body

Coming into alignment with my life: Fasting, Contemplation, and Yoga

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Today I kicked off a new direction.  A new re-engagement of my path.  I am choosing to live a more whole-hearted existence.  Even as someone that engages a more direct spiritual path, I sometimes find myself at odds with what I truly want from life and from my path.   I feel at times we really get caught in the actions of giving, and we do not take time for receiving.  I am now going into a place of balance.

When I feel the world around in flux, I move into the internal landscapes.  I am about to engage on a new path, and its time to cleanse and take responsibility for all that is in my life.

So it begins.  I am starting a 40 day (maybe longer) fast.  Now, to some this sounds like an impossibility and/or perhaps a bit loony.  Well, of course!  Taking full ownership of what we put into our bodies is a radical idea.  Food is a source of power and potential.  Its is energy.  It gives us fuel, but we often surrender power away to our food choices.

When I engage in a fast, I go hardcore.  So here are my eating parameters:

  1. I am only drinking water
  2. I am only eating simple non-processed raw foods
  3. I am only going to purchase foods with minimal/no packaging
  4. I will eat a balance of carbohydrates/fats/proteins
  5. I will be kind to myself and those around me while in the detox phase of this dietary transition.

Ok, so why line number 5?  Well, I am starting this in the middle of a Mercury and Uranus retrograde, after being bombarded by solar flares… So, I have to be sure that I am kind to myself, but more so those around me.  When we detox the body starts to purge away toxins stored in the organs, the muscles and fatty tissues.  This can make us initially feel sluggish, weak, and for lack of a scientific term.. BLAH.  We tend to lash out at those that are closest to us in these times, so we have to watch where our actions may be taking us within this space of cleanse.

**Also a special note to loved ones of those engaging in a fast/cleanse:  Be kind to those engaging in this spiritual pursuit.  It’s not easy aligning the body, mind, and spirit through relinquishment of our favorite food stuffs.  Don’t tempt us away from the journey by offering us things that are not in alignment with our goals, support us in our journey towards alignment, and be part of the process through actions of love.

Along with the food parameters I am also adding some lifestyle changes that to this process, as well as some daily tasking that I am to take on:

  1. I am going to do 1 creative thing a day.  Draw, paint, write a poem, sketch, write a story, etc.  I’ll be posting those on this blog.
  2. I am to reduce my ecological footprint as much as possible.  (I’ll discuss this in a bit)
  3. I am to reduce the amount of stuff that I am holding onto.  This is to include clothing, books, ritual items, etc that is no longer serving me towards my goals of alignment.
  4. I am to live a more simple life.  In action and words.  (more on this in a few)
  5. I am to hand make one or two outfits by hand (this is something I’ve always wanted to do.. I’m going very yogaish… and this is gearing me up towards creating the clothing line for the website launch).
  6. I am only to travel with minimal stuff.  I tend to overpack, and carry too much.  I love my books, and instead of taking 4 books with me on one single journey.. I’m making a resolution to take each book I pick up from start to finish.
  7. Daily personal yoga practice/meditation/contemplation of sacred text
  8. I am to start my day at 4:30 am daily to make full time for spiritual practice.

This sounds like a lot, but it really is just about coming into alignment on a deeper level with a lot of things that are currently in my experience.

I am also taking this time to engage a higher level of responsibility for the world around me.  I’m reading a pretty amazing book called: “Radical Simplicity by Jim Merkel”.  The book helps takes you through a process of acknowledging what your eco footprint is and how you can start to reduce that by leaps and bounds.

I am also taking this time to journal more.  To engage introspection on a deeper level.  Daily readings, predictions, channeling and being in spirits energy.

I am also moving towards aligning myself with my community more, which is another reason for the new website.  This will have its own post soon, and its going to be pretty amazing.. so stay tuned!

I am also going to move towards living my yoga completely.  I at one point thought about the possibility of taking my initiated yoga name as my legal name, I’ve been in contemplation of this for a few days now… I am going to realign with that name energetically as I feel it helps me to integrate my spiritual self into my mundane life.

There are a few of you that have expressed coming on this journey with me.  This is a great time for alignment.  Fasting, centering, and breathing are great ways to begin this process.

What are you willing to part with, and for how long?  Fasting can take many forms, and not always food.  You can fast from Facebook, talking, sugar, coffee, etc.  The idea is to regain your power, to hold onto center and to be in alignment with what you want from this experience.

Set a time limit, and remember–there is no failure. We start, and then we stop.  If we stop before we reach the finish line, it gives us a chance to see where we still may be in limitation… this will allow you to come into alignment with actions of expansion.  When we are aware of where we are, we have the power to move forward.

I am also going to be more cautious with the things that I say.  So, if I appear quiet, it is not that something is wrong, or that I am upset, or that I am ignoring you.  It is me, absorbing the beauty of each experience, and then reaching out through that energy with words that are filled with spirit instead of just reacting and giving power to things that do not deserve it.

There are lots of positive changes just on the horizon.  What are you doing to engage your path?  What are you doing to be more in the body?

Stay tuned, much, much more to come!

Mahayogi Das, CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

Body Modification aka You Are TATTED UP

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Everyday I step out into the world and I turn heads.  I wear a colorful face and my spirituality is written on my skin. Many people ask me why I would do such a thing, but the truth is we all engage in body modification on some level.  If you dye your hair, diet, wear those “slimming belts”, put on make up, cut your hair, or any number of other changes–you have engaged in body modification.  Some of us take this a step further.  For me tattoos and piercings are an act of spirituality.  Each one tells my story, each one holds a memory, and each one allows me to call in new energy.  The symbols I have chosen to wear are sacred, but some of them are just personal.   Judgement, fear, and disconnection hold us apart from looking through the windows and often times we only see the walls we place between one another.  One of the things I love about my tattoos are they take people out of their hurried lives and into a new moment.  Even if it’s just for a second, we connect…Even if they look at me with judgement, we connect.  It’s a beautiful thing.  That kind of spirituality is much deeper than the ink in my skin.

M. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip 03/6/12

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Here are your Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tips!

Fitness:  Start small.  Like anything, if we make the fitness process complicated or overwhelming, we are going to be less likely to do it.  Start small and easy.  As soon as your feet hit the floor do 1 lunge, 1 push up, or one 10 second plank.  If then you feel like adding a little extra you can, even if you only do the one, you at least showed up to your fitness practice.  Sometimes getting the energy going can be the hardest part, and showing up is essential.  Just being present and fully conscious in that first push up of the day can make a big difference in how the rest of your day will go.  Start today!

Nutrition: Plan ahead.  My theory on planning is simple: If you have time to tweet, email, or Facebook–you have time to schedule your meals for the week.  Many of us live busy lives, and being busy causes us to reach out in convenience.  If you did not plan ahead and forgot to bring your healthy snacks, then that bag of chips becomes that much more attractive.  It only takes a few moments to pack some veggies, nuts or even to decide where you will go.  Busy lives also do not always sneak up on us.  We know when we can expect things to typically go haywire.  If Tuesdays are always crazy for you, then especially plan to be more mindful on that day.  Stress also causes us to reach out in convenience.  Knowing you have a healthy option at arm’s length can also help to reduce guilt, stress, and anxiety associated with not taking care of yourself.

Post, share, comment, and be present!

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

 

Tuesday Spritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip: 2/28/2012

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Here are your Tuesday spiritual fitness and nutrition tips!

 

Fitness:  Breathe.  It might sound easy, but I see many people in a state of waking apnea.  Breath is motion, it is essential to life.  When we take control of the breath and breathe with intention we can move stagnation out of the body.  When we hold our breath it is hard to move.  As a fitness trainer I see many people huffing and puffing through workouts, some even turning bright shades of red by holding the breath.  If you do not breathe during a workout:  The blood pressure rises, your core weakens, and you can’t give 100% to the exercise since you will tire out quickly.  Try running while holding your breath.  It’s almost impossible.  We we become conscious of the breath not only in working out, but in our daily lives we see where stagnation is present, and we take responsibility for moving through it.  When the breath controls us, we end up hyperventilating.  Take a moment today and see where you might be holding your breath.  Exhale through the experience, inhale in new experiences.

Nutrition: Balance.  Sometime in our desire to be mega healthy we forget about balancing out our nutrition.  When we want to build muscle we may focus on trying to get as much protein as possible, but forget it is carbohydrates that fuel the body through those strenuous workouts.  Certain levels of fats must also be taken into the body for vitamin uptake and energy.  I’ve said it before, and I can’t stress enough the use of a diet journal.  It does not need to be complex, but a place where you can scan your intake and see where you might be lacking.  A simple dietary intake for those living an active lifestyle is: 60% of calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 10% from fats.  You take the amount of calories you are planning to intake and multiply that number by the percentage (or use a calculator) and this will give you the amount of C/P/F you are supposed to intake for the day.  Don’t get too hung up on exact numbers, but this is a simple guideline for creating balance in your diet.  I’ve never been a big fan of math, but we can make our high school math teachers proud by using simple numbers to create balance in our diets.

 

Comment, share, and grow!

 

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip: 21 Feb 2012

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Here is your spiritual fitness and nutrition tip!  Enjoy, get moving, and create the best you possible!

Fitness:  The fitness world can be an overwhelming place to step into.  Just like any new addition to your life you’ll want to take some time to educate yourself on what fitness is and how you can best apply it to your life.  Reading books about fitness, other people’s journey into fitness, blogs, and even watching you tube videos on fitness can be a great way to get the ball rolling.  This is a time you want to really activate your discernment.  Trust your intuition when it comes to the things you are reading.  The one true axiom in fitness is: “If it is too good to be true, it probably is.”  Do not trust quick fixes and promises.  Skip over advertisements and read about processes, workouts, and application of techniques.  Even reading a few books on anatomy to learn about how the body works can help you understand the process your body goes through when moving into a greater state of health.  Often we go running into new things without arming ourselves with the information necessary to be effective in our pursuits.  Take a few moments to read and grow.  I’ll post some resources in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Nutrition:  Sugar.  Most of us have a love hate relationship with it.  It creeps in to areas of our lives, and in some ways can be addictive.   We also need to take caution with the fruits we are eating.  Many of us give up cakes and cookies and make a transition to heavy fruits.  This is a good thing, but if you are eating too many fruits that are high in sugar you can also create the same overload effect.  This is especially important if you have sugar issues like diabetes or high blood sugar.   You’ll want to supplement your diet with fruits that are low in sugar.  You can check this on the glycemic index.  Even healthy foods have limitations as to quantity you want to consume.  Having a good mixture of low glycemic foods in the body keeps the insulin levels balanced out, which will also keep you feeling satiated.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

The Importance of Physical Fitness in our Spiritual Lives

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We live in a world that is dominated by technology.  We spend our lives moving from one place to another at rapid intervals, speed seems to dominate our direction, and in all this many of us lose the connection to our physical bodies.  I see a lot of very spiritual people who have become very out of touch with their physical bodies.  Everything from how we move, to how we sit, to how we interact with everything in this experience is made possible by the temple we were given by the divine.  If you do not care for the temple it will deteriorate into rubble.  We as divine individuals owe it to ourselves to take charge of our bodies just as much as we devote to ritual, meditation, or crafting community.  Making a move into a healthier is easier than most think.  Most tend to put too much between the desire and the action ex:  We feel that we want to work out, so we first have to research which gym to join, what program we should do, what type of shoes would make the experience better…  Stop adding hurdles to your path and just engage it.  Engaging fitness can be as easy as walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and being mindful of how the body feels.  We often reach out for convenience foods rather than healthier options.  Ordering take out just so that I do not have to get up from my computer is not going to make what I am writing better, and the guilt that often comes with damaging our bodies keeps us in negative loops and patterns.  Would you go to a healer that is constantly sick?   Many lightworkers do more for others than they do for themselves, we readily offer healing yet refuse to just sit in our own space to give ourselves the same healing connection.  What we put into our bodies and how we engage the physical process says a lot about how we are truly dedicated to our paths.

We are given these temples for a short time, we must do all that we can to ensure that we are able to be part of this experience.  A damaged temple ensures that it will not stand long, but it is never too late to do repairs, to tidy up, and to upgrade the carpet.  I am going to be posting a special series on fitness, engaging the mind/body connection, and how to trust your intuition even in the fitness arena.

Take time to be healthy.  Take time to connect to improving your body as much as your spiritual practice.   Take action now.

 

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com