WEEK 3
WEEK THREE: KIDNEYS AND LUNGS CLEANSE (all raw organic diet)
During the third week, you will focus on your Kidneys and Lungs. During this week you will be adding Kidney & Bladder Rejuvenator™ and Lung Rejuvenator™ to the other formulas you are continuing from previous steps. These two formulas will only be taken during week three and will be taken three times per day.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
The Spiritual practice will involve the 5th and 6th principles of each topic as they apply to the Nature of the Kidneys and Lungs.
The Chakra System
The 5th and 6th chakras are going to be main focus for this week, take a look at the Caroline Myss books or website…
http://www.myss.com/library/chakras/
This area of the cleanse is mainly about self expression, self discovery, self-love. Pay close attention to matters of the heart, how we have dealt with loss and hurt, and how we show up in the world– they all stem from these organs and this area. Also, this area is about seeking and living your highest truth. This is a good time to do a ritual of release around these issues– align yourself with your highest vision!
5th Chakra:
The Sanskrit word for the 5th chakra is “Vishuddha” which means “purity.” This is the first of the chakras that focuses primarily on the spiritual plane. The 4th chakra is spiritual, but it is also the bridge between the lower chakras that focus on earth and the upper chakras that deal with spirituality.
The emotion for the 5th chakra is faith and understanding. Because the 5th chakra is located in the throat and governs higher communication, speaking, hearing and listening, it helps us to understand our inner truth and convey it with our voice to the outside world. The sense for the 5th chakra is hearing. Chanting, singing, speaking, reading aloud are all good for the 5th chakra. The vibrations of all these things affect the body down to the cellular level.
The glands/organs/body parts associated with the 5th chakra are:
- Thyroid, parathyroid, jaw, neck, mouth, throat, tongue, larynx
The element for the 5th chakra is ether/space. It is connected to the cosmos, which consists of these elements.
Deficient energy in the 5th chakra can cause neck and shoulder problems, jaw disorders, throat problems, an under active thyroid and a fear of speaking.
On the other hand, excessive energy in the 5th chakra can cause hearing problems, inability to listen, excessive talking and an overactive thyroid.
The color for the 5th chakra is blue, as the color of the sky.
The food for this chakra is fruit and prana (air).
6th Chakra:
“Ajna” is the Sanskrit word for the 6th chakra. It means “beyond wisdom.” It has also been translated to mean “the perception center.”
The 6th chakra is located between, and just above, the eyes. It is often referred to as the “third eye.” This chakra deals with visualization, intuition, imagination and telepathy.
Organ/parts of body associated with the 6th chakra:
- Pituitary gland, eyes, head, lower brain
The emotion for the 6th chakra is “knowing”, an intuitive type of knowing. When this chakra is dominant, one may have clairvoyant abilities…being able to see things that others can’t.
The color is purple/violet, both spiritual colors.
When the energy in the 6th chakra is excessive, it can cause headaches, hallucinations, nightmares and difficulty in concentrating.
But when the energy is deficient, there may be eye problems, poor memory, inability to visualize.
Yoga poses for the 6th chakra are supported forward bends and also eye exercises. Doing positive visualizations can also strengthen this chakra.
Yoga Sutras
Keep the Yamas and Niyamas as your main focus with the yoga sutras, they are filled with great knowledge and wisdom. Also, consider the importance of Pranayama, Pratyahara, and Dharana practices in clearing and aligning the body, and integrate this new information into your experience of yourself.
Patanjali and His Eightfold Path of Yoga
To perform the boat posture simply to get a flatter tummy is missing the boat, according to Patanjali.
Often called the “father of yoga,” Patanjali was the guy who codified his thoughts and knowledge of yoga in The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. In this work, Patanjali compiled 195 sutras or concise aphorisms that are essentially an ethical blueprint for living a moral life and incorporating the science of yoga into your life. Although no one is sure of the exact time when Patanjali lived and wrote down his sutras, it is estimated this humble physician who became one of the world’s greatest sages roamed India somewhere between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D.
In a world where we reduce nearly everything to quick tips and sound bites, Patanjali seems to fit right in with his brief 195 guidelines to enlightenment. But in the case of Patanjali, simplicity is deceptive. In fact, scholars still don’t agree on what Patanjali meant in some of his sutras.
The Yoga Sutra is considered the fundamental text on the system of yoga, and yet you wont find the description of a single posture or asana in it. This is a guide for living the right life. Essentially, Patanjali says, you can’t practice asanas in yoga class, feel the stretch, and then go home to play with your kids, cook a meal, yell at your employees, and cheat on your taxes. There is more to yoga than that — yoga can help you cultivate body, mind, and spiritual awareness.
The heart of Patanjali’s teachings is the eightfold path of yoga. It is also called the eight limbs of Patanjali, because they intertwine like the branches of a tree in the forest. These aren’t commandments (although they sometimes sound like them), laws, or hard and fast rules. These are Patanjali’s suggestions for living a better life through yoga. Here are the eight limbs of Patanjali.
Yama
Yama is social behavior, how you treat others and the world around you. These are moral principles. Sometimes they are called the don’ts or the thou shalt nots. There are five yamas:
- Nonviolence (ahimsa). Do no harm to any creature in thought or deed. In his book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda asks Mahatma Gandhi the definition of ahimsa. Gandhi said, “The avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed.” Yogananda asked if one could kill a cobra to protect a child. Gandhi maintained he would still hold to his vow of ahimsa, but added, “I must confess that I could not serenely carry on this conversation were I faced by a cobra.”
- Truth and honesty (satya). Tell no lies. Cheating on your income taxes falls into this category.
- Nonstealing (asteya). Do not steal material objects (a car) or intangibles such as the center of attention or your child’s chance to learn responsibility or independence by doing something on his own.
- Nonlust (brahmacharya). Don’t worry; this is not a call to celibacy. Many yogis of old were married and had families of their own. The person who practices brahmacharya avoids meaningless sexual encounters and, as the well-known teacher B.K.S. Iyengar puts it, “sees divinity in all.”
- Nonpossessiveness (aparigraha). Free yourself from greed, hoarding, and collecting. Do you really need more shoes, another car, or to hog the conversation every time you see your friends? Make your life as simple as possible.
Niyama
Niyama is inner discipline and responsibility, how we treat ourselves. These are sometimes called observances, the do’s, or the thou shalts. There are five niyamas:
- Purity (shauca). Purity is achieved through the practice of the five yamas, which help clear away the negative physical and mental states of being. Keep yourself, your clothing, and your surroundings clean. Eat fresh and healthy food. The next time you joke about treating your body like a temple, think of this niyama.
- Contentment (santosha). Cultivate contentment and tranquility by finding happiness with what you have and who you are. Seek happiness in the moment, take responsibility for where you are, and choose to grow from there.
- Austerity (tapas). Show discipline in body, speech, and mind. The purpose of developing self-discipline is not to become ascetic, but to control and direct the mind and body for higher spiritual aims or purposes.
- Study of the sacred text (svadhyaya). Study sacred texts, which are whatever books are relevant to you and inspire and teach you. Education changes a person’s outlook on life. As Iyengar says, a person starts “to realize that all creation is meant for bhakti (adoration) rather than for bhoga (enjoyment), that all creation is divine, that there is divinity within himself and that the energy which moves him is the same that moves the entire universe.”
- Living with an awareness of the Divine (ishvara-pranidhana). Be devoted to God, Buddha, or whatever you consider divine.
4) Pranayama
Prana is the life force or energy that exists everywhere and flows through each of us through the breath. Pranayama is the control of breath. The basic movements of pranayama are inhalation, retention of breath, and exhalation. “The yogi’s life is not measured by the number of days but by the number of his breaths,” says Iyengar. “Therefore, he follows the proper rhythmic patterns of slow, deep breathing.” The practice of pranayama purifies and removes distractions from the mind making it easier to concentrate and meditate.
5) Pratyahara
Pratyahara is withdrawal of the senses. Pratyahara occurs during meditation, breathing exercises, or the practice of yoga postures — any time when you are directing your attention inward. Concentration, in the yoga room or the boardroom, is a battle with distracting senses. When you master pratyahara, you are able to focus because you no longer feel the itch on your big toe or hear the mosquito buzzing by your ear or smell the popcorn popping in the microwave.
6) Dharana
Concentration or dharana involves teaching the mind to focus on one point or image. “Concentration is binding thought in one place,” says Patanjali. The goal is to still the mind — gently pushing away superfluous thoughts — by fixing your mind on some object such as a candle flame, a flower, or a mantra. In dharana, concentration is effortless. You know the mind is concentrating when there is no sense of time passing.
The 8-Fold Path
5. Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one’s living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
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