbalance in our mind and health while promoting the process of dis-ease and aging.

Ayurvedic wisdom honors Self-knowledge as the final cure for all disease.  Notice this is “self” with a capital “S”, the Self that embodies not who we think we are, what we call ourselves, or we do for a living, but instead the highest aspect of our Self, our essence, our purpose for being.

As you read this, you might wonder whether you’re fully certain of how to describe or even understand what your ‘Self’ actually is.  In fact, it may not be something that can be articulated through words.  Perhaps life offers us the journey of simply discovering what it feels like to be who we are when we’re not person ‘x’ that does ‘x’ for a living and has ‘x’ things in our life.

Who we really are, our highest aspect of Being, our highest Self, is actually something far more unique, an essence that can maybe only be expressed in action, through art or music, in a smile or in our laughter.  Tapping back into that feeling of wholeness occurs when we are in a state of ease: playing, relaxing, in stillness, or being in nature.

When we venture far (or even a little ways) away from our connected essence, imbalance and eventually dis-ease come to our being.  When we stay close and connected to our truth, we live in a place of ease, happiness and peace.

At its core, when a client and I work together, this is our aim, to navigate the journey back to the true Self.   As a practitioner, my role is to hold space for this process and to provide my clients with the guidance, support, and specific tools that can assist them on their own unique path to self-healing, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Namaste: