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Greetings!
Happy May!
Last month, we had wonderful workshops in Edmonton with Cassie, and in Asheville with Lillah, Terry, Jayne, and Catharine. It was delightful to have the 200 hour graduates from Catharine and Rutu's trainings in the group.
May this quote inspire your week:
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had ever happened."
-Winston Churchill
With our love, JOY, and gratitude,
Aadil and Savitri
P.S. Just to let you know, Mirra has changed her name to Savitri (pronounced "SAH-vi-tree"). |
| Fat, Weight and the Nervous System | |
"No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office!" -Covert Bailey
 Last month I explained the yogic perspective to weight loss. This month, I want to expand on the topic of weight by discussing the role of fat in the body, especially its relationship to the nervous system. Fat is very important to the body, even more than Covert Bailey's joke indicates! (Our apologies to any of you who work in government!) All the organs in your body are covered with a membrane of fat. Fat allows the organs to move more fluidly with less friction. In fact, it makes everything in the body move more smoothly including the muscles and joints. Fat also holds energy and helps keep you grounded emotionally.
Fat serves the body in three main ways. First, it helps keep you grounded and balances your constitution. In Ayurveda, there are three natures: air (vata); fire (pitta), and water (kapha). A woman with too much pitta tends to be aggressive, easily angered and irritated. She would need the compensatory element of fat, which increases the water element (kapha), making her more calm and peaceful. A man with too much vata, for example, tends to be overly lean, tall, lanky, and unable to concentrate. Again, fat is needed to move him to the nature of kapha, thereby becoming more grounded.
Second, fat protects the body from toxins by encasing the toxins and preventing them from entering the bloodstream and causing havoc in the body.This may sound like an advantage; however, keep in mind that storing this kind of fat means that the body is suffering from an over-consumption of mediocre food. This further means that the toxins are stored in the body and are not released. In this case, it is very important to break down the fat and get the toxins out of storage and out of the body. (Ideally if toxins must enter the body, they would be flushed out naturally and immediately. Sunrider's Fortune Delight and Calli are two beverages that support the body's own natural systems to flush toxins - and I drink them every day.)
 Third, fat is required for everyday mental functioning, because it protects the nervous system, which keeps you calm, relaxed and focused. A stressed nervous system makes you feel jittery, ragged, and scattered. (When you imagine a caricature of someone with a very nervous constitution, picture someone like Don Knotts as Barney Fife in "The Andy Griffith Show": thin and twitchy with very little fat on his body!) The nervous system is naturally saturated with fat. Fat helps keep it in good working order.Furthermore, a soothed nervous system is essential for meditation and for integrating Light into the body. In fact, fat actually helps the body hold Light. So the next time you sit down to meditate, start with a handful of walnuts, half an avocado, or a shot glass of flax oil, and see how you feel!
Remember, fat is neither all good nor all bad. A lean body mass does not necessarily indicate poor health. It could be that the body needs fat to be grounded, calm, and connected to Light. However, if the fat in the body comes from toxins, a high fat index may indicate that the body is overly toxic and so it is holding onto fat to protect the body. In this case, eliminating the fat would eliminate the toxins the body is storing. Use your own awareness and discernment that yoga helps you cultivate to discover what the fat in your body is trying to tell you! |
| What the Cell Phone Industry Doesn't Want You to Know | |
 As many of you may already know, I have been teaching about the dangers of cell phone usage and how to protect yourself for a very long time. Recently I re-read an article that I had saved from 2007 in Life Extension (the same company that makes the high quality supplements). The article tells the story of one doctor who was hired by the cell phone industry to validate the claims of cell phone safety. After reading the article, I was even more determined to ALWAYS take measures to protect myself against the electromagnetic radiation emitted by my cell phone.
 In the 1990s Dr. George Carlo, PhD, JD, was hired by the cell phone industry to run their non-profit research center to look into cell phone safety. He brought together a panel of over 200 doctors and scientists, many from Harvard University's Department of Public Health. He established a protocal so that the results of their research would be peer-reviewed and accepted by the scientific community.
That was the easy part. What proved to be the challenge, and what ended up costing him his professional and personal reputation, his family life and his home when it was lost to arson, was when he attempted to share the results which his board of researchers uncovered. The cell phone industry did all it could to discredit, pressure, and scare Dr. Carlo into silence, and to keep the results suppressed. Why? Because Dr. Carlo proved that the risks related to cell phone use are serious.
If you use a cell phone, please read this article and learn what the cell phone industry has worked tirelessly to prevent you from knowing. View article >
 If you must use a cell phone, here are some ways to minimize the health risks:
Never keep your phone in your hip pocket or on your belt. 80% of your red blood cells are formed in the hip bones and the radiation from your phone can severely damage those cells.
Use a special device like a Cell Phone Rejuvenizer to minimize the electromagnetic radiation from your phone. |
| Teacher Training Summer Immersion | | | July 9 - August 7 - Yoga Alliance Approved Training
Spend a glorious month with asana, meditation, teacher training and fabulous new friends during The College of Purna Yoga's 200 hour Teacher Training Summer Immersion!
Yoga teachers wanting to strengthen their teaching skills, yoga students who want to learn to teach, and asana and meditation students who want to jump-start their personal growth through yoga -- all these groups have attended this course in the past and have been astounded by the depth of learning they received. It is truly a remarkable course.
The College of Purna Yoga is founded and directed by Aadil and Savitri. For more information, visit 200 hour Teacher Training > |
| Balancing Sensitivity with Strength | | | From the acclaimed book, Fire of Love,
by Aadil Palkhivala 
When I think of balancing sensitivity with strength, I remember a story my brother once told me about a great karate master, Shihan Higaonna. This master had come to India to teach, to certify his student's students, and to give a demonstration on the finer points of karate. The master cared for his body just as an ideal yogi would - his nails were immaculately clean and perfectly manicured, his clothes were spotless and elegantly pressed, his hair was impeccably brushed. His whole being exuded the radiance that comes from living a life of heightened sensitivity to cleanliness, order, and care.
The karate demonstration involved dozens of karate masters and was attended by hundreds of karate students. Therefore, it was held in a large, old school hall. During one of the breaks, the barefoot Shihan requested to be taken to the bathroom. The students' eyes filled with horror. They said that it would be best if he waited because the bathroom was filthy, with an inch of water on the floor strewn with human waste. The master said that it was all right. When they took him to the bathroom, he did not even flinch. The students gasped as he lifted his gi (loose white pants) and walked straight through the filthy water. He did his duty, came back out, washed his feet with soap and water in a sink outside, and carried on as if he had been taken to the Ritz.
As the story spread, a new sense of respect for the Shihan awakened. His students realized that sensitivity to and awareness of cleanliness can and really must be balanced with the ability to tolerate its opposite when the necessity arises. Sensitivity without the strength to tolerate insensitivity is just as imbalanced a condition as its more popular opposite.
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