What a perfect Sunday morning ...

... for a VOMIT.

Yes ~ that's how my day began.  Up at 6:15AM with a 7AM arrival for our Sadhana, which is a spiritual practice that includes the mind (meditation), body (cleansing and exercise), and spirit (chanting).  If you're interested, check out the link below ~  

http://www.3ho.org/kundalini-yoga/sadhana


This was the only Sunday we will be at the Center as we needed to move to the next phase of  our cleansing.  Today was called Laghoo Shankhaprakshalana.  The procedure is outlined at the link below ~

http://www.yogawithanne.co.uk/index_files/intestinalwash.htm


We prepared a 2 liter bottle of warm salt water (4 teaspoons of salt).  I drank the first 1/3rd fairly well, and proceeded through the exercises.  The water tasted OK ~ it was simply my mind pushing against drinking that much water so fast.  I chugged the second 1/3 of the bottle with a little more difficulty.  The goal of this cleanse is to get the water all the way through the body, but I didn't quite make it.  I started my 2nd round of exercises and about half way through, I just had to vomit (thankfully I made it to the bathroom).   I finished the final third of the bottle and completed another round of exercises.  Many of the students felt the effects during the process, but my system processes more slowly.  After driving one of the students home (I'm aiding a wonderful young man, Citrus, with transportation), I made it home around 8:30 AND just in time.  Because here's the deal:  you drink salt water because the salt stops the absorption of the water into your cells so it literally washes directly through.  And boy did it!

It's 11:30AM now  and I'm fine and feel light.  I am quite thirsty and hungry so will go upstairs now and make a drink consisting of yogurt, coconut water, honey, cardamom, cumin, salt, and pepper.  The drink is called LASSI, and is good for aiding digestion, introducing probiotics, and repairing the flora of the gut. 

So even though today's cleanse did not call for vomiting, I'm sort of glad I did.  I have never been a fan of vomiting, and a memory has emerged of a thunderbird ring that my Mom gave me when I was a child.  She told me that as long as I wore that ring, I would not vomit.  I don't really remember being sick, but I do remember that ring.  And let's face it ~ through the last 40 years, when I have vomited, it's usually been from an excess of alcohol, so my mental connection is not a positive one.  So today was a good start of a disconnect from that mental connection. 

And good news ~ I have even more of an opportunity to reroute my brain!  Starting tomorrow morning, and through the week, we are adding Kunjala to our morning cleanse ~ the cleansing of the stomach.  And how is that accomplished?  By vomiting warm salt water. 

Welcome to my world.