Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Tumo Breathing

Yesterday and today, Jeff taught us Tumo breathing. Today's version was the advanced breathing. Before teaching it to us he gave us a lot of warnings so that we would be careful with it. He also showed a video clip of himself and 25 of his instructors studying with Wim Hof who had studied Tumo breathing. Tumo breathing is also known as "inner fire" and was perfected by Tibetan yogis to generate heat and were able to withstand the cold and snow of the Himalayas. I personally knew a Tibetan lama who had no heat in his room in upstate NY in the middle of December and laughed and said that it was cozy. Anyhoo. I felt my back start to get warm. The warmth oscillated in my lower to middle back. I can't imagine what it's like after you've been practicing for a while. We had a room of 2000 people practicing tumo breathing. Everyone in the room was very focused. I was impressed with how much chi I was able to feel by Day 4. They do an extraordinary job of presenting the practice. Jeff has a very simple and clear way of explaining but they also have wonderful animation and visuals to assist along with very well synchronized music. The staff is comprised of the instructors who all volunteer their time to come and help. They are one dedicated group and I was extremely impressed. Thanks to Jeff Primack and Qi Revolution!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Qi Revolution 4-days

Attending the 4-day Qi Revolution with Jeff Primack. My friend, Mical, invited me but then couldn't make it but I went anyways. Glad I did. The breathing techniques are getting better each day and lo and behold! They make smoothies! Got the book of recipes. Can't wait til my Blend-tec arrives. Amazingly, it is the blender that Jeff uses. So much for synchronicity.

You can't beat the price for the 4-day workshop. $99. The presenter, Jeff Primack, seems very sincere. The presentation is very organized and straight forward. Most importantly, the focus is not on getting but giving. Seems like a good soul. There are a lot of massage therapists here for their CEUs but they are enjoying the program as well. Tomorrow is the last day.

Jeff pointed out that the it's not drugs that make you well, it's the immune system. To keep the immune system strong, you need phytochemicals that are found in the stems, seeds, pith (cell walls) of plants. So he drinks about 20 oz of smoothies each morning.

I went to my friend's house to prepare the anti-inflammatory recipe from Jeff's smoothie recipe book since both she and her boyfriend just had surgeries within the same month. Hers was an emergency. This smoothie recipe called for the stem of a pineapple, a slice of pineapple, cherries, cilantro (chelation), goji berries, ginger, turmeric, 2cups water, papaya, cucumber, that's about it. She had a Hamilton Beach mixer and while the Blendtec will, apparently, grind fruits/veggies down to the micron level, the Hamilton blended well enough for us to drink it. Since she can't afford the $399 Blend-tec we figured, hey, this is better than not doing it. So there.

It was my first attempt at making a smoothie from his recipe book. The nice thing about the smoothies is that you can experiment. Nayda doesn't like cilantro so I told her to maybe add more pineapple than the recipe calls for to drown out the taste of the cilantro. Interesting point about the cilantro. Jeff recommends everyone to have cilantro daily. He says that it gets rid of metals. People that eat fish are exposed to mercury and that cilantro helps to get it out of the body. In addition, autism and alzheimer' are connected to heavy metals so cilantro will help with alleviating those conditions.

This morning, I was running late. I made my smoothie but I ran out the door without it! argh. Well, my husband was home so it didn't go to waste. His is still in the fridge. Anyhoo, I noticed that I was felt a tad more constipated today. Things didn't go as easily as I've become accustomed to with the smoothies. Seems to be true. Jeff talked about getting a big huge bowel movement his second day trying smoothies which really sold him on them. Plus the fact that he had met a 70 year old man who had no wrinkles that drank the smoothies. I believe it's true about the BM's thanks to my personal experience and my friend's. She told me the first week that I started bringing her smoothies and green juices that she had become VERY regular. She was really happy about that and I am too because that's a good thing. ;)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day Off

Female stuff. Cranky. Craving chocolate. Blah.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day Off

Sunday 4pm

Don't know the name of the instructor today but she was very good. I felt great in class today. No aches & pains. Think I'm finally finding the balance between pushing and pushing too hard. Despite the fact that it felt like I was taking it "easy", I received a compliment on my camel pose. It does feel like I was bending deeper. I think the bow pose is coming along as well. I also think my change in diet is helping the body because the diet is more alkaline producing.

Still cannot do the third posture in the chair series. Argh! Once I get that, I think I'll be able to do the 2nd posture in the tree pose. I can bend forward and go part of the way, but I can't come back up. Where is the weakness? My legs have always been so strong.

Purchased the e-book from Green Smoothie Girl. Lots of recipes and a 12 month program for going "raw". Actually, she isn't 100% raw but around 60-80% raw. She works and has four children and says that it becomes very time intensive to get make that 20% more to 100%. And that's why she makes smoothies. She throws the greens in a blender with fruit and voila! What she is doing has been better than what I'm doing so I'm integrating her suggestions to get to the 80% mark. After all, you can only be successful if the plan is doable. At the same time, I do plan to go 100% in June to detox and lose weight.

My dear friend had gall bladder surgery and I've been making her the smoothies and delivering them to her while she has been convalescing. I had read in someone's blog that they felt that their recovery was faster because they were drinking green juices. She told me that after she drank the green smoothie that she felt better. Also, that she prior to the green smoothies she didn't go to the bathroom (#2) on a daily basis, but that this helped regulate her. It's not good if you don't do #2 every day. [Advice so eloquently stated]. Stuff "backs up", just like the plumbing in your house, and toxins will enter your bloodstream. So drink green smoothies and get regular and keep everything moving in one direction!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Sat 10am w/Ocidee

Arrived 5 minutes late and heard about it from the instructor. He was a bit harsh. I had driven 45 minutes only to arrive late to class. As I pulled into the parking lot I nearly turned around because I was five minutes late and didn't want to walk into class late. Then I decided it was better to be scorned than miss the class. So when the instructor barked at me, I chose to be grateful that at least he isn't an instructor whose opinion matters much. He yells at people for drinking water between postures and then one day when he was next to me in class, what does he do? Swigs water between postures. Ha, I don't really care. I suppose he feels that the Bikram program is the place where he can release his inner control freak with utter abandonment because no one at his day job will put up with it.

The really useful lesson out of all this is that being a teacher, I get to see my reaction and learn a bit more about what it's like for my students. For example, Ocidee taught me that when you are teaching a class, and you want to give specific direction to an individual, you should not talk to them them at the same level of volume with which you are addressing the entire class. It throws them off balance. Instead, soften your voice and just make it between the two of you. A student is less inclined to be embarrassed or feel like you are calling them out. And therefore, less inclined to become preoccupied with defending themselves. They can just focus on their lesson. Restated another way, they will feel that you are trying to help them and not just challenging them because you are a control freak who only cares that they do what you say. So thanks once again, Ocidee, for teaching me what NOT to do. ☺

The house is further from the studio than work and I just didn't judge the time properly. The last time I came from the house it was the 8am class and I forgot that there would be more traffic at the 10am class. And there was way more traffic than I'm used to.

Anyhoo, during class I was feeling great. No pain in the hip. So, the short break must have been good for me. However, towards the last few postures I was beginning to feel some pain in the hips again.

The fresh watermelon juice I made tasted great after class. It's half rind and half fruit. There is, apparently, a lot of nutrition in the rind. Later tonight, as I was juicing the rest of the watermelon the thought occurred to me, wow, wouldn't this fresh watermelon make a fabulous martini....

I'm looking forward to June where I can have an entire month to do a yoga/detox program and where I will not be working so I will be able to get to class on time. har har har.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Raw Model Website

I'm reading an interesting website titled Raw Model. It's by a guy who works as a model in NYC and shares his raw food recipes and discoveries. Unlike some websites that give a small amount of information with the rest of the website designed to convince you that you need to buy their e-book, he simply and sincerely shares his recipes and self-discoveries honestly and openly.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day Off

Training across town and then a huge thunderstorm. A tornado touched down somewhere nearby so I don't think I'll get caught in all the bad weather to drive across town for Bikram. I'll return tomorrow.

I'm reading the 12 steps for going raw by the Green Smoothie Girl. You can purchase it from her website. Lots of recipes which is what I want.

In the meantime, drinking my fresh vegetable juice:
1c celery
1c cucumber
1c carrot
1/4c kale

Gotta go lighter on the kale........bittah!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sweetwater Cabin

With the family at the cabin. The weather could not have been more beautiful. The spring, as clear as I last remember, but where were the larger fish? They finally arrived at 4pm, though only two of them. One of the large mouth bass ate a smaller fish and soon after left the spring with no further interest in remaining in the vicinity. Rather business-like of him.

I was a bit unhappy to learn that some catfish had taken up residence because they had been described to me as being non-native to Florida which didn't seem right in this most Florida of settings amongst the palmettos and racoons, hawks, deer and other wildlife.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

6pm Kelly

A bit of pain in my right hip today. Glad that tomorrow has to be a day off so I can check on my friend who had emergency surgery. Then I will be out of town for the weekend with the family.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Day Off

Very tired. Makin' sketti. Wholewheat of course. I have to go to the 6pm class which means I don't get home til around 9pm. So tonight I'm making the hubby's favorite dinner.

I'm lucky that my husband has started growing the wheatgrass. I've also got plans to grow sunflower, buckwheat and pea sprouts. These are considered the most nutritious. I'll be eating them in salad as well as using them to make the green juice. I just have to figure out how I can make 48 ounces of juice daily and not take an hour.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

6pm w/Lynn

Oww. My muscles are sore today. And I'm really feeling the soreness in the right hip.

Made 4 ounces of wheatgrass (2 oz each for myself and husband) then 8 ounces of green juice (kale and various leafy greens) which I also shared with hubby. Then a green smoothie in the blender for later in the day. Yeow. That took an hour. Lucky that I was up really early. Obviously will need to do something about getting a decent electric juicer. The little manual juicer is great for juicing wheatgrass but Hippocrates recommends three 8oz (or is it 12 ounces) glasses of green juice each day. That's too much time since it's best to make it in the morning.

Monday, April 6, 2009

6pm w/Kelly

Another good class with Kelly. Felt very flexible and good. Pushed harder today.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

10am w/Kelly

Great class. Warrior pose. Kelly's instructions to lean the "right shoulder back" [left leg was forward] just opened everything up. Even Kelly said "whoa!".

There was an asian lady in front who did the most perfect chair sequence. Wow. I cannot do that third posture (with knees pressed together)at all. It should not be a strength issue. Maybe there is one small weak link that needs strengthening.

While everything is loosening up and I'm feeling stronger and more flexible, the injury in the right hip keeps me from bending forward in Janushirasana with Paschimottanasana - Head to knee pose with Stretching pose. Since the head must touch the knee, I basically pull the knee all the way up to my head. So I'm going through the motions.

After class, I stopped at Whole Foods and bought some sunflower sprouts, baby spinach, and strawberries. Before making the salad, I rinsed the sprouts because the Master Grower at Hippocrates had said to always rinse the sprounts because they are still alive. I didn't ask why, hopefully, I'll find out later. Made a spinach & sprout salad. Tasted so good. I think the taste buds are changing.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Hippocrates Health Institute

Spent the day at the Hippocrates Health Institute.

There was a short course with the Chef Ken on raw cuisine. He showed us how to make flax crackers, tacos and red pepper corn salsa. He used a Vita-Mix Blender and dehydrator to make the crackers. He had some already made for us to taste. Now, I've purchased some flax crackers at Whole Foods and at a raw cuisine restaurant but these were much more delicate and tastier than those I've tried before. The girl sitting next to me opened her eyes wide with approval as we devoured our crackers. It was comforting to know that such goodies could be made with not that much work. However, it does take time, lots of time. Dehydrating usually takes 24 hours, sometimes more here in humid Florida.

Chef Ken said that the focus at the Institute is health and secondarily on taste. Hopefully, at the Institute they have both. But the foundation of the diet is sprouts and wheatgrass juice. The stuff made in the dehydrator (pizza, tacos, crackers, cookies) were considered "condiments". He also said that sugar in whatever form is still sugar and he wasn't telling us that we couldn't have it, because it is our choice, I got the feeling that I wouldn't be seeing anything like the chocolate hazelnut tort that I shared with my niece at the raw restaurant, Cafe 118. Since I would want to learn the "right way", it makes me feel more confident about the Hippocrates Institute though a little sad about the chocolate. I gave up coffee quite quickly and easily and yes, I sometimes linger by the roaster at Whole Foods and take a deep whiff, but must everything go?

At the beginning of the lunch buffet all I could see were mounds and mounds of the cleanest, freshest sprouts of all kinds. I have to say that they were ... well... beautiful. Like a beautiful lawn, but I never thought about eating my front yard. I got a little worried til I got to the end of the buffet and found the salad dressings and tacos. Whew! I grabbed some olives too and some what turned out to be very crispy pieces of dulse. Obviously dehydrated. Dulse chips?

At lunch I dined with two ladies. One local and the other, rather elderly, who was dealing with cancer. She was doing the three week program where you detox and learn the skills you need to take home with you. She had just completed her first week so I asked her if she felt better. She very enthusiastically said "yes!" and then picked up her dulse chip and said "I just love these".

She said that she had met people from all over the world that had come to learn at Hippocrates. I confided that I had come today with the purpose of checking out the place. When I mentioned that I was a teacher and on a teacher's salary and that the price was a bit high to be here, the other woman pulled out her card. She is a realtor and knows some people that live close by that could give me a better deal to stay nearby. Hmmmmm.....I'm definitely interested.

We were also shown the greenhouse and how to grow sprouts & wheatgrass by the greenhouse manager, Michael. He is very passionate about what he does and extremely knowledgeable. Before arriving I had thought, couldn't I just get this from books or DVD or youtube? But I learned so much more and the grounds were so beautiful. They have 40 acres. It's in West Palm Beach so it is subtropical and just beautifully maintained.

Michael said that he has seen so many people come through with cancer and seen their tumors shrink from (using both hands to make a big circle) to a pea. Basically, the foundation of the diet is wheatgrass juice and sprouts. Wheatgrass juice is very close to hemoglobin which provides oxygen to the cells. Cancer cannot survive in oxygen. So many diseases go into remission because of the oxygenation. Anyways, really glad that I went.

Long drive and I'm a bit tired now. Exhilirated and pooped.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Cute Little Wheatgrass Juicer



It only takes a few minutes to juice and clean it and it's light and cute. What else do you want in a juicer?

Oh... I almost forgot ... it's very quiet.

Yes, at some point I will have to get a big, loud juicer that can crank out the volume but I'll always remember that I fell in love with this little guy first...♥

8am w/Debora

Tomorrow off.

Day seven in a row. Woo hoo. So I've proved to myself that upping to five days a week is certainly doable. I'm not going to do a 30-day challenge yet because if I only get 27 days .... well you see.. i just wrote "only". So there is a feeling of failure even though I would have made it 90% of the time.

My real challenge is to achieve consistency in the long run. So it's more important to develop the routine now and then still be going strong six months from now. I can get all inspired and go for a while then stop. Like the lion so ferocious on the kill and then sleeps two weeks. Other Leos out there?

In the meantime, it felt like I went deeper into camel. Seems like my backbend is coming along. The standing bow seems to have improved. The standing leg feels solid and now I'm bending forward more and there's more of a curve in the bend.

There is a muscle in my right hip that was pulled a few weeks ago and I can still feel it so I'm taking care not to re-injure it. It basically affects the bending forward/compression postures. Especially standing head to knee and head to knee pose with stretching.

The 90 minutes is going quicker and that feels good although in practice today, I felt a bit weak like I should have eaten a piece of banana before class. Though it does seem incredulous that I need to eat and can't just live off my fat for a week...

Change!

I teach ninth graders. This was a career change and it's now my fourth year. I'm constantly amazed at how the smallest "tweak" will change the same lesson from a disaster to a success. One "tweak" are my instructions. From "who knows the answer to this question?" to "Now, I'm going to ask a question, if you know the answer raise your hand...don't say anything... just raise your hand..." With that adjustment in my directions, I go from a situation where students are shouting out answers and trying to have conversations to an orderly response....most times...

So in Bikram, as we transition between postures, the instructor will say 'change' and I cannot help but notice that many of us will flop out of the position.

The 'CH' sound itself is a stronger sound so it has more force behind it. So when they want us to move more abruptly the word 'change' is more effective. However, when they want us to transition more slowly out of the position maybe there are other ways of saying that to get the desired effect. How about "now....slowly move out of the posture"? Of course, in a posture like standing bow where I'm just waiting to POP out of that pose, I'd like to hear "Change!" as soon as possible.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Right after making my green smoothie tonight, I noticed that the base of the Cuisinart had some "black dust" and oil on it. It looks like the base is grinding the black pastic teeth a bit. I think I'm pushing it beyond its capacity. And like my hip muscle, it's gonna blow. So I'm researching online to find a more powerful blender than the poor Cuisinart that can whack those raw beets and collards into a tasty drink. It should have a big enough motor that it could just mow the lawn too. That's not a bad idea, maybe it could come with a special attachment that would juice that lawn grass right into a shot glass for my daily regimen.... hmmmm

8am Class w/Moo

Only three of us. But the other two are dedicated yogis so it was a focused class. Moo has a soft voice so the class takes on a more meditative quality. Not that I mind being barked at by a would-be drill sargeant, just that I respond better to this style. I still push as hard but I'm better able to focus on what I'm doing rather than pushing my body too hard and getting hurt.

Day six in a row. Feels good. So I've accomplished what I had hoped to during this spring break. Simply to go to a class every day for at least six days in a row to see what the stamina would be like. I'm also pleased to find that my stamina has been fine.

The muscle in the right hip is still tender but I am able to do most of the postures. Just have to be careful with the bending forward poses where the lower back gets pulled/stretched.

I'm back in my fat jeans! Yay! We must celebrate the incremental changes which will eventually lead to the ultimate goals. Of course, once I'm skinny and glowing, that goal will replaced by even worthier ones.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Renewed Vows

So I signed up with the new Bikram studio on March 1st with the intention of going at least 4x per week. I'm happy to report that goal was accomplished.

I also decided to change my diet. Right now, I just want to fit back into my FAT jeans.

However...I want to lose the weight while glowing with health.

So, I've spent some time reading raw food blogs and hanging out in the book section at Whole Foods rather than journaling.

So I've decided to begin the transition by drinking wheatgrass and drinking green juices at Whole Foods. Regarding wheatgrass. It smells just like freshly mowed grass. And it tastes like fresh mowed lawn too. As one wheatgrass expert said on his blog... no one likes the taste of wheatgrass and you don't want to hang out with the few that do. So there. I learned a vital lesson about green juices... not only are they high in nutrition... they also kill the taste of the wheatgrass. argh!

After a month of ordering my wheatgrass shots at Whole Foods, I figured that the taste wouldn't kill me so I was prepared to purchase a wheatgrass juicer. Luckily, I found a manual juicer online that only costs $50, including the shipping. It works very well and it's kinda cute. I've saved myself the $399 on an electric version so that's major shopping points right there...

Whole foods conveniently sells bags of wheatgrass which is nice since I'm not at the grow my own phase yet. I learned that my husband is willing to take his green medicine too so I'm really happy that I invested in the little juicer.

In the fourth week of yoga practice, I really began to feel a change. If I could use only one word, I would have to say "calmness". It feels to me that the diet is complementing the yoga practice quite nicely. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there are a lot of yogis eating raw foods.

Now, for April, what am I going to do, as Emeril says, to "kick it up a notch"?

For April I will do Bikram 5x per week. But I need to get organized. So, for that reason, I'm doing a "stay-cation" this spring break week instead of taking an "away" vacation.

That means only one thing..... shopping!

During the "stay-cation" I grind wheatgrass in my new juicer and pour it into the new shot glasses I purchased especially for serving them. These glasses look a little like the communion glasses at church. To deliver the holy green liquid to my Catholic husband. har har. Then I make a green smoothie and pour it into the new travel drink cups and place them into the new little cooler for the car ride. And, of course, with going to the studio every day, I'm not always going to be able to wash/repack the yoga clothes & towels so voila! a couple of new aubergine colored microfiber hot yoga towels. They were so nice it would have been a crime to not get the matching yoga mat....