Tag Archive for: balance

4 Tips for vitality through cleansing and detox - Axis Yoga Teacher Trainings - Denver, CO



The Yoga of Cleansing & Four Tips for Increased Vitality


Cleansing has become almost a household word these days. There are many reported and researched health benefits that come from cleansing such as improved digestion, reduced inflammation, dislodging environmental toxins and losing weight.


However, I believe there  are even more benefits to be gained from doing a cleanse.


Cleansing gives us access to expanded mental clarity and a renewed sense of inner freedom.  We all have the tendency to eat more from our emotions and habits than our bellies.  When we set aside our ingrained eating patterns, we become more conscious of our unconscious habits.


Expanding awareness is a cornerstone of yoga practice, and there are many other yogic principles that we can exercise when doing a cleanse.


The Sanskrit word “tapas ” means “to burn” and refers to austerities or discipline. By restraining our  lower desires and urges, we build a  kind of creative friction that gives insight, inspiration, builds character and supports spiritual growth.  Tapas has less to do with deprivation and more to do with creating boundaries that bring forth inner radiance.


Another major theme in yoga is “soucha” or “purity”.  Given adequate support your body naturally wants to return to an optional state of cleanliness and efficiency.


By releasing the accumulated toxic load of ongoing unconscious eating habits we open the gateway for a deeper state of health and long forgotten purity.  It’s like letting go of a “heavy load” we had no idea we were carrying for so long.


Doing a cleanse is less of an exercise in deprivation as it is an opportunity to revitalize your mind, strengthen your will and do a deep internal “cleanse”.  We can access the bodies deep healing capacities by simple removing the obstacles to cure, by eliminating less than wholesome foods and introducing foods that are more conducive to vitality.



Here are four tips to get you started with a fall time cleanse:


1. Drink hot lemon water in the morning
Get your day started with a refreshing and vitalizing glass of hot lemon water.  It is amazing how this simple beverage will pick you up. It helps alkalize your system, and cleanse your liver.


What’s more, hot lemon water will stimulate your bowels and get things moving.  Many people do not drink enough water in general and making a ritual of drinking this beverage early in the morning is a great reminder of how amazing water is for your health!


2. Eat at least 2 cups of vegetables a day plus salads
In my naturopathic doctoring practice, many people tell me that they have an aversion to eating vegetables.  They also come to see me with significant health issues, many of which can be greatly offset with dietary changes -such as eating more vegetables.


While your tongue may disagree, your body loves vegetables and rings with satisfaction once fed what it needs.  Eating a sufficient amount of vegetables will also off-set cravings for foods that are far less nutritious or even detrimental to one’s health.


3. Include a little protein with each meal
Often times sugar-cravings are rooted in not eating a sufficient amount of protein.  If you find yourself feeling hostage to sugary foods there is a good chance you are in need of more protein.  Eating enough protein will help you balance your blood sugar and give you a more even-quality of energy throughout the day.  Getting enough protein also helps you eat less refined carbohydrates.


4. Try fasting one day a week
Many cultures and spiritual traditions throughout the world recognize the value of fasting as a way to cleanse the body, revitalize the spirit and develop humility and gratitude.  Fasting is also a great way to give your digestive system a much needed rest.  Your body will naturally go to work cleaning house with the energy it would otherwise expend digesting food.


Generating the necessary discipline to fast also rubs off in other areas of your life.  It gives you the inner strength to address other issues that you may have been avoiding, freeing up energy that could be spent more productively.


Note: You can still have juices, broths, teas and water while performing a weekly fast.


Finally…..
Try on these simple tips and see what they do for your health and your yoga practice. If you are ready to take it to the next level, consider getting some outside support and supplementation by participating in a 10-day cleanse group I will be facilitating. Cleansers of all levels are welcome!


In Health,
Dr. Brenna

 

 

Join Us! October Fall Cleanse

Dates: Sundays, Oct. 8th and 15th, 11-12:30
Location: Sixth Ave. UCC – 3250 E. Sixth Ave. 80206
Click here to learn more!

As we gear up for our upcoming Spring retreat, we are examining the theme of “returning to center” and what it means. Beth Sanchez is special guest on our blog today and will be co-teaching the retreat. Let us know what you think about the notion of returning to center and self reflection. And thank you to Beth for her thoughts and commentary below.

For me, I go in and out of seeing, knowing, feeling, believing, and abiding in the deeply inter-connected Universe. – Beth Sanchez

Indra is an ancient Vedic Diety, a God-King and administrator. His net forms the very fabric of creation. At every cross point in the net, there is a jewel reflecting all other points across space and time. Everything in the mutually causal web is connected to, reflects, and is accessible through all points in the web. One incredibly close microcosm of this principle is right here in our own bodies, as this image of firing neurons suggests.

This ancient understanding is both old and new. Inter-connectivity, Inter-Being, Dependent Co-Arising, all things being related and depending on the existence of all other things to manifest; these are the truth claims of Indigenous humans everywhere and appear throughout Buddhist and Hindu thought as well as many other philosophies. In the book of Romans, Paul says “So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”. The Zulu concept of Ubuntu refers to the deep relationality of human subjects offering each other humanity and existence.

From the Rig Veda to Parmenides, to Einstein and countless (m)others, the myth of separate self-ness has been dispelled innumerable times. Yet, the delusion of separate self-entities persists. The felt experiences of separation, alienation, pain and their emergent forms of structural violence toward the (ultimately nonexistent) “other”, defy our deepest knowing.

The experiences of unified awe or divisive pain either draws us toward fulfillment or away from it. Can it be that our access point to the heart of the Universe, to what seems to evade us, to the deepest satisfaction possible is right where we are? Can it be that what we most deeply long for is hidden right here in plain sight? Can it further be that returning to the center happens easily when we practice together with our relations who have the same hunch?

Stop right now, drop into your vast being in one single slow breath. IN……..(gap), OUT……..(gap).

Isn’t it a marvel?

If that small taste intrigues you, PRACTICE TOGETHER WITH DEAR ONES who share the same hunch. For me, I go in and out of seeing, knowing, feeling, believing, and abiding in the deeply inter-connected Universe. I know that in my own habitual self-ing, other-ing also arises and is part of multiple socio-political-economic systems in which I live. I am not yet fully established in this knowing. In fact, I only get glimpses; the kind that have “ruined” an otherwise promising conventional life. Yet these glimpses are undeniable and overwhelming and they happen more reliably WHEN I AM WITH YOU! Yes, I need the help of your presence and relationality. I hope you can relate!

Let us be here together, in the very center of the practice-hood, the center of sushumna, the center of the enzo, the center of our circle of friends, the center of our Self, the center of our home, the center of the Universe, that most holy place which is right here and right now. The portals are already open.

Beth
Beth Sanchez

 

 

“RETURN TO CENTER”
A DONATION-BASED RETREAT!
GRANT, CO – MAY 12-14, 2017

This unique retreat is co-lead by Derik Eselius and Beth Sanchez. With 34 years of yoga teaching experience between them, they have made a significant impact on the Denver yoga community, leading Yoga Teacher Training programs, and offering classes, workshops retreats that are affordable and accessible to people of all backgrounds.

Step out of your familiar routine and open the gateway to inner renewal and freedom. This retreat will be a remarkable opportunity to cultivate fresh insights and revitalize your core with the timeless practice of yoga. Join us as as we go beyond the ‘pose’ and dive into a multidimensional yoga practice; while surrounded by the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Learn more here.

Where: YMCA – Santa Maria Camp Center: 51321 US-285, Grant, CO 80448 | One hour from Denver!
When: May 12th, 10:30am to May 14th, 12pm (home in time for Mother’s Day!)
Cost: Only $199 to cover the costs of food and lodging, making this retreat accessible to everyone, plus a donation at the conclusion of the retreat.
Register: Click here to learn more and to register!