Day 21 Juice Feast -- Guilty Pleasures

Even though I woke up this morning feeling great I raced home with the intent to get in bed as soon as I could. I love sleeping, I always have. As each day on the JF (after grad school) progresses I feel my energy levels filling back up. Still, I'm in the recovery phase and I know this pattern well. I often feel bursts of vitality and I choose to gather these moments to myself to allow for healing. I know the JF allows for the continuation of life at high speed and I certainly don't knock that--but I have a different approach right now. I try and conserve that energy to let my body and (fried) brain heal.

Resting Tiger (Courtesy of Aaron Hockley)

I'm personally not one to find lounging by the pool (as an invited guest or not) as a guilty pleasure, nor do I think resting in bed is a crime especially when healing. But I decided yesterday evening I was going to indulge in a past time that is hard to say is anything other than a guilty pleasure. I made myself work for it; I accomplished a lot today at work and I took a nice long walk at lunch. Over the course of the day I was trying to process any guilty feelings over my desire to be lazy and I wondered if I could lessen the impact at all by including some other detox tool while I lay inert in bed engrossed in the guilty pleasure. Since my liver is still having a spasm here and there I thought a castor oil pack would suffice.

My vow of acceptance helps me every day and today was no different. Practicing acceptance has helped me clear away any "guilt" associated with what I am about to do. Even if I make choices like these I deserve to experience the pleasure of it--and I choose to do so. I've made a Warrior Juice with ginseng tea and after I wrap on a castor oil pack...I'm dismissing everything else and watching the Arnold Schwarzenegger that came out on DVD today, guilt free!

The Day before the Juice Feast

Spring Water

My day before the Juice Feast has been busy. There was a lot I wanted to accomplish in preparation for this JF.  Unfortunately I was simply too tired to do much more than complete the bulk of my graduate work, sleep where and when I could while keeping up with the daily tasks that need to be done. So I spent much of today doing errands and further preparation work.

I did allow myself one "splurge:" a run out to the springs to gather spring water.  This took over an hour each way.  I do not regret this choice as it has been on my mind to make the bulk (if not all) the water I drink during the JF to be spring water.  Also a few miles before the spring was a farmer's market with lots of fresh greens, asparagus and local, raw, unfiltered honey.  I decided to include small amounts of honey, royal jelly along with the tablespoon of daily bee pollen.  The farmer lady had weathered skin but beautiful baby blue shiny eyes.  I'm delighted those un-sprayed greens will be part of my juices these next few days.  

I did not eat breakfast (lack of planning!), for lunch I had kale salad with natto beans and dinner is a broccoli avocado cashew soup.  I make the soup with 2 or 3 tops of broccoli (reserving a few of the flowers to stir in for crunch and to make sure I chew thoroughly) and any leaves on the stem, 1 avocado,  small helping of cashews, 1 clove garlic, pinch of Celtic sea salt, dash of apple cider vinegar, spices: turmeric and cayenne pepper and I blend with a cup or so of warm nettle tea (I make it hot and let it cool down).  I also had one final cup of jing city tea. 

Beltane begins at midnight and around that time I will purify my energy with a smudging of palo santo, leap over the purifying fire, light candles, complete a shamanic journey to ask the tiger to join me (if you want to learn more on this see the gorgeous Pixie Campbell's site), and take my JF vow of acceptance.  Then I am ready to begin.

Source

Feng Shui Vision Board

I am in the process of creating my Feng Shui vision board (FSVB). I have only done one before and it was quite a remarkable experience. How is the FSVB different from a standard vision board? First I want to share the definition I am starting with. Rodika Tchi defines Feng Shui as:

It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

To apply this knowledge to a vision board, I start with the Bagua which has been reshaped to represent a grid.  Here is an example. Each area of the board represents the various Feng Shui aspects of life. This is a basic layout for colors but I also incorporate the elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water) to this process through pictures, objects, etc. For instance abundance is associated with Wood. If I wanted to add abundance to my life I would add money, healthy plants, a fish photo to the Abundance section.

One of the benefits of a FSVB is that when I want to visually create my future, I do so in a balanced manner. I can quickly see the gaps and imbalances in my life and thoughts with this approach. Typically this means the area is underrepresented. In the areas, underrepresented or not, I want to add some oomph I look for expert Feng Shui advice on what to add. The advice I will be using is from a library copy of Denise Linn's Space Clearing A-Z: How to Use Feng Shui to Purify and Bless Your Home.

My First Vision Board

It takes me a long time to put together a board (My first board took months). I find it to be a pleasurable creative practice, so I don't rush it. I start by collecting magazines, picture books from the local library donation bin and any neat knick-nacks I admire which I can affix to the board. This step takes the longest. After I have a bag of visions I lay out the spatially equal construction paper, color-coded to the bagua and place it on the board. Sometimes the construction paper pack doesn't have the right color for the bagua. If this is the case I usually find  a beautiful picture in a glossy magazine vibrant with this needed color. I then affix that to a piece of construction paper.

After the layout is ready I break out the scissors, glue stick, thumbtacks and set them beside the board. Once this is all ready I take time to meditate. Meditation helps me align myself with my Higher Self. I try never to do any manifesting or divination without clearing my energy with  pre-meditation because I believe it helps me stay aligned with good energy. In my meditation I ask for assistance in creating the FSVB. After I've completed my meditation I spend some time looking at all the images and then I begin to play with the process.

When I moved a few weeks back I took down this FSVB and thanked it with gratitude before I recycled it. It's been near a year since I created my first vision board. This new one is already proving it will be different from my first one as the images which caught my attention are very different--yet true to the person I am today.

Update:

Please see my second Feng Shui vision board here.

Burning Karma

Lately I find myself  knowing the answer to most of my frustrating questions: develop patience. Develop patience? Yes, I know I need to. But how do you develop patience when you are internally a bit high strung? In general I cultivate patience through meditation and mindfulness. These mental choices set the slower pace I need in my life. When I don't meditate I get wound up. When I am in-the-moment-uptight I practice repeating a mantra. Both of these things help me.  Sometimes I have a problem that I have no solution for. In the past I would let these problems flay me alive. A few months ago I found another solution. I began to explore karma a bit more. To me, karma has always meant what comes around goes around. But I began to wonder if there was a way to "undo" or pay karmic debts.

One thing I have found as an amazing practice is burning karma candles.  I learned the technique from Gabrielle Alizay through her course Burn Away Your Karma on Daily Om. I will confess her writing style is almost impossible for me to follow, but the protocol works for me. When I buy the candles I recite my mantra over them. When I am ready to burn one I light a non toxic candle, take a deep breath and focus on my issue or perhaps the person who is troubling me. Once I've focused on what I would like to release, which let's say is a person. I focus on that person and allow the healing color to come to me. After I've envisioned the healing color healing both of us, I recite the karma  message and allow the candle to burn out.

Burning Karma Candles

When I first started burning karma candles I was home for an entire weekend and I burned dozens of candles; over time it has slowed down to burning on an as-needed-basis. However, I had a long list when I first started. I was amazed two days after I burned my first candles three people whom I burned karma candles for came to me and "came clear" on an issue we had. Two of the three people told me I was right in a situation and we moved on (trust me when I say this was not an ego win, but delight in wiping the slate clean). The third person retracted a position based upon erroneous observations. I was happy to have resolved all of these issues and to move forward.

Karma candles are powerful. Therefore burning candles should only be burned with integrity and love. Burning karma candles has also taught me patience and gratitude. I know myself well and I recognize I usually become impatient when I want something I don't have. When I burn the candle I let go of the desire. I have already seen how the candles work, so I recognize I have done my part and it's time to let the Universe take over.

Practicing Healing Forgiveness

I've recently made a huge breakthrough in my life. It came from facing the challenge of being in an unsatisfying situation. Again and again, this situation manifested into a rigidly tense body where I was either gaining or losing 5 pounds. My thoughts were negative and I often felt like the situation was getting the better of me. I knew to be released from this situation I had to come to peace with it and even find joy in the moment. I laughed at myself for thinking this was possible.

I think one of the reasons my first Juice Feast wasn't as successful as I would like it is because I held the mistaken belief I could heal everything through an exclusive diet of freshly made organic fruit and vegetable juices. Don't get me wrong, on the Juice Feast I had a taste of miracles yet it was merely a taste which I mistakenly believed would turn into a thirst quencher. During the Juice Feast I tried to heal myself through predominantly physical means. I did listen to subliminal healing meditations, but they "didn't work". In my heart I struggled so desperately for them to work, but still they would not remove the boulder from my shoulders. I say the Juice Feast didn't work for me because I did not achieve what I set out to do. The physical condition I wanted to disappear forever was still present at the end of the Juice Feast, although it had loosened its hold a bit.

So here I am again in another situation where what I was doing wasn't working. As I have discovered, sometimes we need to try many things before we learn how to use a tool properly. Now I admit the problem was me, not the tool. So, how did I learn to let go and win peace from this situation? In the depths of despair I found Ho'oponopono. I feel is success with me is because I first gained an understanding of the practice. If you would like one I encourage you to learn more here.

I have found two meditations online which have cleared my heart and allowed great joy to enter back into my life. I am continuing to study Ho'oponopono and I am grateful for the miracles it has already brought into my life.

Here is a meditation a beginner can enjoy.  This is but half of the meditation, but it's powerful on its own.
Keep in mind it's difficult for the process to work well without understanding what it means. For that reason I recommend seeking a complete explanation on how the key words and beliefs of  Ho'oponopono will alter the course of your life.

Here is an advanced meditation to try should you feel comfortable with taking responsibility for your healing and reaping the rewards.


I love you, please forgive me, I am sorry, thank you.