Space, Akasha and Ayurveda

In Ayurvedic terms, Space is the element that contains everything. Space, unlike the other elements, does not change. It is the one constant in your body and your environment. Space in your body does not go out of balance. It is a consistent containment of your nature...it is your spirit.

Space is holding everything together

It’s job is to “contain”

You cannot affect Space through your thoughts, words or deeds.

Properties: Cold, Light & Dry

The sense of sound or hearing is associated with this element

In the body, it is the empty space between. On a Quantum level, we are only empty space.

I always think of Space (Ether or Akasha) as the foundation of the other elements. Perhaps it’s the vastness of the night sky when I look up that makes me think that there is something around us that is holding all of this together. That’s the element of Space from Ayurveda. From the perspective of science, I believe they are calling this dark matter or dark energy.

It’s a bit of an argument in Ayurveda what element was first. Some will argue that it was the Earth element, others Space. I believe it was Space because Space to me seems like the most intimately connected to Spirit. When you look to the properties of Space and Spirit, they are similar. Both are holding everything together, both cannot be changed by you, both are simply a consistent presence regardless of what you are going through or choosing. This makes me think of the non-judgmental and ever present nature of Spirit.

I also think it is fascinating that Space is associated with sound. The Bible tells us that the universe was created with a “word”.

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. ~ (Psalm 33:6,9)

Yogis will tell you that the Universe was created with a “sound”…the vibration aum or om. OM or AUM is a Sanskrit letter. It is deemed to be the most powerful letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. Sanskrit is the most sacred written language known to man. Many languages are derived from Sanskrit.

OM,

The imperishable sound, is the seed of

All that exists

The past, the present, the future -

All are but the unfolding of OM

And whatever transcends the three realms of time,

That indeed is the flowering of OM

- Upanishads

You need to know its properties, which are Cold, Light & Dry. You were born with a certain amount of Space in your body and mind and there isn’t anything to do that can change or affect it. Do explore your Spiritual nature. Do look up at the night sky and be amazed by your very existence. Look into the vastness and wonder…

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a system of holistic living and medicine that originated in India many thousands of years ago. The word Ayurveda is Sanskrit and translates to “the knowledge of life”. It is a systematic science that utilizes the natural rhythms of nature to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. The influence of Ayurveda can be seen in all the world’s holistic medicine.

Sadly, with the invasion of India, many of the traditions of Ayurveda were forsaken, not forgotten, forsaken. Recently, however, Ayurveda has seen an unprecedented comeback, especially in the West. We can thank Dr. Deepak Chopra, my teacher, for much of the resurgence in interest.

Ayurveda is the most widely embraced and accepted preventative holistic medicine in the West. In large part, this is due to the fact that Ayurveda embraces new medicines and technologies. The Ayurvedic view is if it is working for you, then stay with it. If you are controlling sleep disorders, depression, high blood pressure or any other ailment with Western drugs, you should take the advice of your physician. What Ayurveda can do for you...and doctors absolutely love this...is change your stress levels, your sleeping routine and your nutritional choices making you healthy at the root of your disease and ultimately eliminating many of your drug choices. Western physicians are really smart and caring people. They want you to prevent disease. They actually never want you as a sick patient. They just want to see you once a year for annual check up to tell you that everything is wonderful.

Ayurveda is a simple science for life that teaches and empowers the individual to reconnect with the rhythms of nature. Ayurveda honors that you are one with nature affected by the rotation of the planets, the pull of the tide, the changing seasons and the movement occurring throughout your day in each minute. It honors that you are unique. It honors that you are a creature of this earth as well as of the divine.

The Rishis of India identified the building blocks of nature and indeed the whole universe as five great elements, space, air, fire, water & earth. Rishis are legendary yogis thought to have magical powers known as “Siddhis” and believed to live for hundreds of years. Imagine an aging man sitting in a loincloth on the top of a mountain in the snow meditating in perfect peace and physical comfort. Rishis of India sat in meditation and contemplation and asked God, The Universe, The Cosmic Mind or their Higher Selves many of the same questions that we ask ourselves today. Why am I here? What is my life's purpose? How do I stay healthy, vibrant and young? It is believed that through the meditation process the Rishis downloaded from cosmic consciousness, the formula for living a healthy and happy life.[1] This formula includes diagnosis with and management of the elements

I don’t know if it is true that the Rishis received a download or not. I guess it seems kind of far out. Perhaps these Rishis of 5,000 years ago were simply great observers of nature. Perhaps they simply sat by their fires and noticed that when a piece of wood goes into the fire it comes out transformed. Maybe they then had the thought, “Wow, that’s just like when I eat, it goes in one way and comes out another. Perhaps I have fire in my belly.”

Maybe they watched a dry dead leaf blowing on a fall breeze and observed that the leaf would quickly dart one way, then another and finally come to an abrupt halt only to fly up again. Perhaps they had the thought, “Wow, that’s just like my mind. My thoughts go this way and that and suddenly stop. I must have wind in my mind”.

Imagine the people of 5,000 years ago planting their spring gardens. A rock sits in the middle of their field. They push and push and it just doesn’t want to go anywhere. They think wow, that’s just like the 5 pounds I put on after the Spring Solstice celebration. I must have earth in my body.

It’s really a very assessable way to identify with our bodies and minds. It is truly amazing what was known over 5,000 years ago. People knew the earth is round and rotates on an axis. People knew that the earth traveled around the sun. Ayurvedic physicians knew how to diagnose and "treat" diabetes. They also knew how to deliver complicated births. They even performed surgeries. More fundamentally, a plan for living that prevents disease, aging and needless suffering was devised. Learn more about this amazing lifestyle at Elemental OM. We offer the Elemental Cleanse™ to immerse you in this lifestyle for 28 days. Bring your body, mind and Spirit to balance. LEARN MORE>>>

---

[1] This formula was passed down for generations in prose and finally captured in the Vedas and around 500 BCE in two medical texts called Susruta Samhita and Carkaka Samhita.

Raw Foods, Cleansing and Ayurveda

Many people are advocates for Raw Foods diets and have a wonderful experience of them. Ayurveda does hold a place for the unique constitution that can thrive on a raw foods diet. This would be a person who is a Fire or Pitta body type or some balance of Fire/Earth (Pitta/Kapha). That type of person has naturally strong digestion and more heat. I believe that this person would also need a very strong presence of Fire in their mind as it takes incredible planning and discipline to maintain a raw foods diet and appropriately meet all nutritional needs.

If you are choosing this lifestyle and feel great…awesome!!! If you are suffering from any of the following, ask yourself if you are getting enough energy of the Earth or Kapha in your life to ground the uplifting nature of your diet. Food does affect emotion too.

Lack of vitality
Always cold
Weak digestive digestion

Cravings

Stalled weight loss due to low metabolism
Emaciation
Amenorrhea (menstrual cycles cease), even in young women
Loss of libido
Hair loss and nail problems
Dental erosion
Insomnia and neurological problems
Constipation
Diarrhea

Infertility

If you find that you are suffering from any of these, I recommend the following while maintaining your diet. Additionally, if you are participating in the Elemental Cleanse and do not wish to participate in cooked food, you will need to do the following:

· Daily meditation of no less than 20 minutes. Use mantra with the focus of union of energies in the heart. Do not turn your meditation into an escape to connect to what is perceived as “higher than”. Meditation & Spirituality is to be in your body and embrace the life you are currently living.

· Self-Oil Massage with Sesame Oil (it's heating externally and internally). Do heat your oil prior to your massage

· Vigorous yoga or exercise producing sweat with an extended rest (Shavasana) of no less than 10 minutes to ground your energy afterwards.

· Spice up your food with spicy spices.

· Eat your food at room temperature

· Take a daily dose of triphala (Ayurvedic blend of 3 fruits promoting digestion and elimination)

· Drink hot teas (ginger tea is the best). Add citrus (lemon or lime) to your teas.

· Add fruit juices and vegetable juices to your diet.

· Use a food processor or blender to “pre-digest” the food you consume.

· Take a daily dose of flax-oil. You may consume up 6 - 8 teaspoons of oil each day for healthy digestion.

· Use ginger elixir before each meal to stoke your digestive fire. (grated ginger marinated in sea salt and lemon. Take a pinch before each meal).

· Go for a 10-minute walk after you eat.

· Seek out heat therapy; dress warm covering throat and head, saunas, hot baths, hot tubs, hot yoga (if appropriately acclimated and not more than 2 times a week) and sun.

· Go to bed by 10 pm and arise by 6 am.

The final week of the Elemental Cleanse must be modified to accommodate those on a raw foods diet. Food will be blended and processed and taken without exception at room temperature. Focus will be on vegetables over fruits. The final week may be shortened to just 3 days.

I find that people who take the Cleanse and are raw foodies are not taking the Cleanse to clean out their bodies. Most are interested in what Ayurveda has to offer and are curious about the Spiritual aspects of the Cleanse. Great benefit can be received through the emotional, mental and Spiritual Cleansing process. Shift your focus to journaling, meditation, walking and yoga. Because you already have a healthy diet, the food portion will be easy for you and not a focus.

Most Raw Foodies that I know are very attached to their diet because they have put a lot of effort into this lifestyle and they have seen benefits. That’s perfect! Simply be aware of the imbalance that a raw foods diet can potentially cause if not balanced with the emotional and physical body. Do know that you simply must focus a bit more on “grounding” your energy. Raw food creates high prana. This always sounds good as we perceive prana to be a positive force. Prana, however, is a neutral force. It goes where your mind goes. If you are happy, it increases the happy. If you are sad, destructive, critical, judgmental or angry, it will also increase those. Too much prana, ungrounded, causes imbalance.

If you are currently participating in the Cleanse and not currently a Raw Foodie, please cook all of your food and eat it warm! If you are interested in Raw Foods and are of the appropriate mind/body type as discussed above, explore when the Cleanse is complete.

Shanti, Pamela

Facing Codependence

I'm reading a really great book right now called "Facing Codependence" by Pia Mellody. In it, she gives not only her professional view as a consultant at a treatment center for addictions, but also her personal views as a recovered co-dependent. It's insightful and very educational.

She recommends an exercise very similar to one that I teach during the Elemental Cleanse for honoring and releasing your past. My exercise is more general and encompassing of situations outside of co-depenedency. Her's is more focused for co-dependency. Honestly, though, I think everyone could benefit from her recommendation.

Pia asks that you sit down pen and paper and write about each year of your life from age 1 to 17. As you go through each year, you are to identify and focus your attention on what shaming acts were received and who participated in the shaming act. You are not to focus on whether the person who did the abuse intended to cause harm. You are simply to get your history down. You may hold your abusers accountable, but you are not to blame or judge. Just get your history down and acknowledge what really happened.

Do not compare your history to another persons history. This will make you feel that your story is not as valid and important. It is important and valid. Do not shift your attention to your own parenting of your own children. Do your own work first.

When writing your history, simply describe behaviors as dysfunction. There are five levels of abuse...physical, sexual, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Label the dysfunction in one of these five areas.

The purpose of this exercise to to allow you to specifically see how the parenting you received affected you. To recover, you must release these feelings from your physical and subtle body. Finally, and most important, as a co-dependent adult, you tend to surround yourself with people who recreate the dysfunction. You need to be able to clearly see your life in the past to clearly see your life now.

I would recommend this as a book to buy if this issue is up for you. I've given here the short version of her exercise to get you going and thinking. See you in the studio! Pam

I'll show you, I'll get me

Last Week, during the Elemental Cleanse, I spoke about unconscious choice making, specifically co dependency. It’s one of the big “sleeping dragons” as I call them. Many others call unconscious choice makers shadows, your shadow self, the wounded healer and the wounded child.

Unconscious choice making happens because there are thoughts that naturally arise in your consciousness that you are unaware of. These thoughts stem from the mistreatment of a person as a child. Typically, the child is from an alcoholic or abusive family. The child uses the thoughts to survive trauma, lack of love, abandonment and abuse. In yoga, we call these patterns Vasana.

Vasanas are bits and pieces of experience stuck in your subtle body. These are habits and patterns that drive your life. They are very hard to discern. You don’t even know you do these things and you don’t know there is a better way. The vasanas are quiet subtle choice makers that are your thoughts. Your thoughts drive your desires and your desires drive your deeds. Your deeds become your life.

The issue of co-dependency is near and dear to my heart. Having grown up in a home of alcohol abuse and abandonment, my child mind certainly learned to protect itself. It’s been a lifelong battle to identify and begin the process of changing these thought patterns. The patterns in my mind have not allowed me to have successful and loving relationships. It’s recent experience for me to come to terms with co-dependency. It’s something I am actively working on myself.

Common behavior and patterns of thinking for a co-dependant include the following:

Feelings of Shame: You feel that you are not enough just the way you are so you pretend that everything is okay with you all the time. You will not ask for help because asking for help would make you appear weak and you need for everyone to believe that you are fine. You cannot handle criticism and yet you constantly criticize yourself. You have a need to be perfect, to outperform, to outshine and to outwork everyone else.

Feelings of Fear: You tend to analyze all situations intellectually. You do not listen to or trust your heart. You are always thinking and planning ahead to avoid what you believe to be your inevitable failure and demise. You self-destruct or destroy others to maintain control of situations. You are so frightened of loss that you create the loss so that you can simply get it over with.

Black and white thinking: You cannot see the grey in others. You assume that when any one person says any one thing, they must mean exactly what a past bad experience was and you assume the worst. You judge yourself very harshly. You believe there is a right and wrong and anything in the middle is not good enough.

Have to/Should: You have a never-ending list of things that you HAVE to do or SHOULD do. The list never gets shorter no matter how hard you work. You work all the time. You do not feel that you have permission to play and you do not know how to play. If you have down time, you create more work for yourself. You feel worthy when you produce and work, but otherwise you do not feel worthy.

Worry: You constantly worry that people are judging you…that people will leave you...that people are pretending to like you. You have no basis for this worry other than past experience. You assume that people are just pretending to like you, that they are not genuine and inside you don’t really believe that anyone really values you or wants to be with you.

Sabotage: You are out to get yourself. When someone else has bad behavior, you turn on yourself and begin the process of destroying yourself. You surround yourself with needy, critical, controlling and often times alcoholic and abusive people. For some reason, they make your child mind feel at home and you gravitate to them. They are all you know so that's where you go.

It’s sad really that we can’t see the beautiful person that we really are…that we don’t tangibly know unconditional love. Unconditional love is learned as a child and if you grew up with “conditional” love, then you are wired to believe that you are not perfect, not worthy and quite frankly, unlovable.

This is not true.

You are lovable.

If you want to begin the process of breaking free from these Vasanas, start with education. Read some books on co-dependency with an open mind and simply ask yourself if you are exhibiting those behaviors. If the answer is yes, go to mantra or affirmations as a tonic to your thoughts. Monitor your thoughts and notice when you are thinking those subtle thoughts. When you go off into negative fantasyland, use mantra to interrupt it.

This process is not easy. You are going to become supersensitive to this situation and probably drive yourself a little crazy at first. You may find that the Vasanas tighten their grip and your behavior becomes even more co-dependant as you try to destroy yourself and your relationships. I don’t know why it gets worse before getting better. Just be aware and stick with it.

Be gentle with yourself, the people around you and your life. This is a time when it is easy to drive everyone away. Be aware and allow yourself to gently unfold.

“I am light, I am love, and I am perfect in this moment”

Occupy Your Body, Mind & Spirit

Be where the problems arise.....


What do you do if you are a person who is doing everything "right" in their life and still suffering?

How do you answer the complicated questions and subtle challenges in your life when you are doing things right...or are things just slightly off?

How do you consistently choose the more "right" thing and what does that mean?

How do you transform problems in your life that relate to health, love and financial security?

Check out the November session of the Elemental Cleanse™. This seminar answers those pressing questions and so much more. It gives you a toolbox of transformation.

Beginning October 31st, this seminar delivers a comprehensive and immersive program to bring the passion, soulful connection and enduring self-love into your relationship with self and others. This happens as we peel back the layers though an amazing body, mind & spiritual Cleanse.

This Cleanse is like no other. It gives each person exactly what they need. If you need to lose weight, you will. If you need to gain weight, you will. If you need to transform your marriage, job, relationship with children, you will. If you need to establish a working relationship with Spirit, you will.

How does it do all that? it doesn't. YOU do. You will receive a program that holds you accountable for doing the hard work of life that you don't really want to do. You will establish a meditation practice, you will establish a movement practice, you will understand how your food choices are affecting your health, your weight and your emotions. You will learn to make better choices. You will become aware and once you are aware...there's no turning back.

A lot of people worry that this program is a lot of work. It is. It is FUN though. In fact, I can't think of a more fun way to shift than in a group environment full of love, compassion and loads of laughter.

Speaking of work...suffering is work. Learning to embrace joy and health...that's not work.


Best of all, if you sign up NOW we will extend your one month FREE unlimited yoga pass to TWO full months. LEARN MORE>>>

A yoga retaliation...

A friend of a friend sent me a link to an article about yoga in the New York Times. LINK>>> They wanted to know what I thought and this was my reply. I wrote is passionately and with much to learn, but I was surprised by my passion and my journey. Actually, I was surprised that my journey has taken me back to a very simple place.

George, all debate for yoga is good for me so it makes me very happy to see that people are curious.

Yoga is a technology when properly used will facilitate the attainment of happiness. The purpose of yoga is to create happy homes. Yoga encompasses the whole person when practice appropriately and with a proper teacher.

Ayurveda is the nutritional science of yoga. If you are only practicing yoga and meditation and not taking in the proper nutrition, you will not balance. It is conceivable that your metabolism would slow and you could gain weight. However, given the nature of yoga, a yogi organically begins to make better choices as the psychology behind the sugar, caffeine, food, alcohol and other abuse is revealed. Your choices become more "sattvic" or pure and you naturally begin to consume less meat, processed foods and other not so healthy items.

Hatha is the physical movement of yoga that also includes Tantra. Tantra is not the sexually abusive form of yoga that has been popularized in the West, it is the psychology of the mind. Through Hatha and Tantra you unite the opposites in body and mind. You embrace your duality and you learn to sit in your divinity. The search for something to make you happy is relinquished as you realize that "this is that, and that is that and that is all that there is". Your love and devotion to your family grows as you begin to accept them as they are and see their beauty. You learn to meet yourself in the mirror with your own limitations. You meet others with their limitations as well.......this is just life. It is all just life.

This takes discipline (tapas), non-violence in thought, word and action (ahimsa) and belief in something greater than yourself. It is done in a devotional daily practice called sadhana. The devotional practice and the path are as many as there are people walking the planet.

In essence the physical posturing of yoga is limited on its own independent of Ayurveda and Tantra. A yoga practice should be tailored to the unique individual. Most people over the age of 35 should not be practicing headstand. People with certain conditions like high blood pressure should not be practicing headstand. All poses of yoga are dangerous when done incorrectly and in an unprescribed manner.

The awakening of what we call Kundalini energy can bring psychosis if the psychology has not been worked through. Kundalini energy is the spiritual energy depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of your spine. As Kundalini begins to awaken, it arises through your spine and nervous system to mate with the Divine. Kundalini energy is feminine and represents the ego. It is depicted as a snake with 3 coils. Each coil represents a "guna" or a chain that is binding us to our reality...the illusion of separation. The gunas are purity, action and deadness. Deadness is obvious to be avoided. You need a little action to manifest desires. Purity binds you to your illusion with knowledge and happiness so that sounds pretty good. The lesson is to be non-egoic. That doesn't mean to lose yourself, it means to make choices that benefit you and others. It means to stop harming others with your own personal needs and desires.

As the gunas fall away, this Shakti energy begins to unite with the Shiva energy. Moon/Sun...Cool/Hot....Feminine/Masculine... It's your duality. Reality/Spirit. You begin to sense that you are one with all, yet apart. You begin to respect the 5 elements of air, fire, water, earth and space. You make better choices for all and the planet. You have a tangible working relationship with Spirit that is very rewarding. It's like having a best friend...no more, no less.

Some people become very sensitive and intuitive. Magical powers called Siddhis develop. I have experienced many of these that I have set aside as distractions because I am a very practical Ohio girl with two kids to raise and I like reality. People with Siddhis that are uncontrolled become psychotic as they cannot maintain their duality.

Yoga is sitting in the duality.
Yoga is loving your family and serving your family without exception.


So that's what I think! : ) Pamela.