Why I Detox

Have you ever gone through periods where you feel kinda sluggish? I mean, not just for a day or two, but maybe a few weeks? A time period where you don't exactly hop out of bed ready to greet the day, tackle the day, deal with the day (whatever your perspective may be), and rather you feel like dragging your feet and only dealing with the most, very necessary things? I have felt that way lately. I shuffle over to my mat *crack, pop, yawn,* and I do my practice...just the very minimum and I stay in Shavasana for the same amount of time. I have felt like for the past month my sinuses have been stuffy and my immune system is just waiting for one more cough or sneeze in my general direction to be like, "Alright, this shit is ridiculous, I'm shutting down."

When I feel like this, I know it is time.

Perhaps it's because I do yoga, body work, I take time to breath, or maybe I'm just sensitive, but I can tell when my body needs something and right now, it needs a friggin break! So here I am, post liquid breakfast on my first day of detoxing. I plan to do 10 days and mostly liquid and raw.

I try to do detoxes twice a year and for the past 3 years in the Spring and Fall, I have successfully done so. After the first 3-4 days I find my energy lifted, I think clearer, my skin glows, and I feel overall recharged.

So, here are the ingredients for my first meal of the day which is more calorie packed and dense than some of my follow up meals might be, but if you'd like to copy, it's delicious and the best part is it has raw CHOCOLATE in it. MMMMmmmmmmm.....

Hope you enjoy:)

Breakfast detox smoothie (makes 2 servings)

1 large banana
2 scoops of Sunwarrior protein
2 tbsps of Chia Seeds
2oz of Goji berries
5 tbsp Raw Cacoa Powder
1 tsp Raw Coconut manna
1 tbsp cold pressed flax oil
2 tsp Maca
16oz Organic Almond milk

Add ingredients together in blender and savor.

My Yoga Practice Confessions

Yoga is Practice. This is my mantra right now. My mantra seems to change often, but right here, right now, these three words speak to me.

This is what I tell my students when I ask them to go from a wide legged split into a tripod and maybe a tripod headstand and “float” out of it gracefully. I demonstrate this particular move quite well. I hear some students say, “Woah,” under their breath and others when I come up from the demo look at me like I just gave birth to an alien unicorn. I have to say, getting some recognition for my hard work does feel good. I'm like anyone else, I like a pat on the back here in there, I like my parents to be proud of me, and I like the feeling of reaching my goals. That being said, I had to work friggin hard to get to this point.

When people see me float up into certain poses (I use floating very loosely too as I wobble a bit here and there) know that I have flipped myself over so many times. I have crashed myself against walls, furnitures, even bibles and small children. One memorable time when I was first gaining confidence in my work on headstand, I demonstrated it only I wound up falling...in front of everyone...while leading a class. Yoga sure has a way of making you stay humble.

So, to my students who see me up in handstand and holding out my body to the side and all that....it will come. I promise, but you have to keep consistent. Try not to let your ego get the best of you or fear prevent you from trying.

Practice, practice, practice, and all is coming. *Please read out loud in Indian accent for full effect*

Namaste'

What's your banana???

"In India there are a lot of monkeys. When the locals want to catch one, they anchor a bottle to the ground. The neck of the bottle is just large enough for a monkey's hand to fit through. Then, they put a small banana in the bottle, sit back and wait.

The Monkey Trap.
Before long a monkey comes by, sees the banana, reaches his hand into the bottle, and grabs it. But then, the monkey discovers that he can't get his hand out of the bottle while holding onto the banana. There is loud chattering and squealing as the person who set the trap walks up to the monkey and places a burlap sack over him. In the darkness the monkey releases the banana and is captured.

The monkey could, of course, let go of the banana and run before getting caught. Some do. But most of the monkeys hang on to the banana until the sack goes over their head. Why? Because the banana has value to the monkey and the monkey is unwilling to let go of that value. So unwilling that he gives up his life for it. People do the same thing."

Everyone has their little quirks or "idiocyncricies" that make us who we are. We have habits that harden into our character and determine how we react in situations and perceive the world around us. We identify ourselves with these little nuances. That's just me, that's what I like, it's who I am. Deal with it. We get defensive when these things are questioned or threatened. For example, one of mine would be, "I'm just not a runner. I'm not built that way so it's probably much easier for you than me." Now, I'll say this, but the fact is, I don't like running because I'm not good at it. Because I'm not good at it, I'm resistant to practice it. Why? Because it's a total blow to the ego to do something you're mediocre at. Why lower my self-esteem and image in my head of me being awesome at everything I do? Pffff. Not worth it.
There's so many of these little things we each hold onto. "I'm a chocoholic, I can't help it," "I'm not good at Math, my brain doesn't work that way," "I'm an alcoholic, it's a disease." You'll notice there is always a justification after each one of these characteristics. But, if something is truth, does it really have to be justified?

Now, back to my running. So I acknowledged that I'm not very good at running, but I started letting go of the excuse at the end. I'm not good at running because....um, my ass is big and girls with booties like me don't make good runners. (This was blown away by a black female track runner with an incredible booty that blew past the competition). I have too much muscle to be good at running (I realized shortly after thinking it just how ridiculous that thought was). So, I went through these excuses one by one and each time I realized I was just hiding from the discomfort of getting out of my comfort zone with running. I'm not good at it, because I don't want to be.

Rather than continue making excuses, I chose to look within, acknowledge, accept, and then make a conscious decision to change it.

Once we release the excuses and accept accountability, we empower ourselves to change, evolve and grow. What's the excuse, habit, or stubborn idea you hold on to that prevents you from shining your full potential? This may take some meditation and self study and what we call in yoga, Satya, or acknowledging truth. It's easier said than done, but hey, I'm not saying it will be easy. I am saying, it will be worth it.

So I have adopted running as my main cardio. For the past two weeks, I have run 6 days a week for a minimum of 45 minutes each time. Some days are easier than others and I'm starting to realize running isn't that bad. I would almost say I look forward to my runs....almost.

Everyone has a banana. What's your banana and more importantly, are you willing to let go of it??

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Your Trainer,

Erin Is Awesome