Daily Practice- Seven Simple Steps!
“The best teacher is Daily Practice”
Here is a song that taught you how to live; Row Row Row the Boat!
According to Jeanne Calment age 122. The secret to longevity and health is to “keep a sense of humor, it’s healthy!”
Dr Dean says – Breathe and Move stay in the groove! Live in the breath and you will put off death. Laugh, breathe and live in the Wow of Now! Sun of a gun we are all one!
1. Wake up SLOWLY – Wiggle Every Joint While Breathing. Like a cat, stretch, yawn and move.
Notice your breath & wiggle into your body! Move your toes, hands and rotate your ankles and wrists while you breathe. Stretch your arms and legs! Make yourself longer. Take some slow intentional breaths! Take 6 seconds to in hale and hold for 3 seconds and then exhale for 6 seconds! Do this again and tighten every muscle but don’t strain, hold for 3 seconds then let your breath out. Do a few of these full body cinches then relax for a few moments and notice and appreciate the body sensations. Before you get out of bed wiggle and breathe into every joint and muscle. Visualize putting a nose where ever there is pain, tension or stiffness and breathe into that area for a few breaths. Key to staying loose is to ” touch what is tender, stretch or release what is tight, bend breathe and move and loosen what’s tight! Do this am/pm!
2. Balance the Brain – perform Alternate Nostril Breathing to prepare your brain to meet the day! Why not embrace the day with your head on straight? Perform 7 rounds of Alternate Nostril Breathing which is very important and takes about 3 minutes.
How to- plug one nostril and take 6 counts to inhale thru the open nostril. Hold for 3 counts and exhale out the other nostril for 6 counts by plugging the one nostril you inhaled thru and exhale out the other side. Hold for 3 counts and then inhale in the same side and again hold for 3 counts. Finish by exhaling out the initial nostril for 6 counts. Example – in hale for 6 counts through the left, hold for 3 counts then exhale out the right for 6 counts. Hold your exhale out for 3 counts then in hale in the right for 6 counts hold for 3 counts and the exhale out the left nostril for 6 counts. That is one round. Perform 7 rounds to clear and revitalize your brain.
Other amazing breathing techniques include: Kapalbhati= breath of fire, Alternate nostril / pumping.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6d7_oJGzKQ&sns=em
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvtx62lUho0&sns=em
3. Meditate Am – Pm
15- 60 minutes works really well but even 5 minutes is helpful! Best to pick a spot not in your bed room if possible according to Tradition! Some place quiet with little to no distractions works best.
Buddha said, stay with the breath and or some body sensation all your waking day!
With sitting meditation 2 minutes or 2 hours matters not? It’s about mindfulness! Soon you will find you will want to sit for longer and longer periods. The important thing is ” the continuity of practice” daily for 5 minutes reaps better results than 2 hours on Saturday.
Sit still, close your eyes and relax! Notice your breath going in and out of your nostrils. Notice the breath coming in is slightly cooler than the breath going out. Keep your mind on the area above your upper lip and below your nostrils for several breaths. When your mind wonders bring it back to this small area gently and be patient everyone’s mind will wonder and race around. Remember we all have a monkey mind that wants to swing from one thought to another like a monkey swinging thru the trees grasping one brach after another. With time you will be able to stay focused on this area for longer and longer periods. Never get mad or impatient, ” Just Observe, just observe what is! Notice and appreciate that which is the Now
4. Marinate your mind in thoughts of the Divine!
My first morning thoughts!
Once my body and mind are awake and in sync I take several Thank You Breaths. On the inhale I say thank on the exhale I say you. I do this as long as I feel the need, especially when I feel charged up about something or someone, depressed, lost, angry or just grateful.
There is an old saying – ” The whole you give thru is the whole you receive thru.” When we give we get! When I start my day in gratitude I open up my day to receiving more. My AM and Pm bed time thoughts start with giving thanks for all my relations, for all my challenges, for all my teachers! For this beautiful planet we live on and the opportunity to be in service another day, to make a difference and remember to play! Every day when I wake up I know what I am here to do!
To Live Fully, To Love Openly and to Serve Greatly!
How I accomplish this matters not to me. I could be at work, or the store or out on my bike! Who ever I meet where ever I am, doing what ever I am doing makes no difference. My commitment to loving service is always paramount! I then send out Metta or what is often called a “mental love letter” or T- Mail. to some one or some thing; a stranger I saw sitting on the street corner, my daughter or some animal in need. Thoughts are things and they are very powerful and transforming. So be aware and take care! Think only what you want because what you think you expand. Trust enough to let go and let it flow knowing that when you believe in the Wow of Now it always works out for your best interest even if at the time it is painful. Life happens for you Not to You!
I do this same routine when I go to bed. I review my day what I learned, what I did and any thing I feel I need to amend I do it before bed. If I yelled at someone I forgive myself and send them love. You can do anything in a T- mail = telepathic email. I then set a few thoughts up in my head for tomorrow and let my subconscious marinate them while asleep. If I want to meet some one who I can help or who can help me I ask for support. Prayer is powerful but I use prayer to give thanks! If I need or what something I ask questions? How can I …. What should I do…. Where should I go…? I allow time to reflect remembering ” Patience is the ultimate martial art”
5. Hydrate – Get up and drink 2 – 10 ounce glasses of water first thing! Add fresh squeezed lemon and or a little sea salt. I put chia, hemp and flax seeds in my water bottle. It provides great protein to keep the blood sugar level, lots of essential fatty acids ( omega 3) and excellent fiber and nutrition to help hydrate and scrub out the colon. Not to mention more anti oxidants then blueberries. It is so good to flush the toxins and waste out of the body that your body has cleared from the organs and tissues while you were sleeping.
Bathing use a natural brush to scrub your whole body. Fasting and cleansing is a great way to renew and recharge your body. I suggest doing this every change of season for 5 -10 days. Herbal formulas that you take orally for bowel, liver, blood and kidney flushes are excellent to do in conjunction with colonics. Steam baths, aerobic exercise and hot sweat lodges are also excellent ways to clean the body of accumulate toxins.
6. Food Tips – don’t eat heavy foods at night! ” At night eat light, in the morning use watery warming, at noon leave room”. Eat according to your bodies energy needs! For example if you eat a lot of calories at night and go to bed the body does not burn the calories up they will get shuttled into storage. Lips to hips! If you over eat the blood goes from your brain and muscles to the gut to help with digestion and absorption. This causes the brain and muscular systems to slow down and work less efficiently. If you eat heavy or don’t leave 2-3 hours before bed time after dinner you will wake up with a food hang-over feeling stiff and groggy.
Best diets I believe in general are organic Live Food diets; Vegetarian and Paleo Diets which including probiotics, nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies and high quality proteins ie . ( mushrooms, beans, quinoa, chia, hemp, flax and Bee pollens from fruit & flower. These are all great meat substitutes with little environmental pollution if you buy certified organic foods. Eat organic it’s good for the planet!
Remember – Anything that spikes your blood sugar causes inflammation which is the root problem with many major diseases, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes. Not to mention that coffee, carbonated, and sugary juices like orange cause inflammation and can reeks havoc on stomach PH and harm your intestinal flora, which have been shown to influence health and emotions. Current research is demonstrating that we have over 100 Trillion microbes in and on our body that when disrupted can cause all sorts of imbalances, diseases and even effect our emotions.
Copy and paste this link to here the latest about microbes in our bodies and the importance of having good flora! By Dr Mercola on Ted Talks.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/17/human-microbiome.aspx?x_cid=20140517_lead_facebookdoc&utm_source=facebookdoc&utm_medium=social&utm_content=lead&utm_campaign=20140517
7. Daily Stretching- do everyday – warm up every joint with the breath. flex, extend, side bend, twist, hang every day every where! Store, work, car! Breathe and move!
When disoriented, angry or just feeling off – Ground your energy by breathing in while standing on toes and clinch your fists then throw your Qi back into the earth while dropping down on your heels three times!
After any exercise or intense breathing exercises -Wash your Qi !
Start by rubbing every part of your body three times with your hands! Go slow or hold your hands over problem areas. Everyone is a healer!
Go Start your day- “The whole you give thru is the whole you receive thru.” Get by giving. Living For Giving! It’s about We not Me!
What ever you are doing, do it mindfully! Being grateful lights up your brain and delivers you “Brain Candy” ie. Endorphins and other happy hormones. Service to others and being in Nature are the two most powerful ways to feel connected and good about yourself. Go take a walk daily, let the sun in your eyes and breathe deep- take your shoes off and feel the earth when possible. Churn the vinegar into honey by living in the breath!
Go do what you like but like what you do, be grateful and caring, let the world come to you!
Be well, Dr Dean & Amanda.
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