A Spiritual Mom’s Yogic Journey through Life: Follow Your Bliss???

When I hear/see spiritual people saying “follow your bliss” I always cringe.

If I followed my “bliss” all the time I might be sleeping late, sitting around eating bon bons and drinking cappuccinos! I get what they are trying to say~listen to your heart, do what drives you deeply, I get that it’s not that superficial; but do the majority of people get that? Ahhh Discernment…..

The spiritual path is hard! Hate to say it guys but it’s work…….It takes DISCIPLINE, actually giving up what you might “think” you need (like soda for me!), and it’s not always blissful or pleasant! That is why it’s so important to have a teacher, spiritual friend or therapist to be able to gently confront you on your “demoting habits” or blocks.

Yogi Bhajan our teacher tells us:

“Let me teach you about meditation. When you meditate, the entire garbage of the subconscious starts floating. Meditation is not pleasant. Meditation cannot be pleasant, otherwise it is not meditation. You are doing something else. Meditation is just cleaning the house. Now, you have a Hoover going on, and you say there was no noise? There is no dust? How is that possible? Whenever you are going to clean the house, you are going to see the whole thing upside down, and when you are going to release the subconscious, you are going to find not only dirt of this life, but of lives and lives and lives and lives and lives”.

I also love this quote from Dr. Mark Vinick, Ayurvedic Specialist, “If you are in balance you crave that which keeps you in balance, BUT if you are out of balance, you crave that which keeps you out of balance, ah ha! Hmmm so, if I am craving a big steak or a shot of tequila (which I never do btw, I crave other things), does that mean I eat/drink/do it because “my body is craving it?…I’m following my bliss damnet!!!!” Well, no, or maybe…….I might need to look deeper into what’s going on with me spiritually, emotionally, physically.

Your mind might be craving it, not the body. That is why I highly recommend eating 80% whole foods in most of your diet, and yoga and meditation (everyday) as part of your regular routine. The mind WILL lie to you, clean it out.

I have done cleanses in the past…my favorite is the http://21daydetox.com. This was my 5th time to do this particular cleanse thanks to Marla Wedge, my food guru. I did it 2x a year and believe me 21 days REALLY can change your life. You get really clear that the mind is addicted to a lot more than the body. You tune in deeply to your eating patterns and habits and detox spiritually, emotionally and physically.

There are 3 levels to this cleanse, so it really is for everyone! I love it because it is ALL food, no crazy suppliments or added stuff, just the “superfood” in your morning shake. This video I made is the main thing you eat on the cleanse called “energy soup” the last 7 days, or if you are an experienced cleanser you can jump into this the second week of the menu and eat it for 2 weeks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6jsVq2EpU0

My sister always asks me why I do these things, like getting off sugar and coffee, doing 90 day sadhanas, cleansing, etc…..”why do you make yourself suffer?” she says (the suffering part is optional). Well, in yoga we call it “Tapas”~according to Wikipedia~”in the yogic tradition, tapasya may be translated as “essential energy”, referring to a focused effort leading towards bodily purification and spiritual enlightenment”. I call it “Discipline”.

Challenging yourself to grow and change; to NOT get stuck in old demoting habits. Yogi Bhajan asks us to observe our daily habits, they make us who we are. Are they “promoting” or “demoting”? Are they serving your highest aspirations/self or not. If they are not-DROP them.

It takes 40 days to change a habit, that is why in Kundalini Yoga traditionally we do 40 day sadhanas. Jump in, do it! Here’s a Kriya you can do for 40 days to help you cleanse/deal with addictions! https://www.3ho.org/3ho-lifestyle/health-and-healing/kriya-healing-addictions

Also I don’t think some people are aware that sometimes you do feel worse before you feel better! Do you know about the Herxheimer Reaction?

“The Herxheimer Reaction is a short-term (from days to a few weeks) detoxification reaction in the body. As the body detoxifies, it is not uncommon to experience flu-like symptoms including headache, joint and muscle pain, body aches, sore throat, general malaise, sweating, chills, nausea or other symptoms.

This is a normal — and even healthy — reaction that indicates that parasites, fungus, viruses, bacteria or other pathogens are being effectively killed off. The biggest problem with the Herxheimer reaction is that people stop taking the supplement or stop the “cleanse” that is causing the reaction, and thus discontinue the very treatment that is helping to make them better. Although the experience may not make you feel particularly good, the Herxheimer Reaction is actually a sign that healing is taking place”.

It’s the same thing with Kundalini Yoga! You are “cleaning house” bringing up the garbage of your past, shining the light of awareness on things you might have been pushing down for years. I literally sobbed my first 5 years of Kundalini Yoga healing my “pain body” I had stuffed so much down for sooooo long……people thought I was having an emotional break down, but I was acutally healing!

Get support, show up, and do the work! I can help! I promise it gets easier…..And be careful “following your bliss” he he!