{"id":12927,"date":"2016-01-05T22:09:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T06:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/?p=12927"},"modified":"2016-01-09T09:52:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T17:52:29","slug":"exploring-the-art-of-cleansing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/healthy-living\/healthy-food\/exploring-the-art-of-cleansing\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Art of Cleansing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many of us, perhaps there were many excesses during the holiday season? Did you have one too many chocolate kisses? A slice of or an extra slice of that special cake ? Rich foods you normally pass up – did you make an exception last week because it’s … the holiday season ? Did your yoga practice or exercise program get off the track because … it’s the holiday season? It’s a celebration feast or you were traveling or … you had out of town guests? They are all valid reasons\/excuses … it was the holiday season ! We are lucky to even have this “problem” as sadly, unlike the reports in the mainstream, many had another kind of a problem – a bit of hunger<\/a>, yes, in USA, supposedly the richest country in the world.<\/p>\n

So for the lucky ones who truly experienced if not the spiritual, at least the physical “abundance”, we come back to the mat, the studios, the gyms, the tracks, the weights … with all kind of New Years Resolution – most typically to lead a more healthy lifestyle and on the superficial level, to many lucky ones who got to indulge (I did not say gluttony!) – that means – weight loss. <\/p>\n

In that vein, it is noted that if you slip into the excesses, the binges, the let go and eat whatever comes your way during the last 30+ days, most are feeling a bit of “guilt” and go into shaking off that guilt by setting unrealistic New Years Resolution. Guilt is not a good way to start the year – Let go of Guilt, Shame, Fear … <\/p>\n

To lose weight – isn’t it simple ? You exercise more and you eat less. Simple, No? Actually No. You can eat more and exercise “right” with intelligence … That “exercise” does not just mean mindless workouts but a work-in to better balance the nervous system and the hormones, glands\/chemicals in our body – and for our internal organs to function with more effectiveness and efficiently to keep disease at bay. Seemingly counter-intuitive, yoga style such as Restorative Yoga actually aids in weight management as another name for this style is called a “Rest & Digest” yoga and it’s about not only digesting in a physical sense but in a psychic sense as well … No surprise, I lost 10 lbs once I was doing regular restorative practice – Before, I was burning enough calories and I was eating less calories but … Our body is not based on simple arithmetic of calorie count – it’s more complicated. We are each, complicated but the solution is surprisingly … simple.<\/p>\n

So … one thing we do want to do is give our digestion a little break – meaning, it’s been worked to overdrive during the holiday season to digest digest and eliminate and your GIT is a bit … tired. In fact, so tired from the irregularity from travels or excesses from indulging and no longer functioning to digest optimally nor eliminate properly. It’s like after too much partying, one is … tired. Let’s give our GIT a little break the first 2 weeks of 2016. It’s in the Japanese tradition as well to PAUSE 7 days after the New Year by cleansing the system by eating a very simple plain food, “Nanakusagayu” – seven herbs porridge…<\/p>\n

It’s not dieting but cleansing… so difficult living in the regular world where “celebration” is synonymous with eating – nothing wrong with that as long as it’s truly nourishing. EAT, Eat, eat … it’s okay after pressing that PAUSE button. Then that REFRESH button.<\/p>\n

Apparently Americans on the average gain 5-10 lbs during the holiday season – gasp ! And as I fearfully got on the scale I had avoided, I am an “average” – from 116lb to 121lbs. I am so … normal? I indulged in MOCHI too much … it shows.<\/p>\n

So … what to do?<\/p>\n

Exploring how to do it without losing my energy and level of activity…
\nor some might say, “sense of humor”:)
\nResearching. Just cutting out refined white sugar and any kind of meat may have to do for now.
\nKushi’s Macrobiotic<\/a>-ish meals to start as soon as I finish these wonderful biscotti baked by a student.
\nBarbara’s Biscotti, Bravo Biscotti is delicious … sharing:)<\/p>\n

Thank you Barbara for such a sweet gift ! Your Biscotti is delicious. I love the scent of cinnamon – such a treat.
\nThank you !<\/p>\n

Reminded, cleansing and purifying is not about austerity but … nourishing and loving everything that was made with love and care – which includes none other than …YOU. When food is made with love and care, it’s all good.
\nThe energy in bedded in that food is that of … love and care. How could it not be …
\nGOOD.<\/p>\n

photos to follow …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like many of us, perhaps there were many excesses during the holiday season? Did you have one too many chocolate kisses? A slice of or an extra slice of that special cake ? Rich foods you normally pass up – did you make an exception last week because it’s … the holiday season ? Did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12927"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12927"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12950,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12927\/revisions\/12950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wagayoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}