radical eating shifts

seriously. if anyone predicted even just 12 months ago that i would be happy eating congee and mung bean day in and day out i would roll my eyes up to deep outer space. yes, i did have congee diet for entire 6 weeks of treatments in vaidyagrama. that's because i was determined to get the most out of the treatments and to really get my agni, digestive fire up. from ayurveda's point of view and the rishis saw this 5000 yrs ago in deep meditation, that there is deep connection between our wellbeing and state of digestive fire.

by the way let me confess one of the eating habits of mine that has really messed up the firepower of my agni. downing ice drinks/water while eating. that's like pouring ice water into oven while something is cooking. totally screwing up digestive process. sure, in my teenage years and twenties, youth vigor compensated for it. fast forward i am sleeping in the bed i made up. anyway i noticed a tangible difference in my wellbeing baseline after the first round of panchakarma. and as my guru says again and again, you need a strong and pure body to attain the highest goal of the path. so i went ahead and did 6 wks of congee. i mean 3 meals a day.

look. here's breakfast. congee. whole mung. papadam? just a gesture of taste. sometimes there is a half teaspoon of ghee in congee. btw i make my own ghee during full moon. a very soothing thing to do and homemade ghee is so much more fragrant and flavorful. anyhow, believe it or not, the modest combo is filling. i don't feel heavy and it takes me thru the morning clear and light and, surprise, there is no craving for snack. bye bye to potato chips. in fact every so often i would offer the papadam to hwubby. by the way he did 6 wks of congee diet as well. every now and then he would have thoughts of pastrami and lox and bagel. one day he saw this feature in local newspaper about some special idlee, fermented rice cake, with spicy dippings, he went on and on about it, really wanted to go and have some. it was fun watching the doctors kindly and patiently trying to talk him out of it, saying things like, o, it's overhyped. but, i have to give credit to hwubby. he let it go and had a good laugh out of the whole episode.


before i left vaidyagrama, i decided to get a pressure cooker. that's a huge decision on my part. i had a terrible experience with pressure cooker before, you know, things splashing all over the walls. but kavita, the food expert in vaidyagrama, said definitely  that in order to get that kind of texture for whole mung it had to be done in pressure cooker, not to mention it takes a lot less time to cook. that makes it so much easier to have fresh food instead of eating leftover. that pressure cooker turns out to be a huge blessing. without it i wouldn't be able to eat the way i am doing now.

This is lunch. main meal of the day. congee, boiled veg, buttermilk. the buttermilk in vaidyagrama is made from what's left after churning butter from homemade curd. this is the one thing i have to cheat. i just dilute whole yogurt  with hot water,  turmeric and salt. i suspect it's something to do with the amount of curd. for two people it doesn't make sense to make a liter of curd just to get two small bowls of buttermilk. a lot of waste. i will have to look into that when i go back to vaidyagrama this december.

well, back to where i am. five months after panchakarma. i am still eating congee day in and out. i can feel the energy baseline is higher, energy level even. telltale sign is meditations are better than ever. i sit 1 1/2 hr easy and it feels less and less a struggle to hold that state as i go about the day. i truly taste what the scriptures mean by 'living in a witnessing state.' it's kind of like what my guru's guru says, 'have preference, but no attachment.' i am very happy to eat out - well, i am more aware of food combinations but that's another blog entry - and enjoy. as my doctor harikrishnan says, 'if you can digest it, once in a while, in moderation.' wise, don't you think? so we enjoyed good dogs and burger  and ice cream for july fourth, wiped out a fabulous ethiopian feast of injera and lamb with my cousins and nephew and niece in a summer celebration,  but i am just as happy having my boiled veg and kitcheri for supper night in and out. fine with either.

i can see the way i related to food was more like an addict.  now i am in the driver seat, i'm leading the cow, not the other way round. a major step towards true and lasting freedom.  mooo.

with fellow yogis like these i might just get fully realized:) mmmm.

so happy to be doing the practices with fellow yogis who are committed to know the self, to be with the self, to meditate on the self, and to see the self in each other. hey, it makes it that much juicier to eat great food that is infused with the self of shivaa. honestly, i'm not a big fan of cole slaw and guac but i have no problem swooping up shivaa's cole saw and guac. for the cole slaw she tosses in orange, roasted walnuts and figs. the dressing has orange, ginger and sesame. all this take out the thinness and add some yang to yin. her guac strikes the balance between creamy and textured. the subtle flavor of avocado comes through elegantly against the backdrop of onion and cilantro, which have big and bold flavors in their own right so it's not easy to find the alchemy between them and the delicate avocado. shivaa always hits the sublime spot. scooping it with sweet potato chips completes the entire spectrum of taste profile. a shining example of fullness in simplicity. what about the kitcheri soup? peanuts is a surprise touch. i always like a nice tweak. kitcheri is such a meditator's staple. it's good to grow the list of variations to freshen up the simple combo of mung bean and rice and water and spices.

vito generously provides 'dessert' in the form of a spectacular piece of spiritual teaching. everyone gets a copy. one person reads a paragraph. anyone who wants to say something can do so. it's such a great opportunity to practice listening, listening without judgment and definitely no, no, no to the 'fix it' mode. the writing itself is simple, straightforward. what resonates with me is that staying present in the moment is being in the fullness, abundance of the self. and so the measuring gauge is simple. when i catch myself worrying, that is so obviously off the present moment. rather than go on worrying i choose to return to the present, return to the inner self, who and what i am. i try to articulate all this with inadequate words. my fellow yogis listen with such kindness and patience as if what i am saying is the only thing that matters to them right then. the ever thoughtful and wise laura says, when you do that you open up the space for magic to happen. you nail it, laura.

we are a great group. it never ceases to amaze me how fortunate i am to be in the presence of such great seekers. at moments when i catch myself off the self it's the cumulative support from them and the practices that take me through the speed bumps. my inner self is full and complete but i cannot walk the journey all by myself. with yogis like these even a fool like me can fantasize to get fully realized this lifetime:) hey, why not?!

year end spiritual power scrub. 38 m + 9 m

i love a good party too but there's something magical about chanting, meditating, eating and laughing together with a bunch of dedicated yogis.

and it definitely kicks up another notch when there is high quality food like that which shivaa prepares.