tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal/9 2008-06-26T17:46:02Z Movable Type Personal 4.1 tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.348 2008-06-25T01:41:56Z 2008-06-26T17:46:02Z

If your buttons can be pushed, what is the button? A button is a raw place the psyche is defending....

If your buttons can be pushed, what is the button? A button is a raw place the psyche is defending. tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.343 2008-06-17T16:01:41Z 2008-06-17T16:07:27Z

- Claudia Welch, Acupuncturist and Ayurvedic Physician...

- Claudia Welch, Acupuncturist and Ayurvedic Physician tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.340 2008-06-07T13:45:57Z 2008-06-17T15:57:06Z

Eureka comes when mind chatter stops, we begin to listen and wisdom comes. When we are thinking, we aren't listening, we are unconscious. In the shower, let the stream of water touch the forehead, that is daily shirodhara and the...

Eureka comes when mind chatter stops, we begin to listen and wisdom comes. When we are thinking, we aren't listening, we are unconscious. In the shower, let the stream of water touch the forehead, that is daily shirodhara and the mind is free. tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.337 2008-05-24T14:25:18Z 2008-06-07T12:15:16Z

I am drumming but without hands. I am in asana but without a body. I am singing but without a voice. I am just dancing with my being, -Joseph...

I am drumming but without hands. I am in asana but without a body. I am singing but without a voice. I am just dancing with my being, -Joseph tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.336 2008-05-24T14:23:23Z 2008-05-24T14:25:01Z

p456, Ayurvedic Pharmacology & Therapeutic Uses of Medicinal Plants, Vaidya V.M. Gogte...

p456, Ayurvedic Pharmacology & Therapeutic Uses of Medicinal Plants, Vaidya V.M. Gogte tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.334 2008-05-14T13:08:23Z 2008-05-17T15:06:51Z

Being in the moment comes without effort, without thought. Being with our feelings is different from thinking about our feelings. When the mind is without thought, we are totally open to receive whatever sensations are coming, right now. There is...

Being in the moment comes without effort, without thought. Being with our feelings is different from thinking about our feelings. When the mind is without thought, we are totally open to receive whatever sensations are coming, right now. There is no thought of self in self realization. tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.333 2008-05-09T18:12:34Z 2008-05-09T18:14:55Z

said by Ram Dass in "Be Here Now"...

said by Ram Dass in "Be Here Now" tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.332 2008-05-09T18:11:45Z 2008-05-09T18:15:25Z

tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.329 2008-04-11T18:48:48Z 2008-05-09T18:11:26Z

Dr. Vasant Lad, Albuqerque, NM....

Dr. Vasant Lad, Albuqerque, NM. tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.324 2008-03-22T21:06:32Z 2008-04-07T02:03:48Z

I was sitting in Hong Kong airport, mid-march equinox, listening to ambient Frank Sinatra Christmas songs. With two meal vouchers in my pocket to a nice Chinese restaurant overlooking the hazy, humid, green tropical mountains of Hong Kong Island. It...

click here for how to avoid jet lag). I arrived at 1am, missed my connection to Bangladesh, and spent a restful nights sleep in a beautiful hotel right at the Hong Kong airport. The airline gave us a nice breakfast and I sat on balcony/garden outside my room enjoying the humid air. The moisture is refreshing after a few months of the high desert in Albuquerque. Hong Kong airport is high tech, clean, and the architecture is beautiful, light and airy. Even though it’s cloudy I feel refreshed. There are fun shops without feeling like a mall. It’s cosmopolitan; I’ve seen people from all continents (except that only penguins live in Antartica). Best of all, I have two meal vouchers and there are lots of nice restaurants. Here are the highlights of Hong Kong and four delicious days in Bangladesh. Honey Dew Smoothie with Aloe Vera Jelly (HK Airport) Other recipes coming soon: Century Old Egg (HK Airport) Ginger Chips (Westin Hotel, Dhaka) Ginger Orange Juice (Westin Hotel Dhaka) Bottle Gourd and Asparagus (Personal Creation!) ]]> tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.323 2008-03-21T01:18:37Z 2008-03-22T21:06:13Z

Jetlag is considered a problem of agni in Ayurveda (digestive fire). If we get hungry on time, sleep on time, and have a bowel movement on time, then agni is probably okay. But traveling disrupts our schedule. Time changes disrupt...

contact Joseph!]]> tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.314 2008-01-18T15:20:43Z 2008-05-09T18:16:03Z

We climbed the Deccan Plateau, our driver blasting Hindi and Hip Hop, while overhead, tropical, moist trees encroached the new super-highway connecting Bombay to Pune. I felt comfortable, easy, and at home. Somehow, I've become as easy in India as...

We climbed the Deccan Plateau, our driver blasting Hindi and Hip Hop, while overhead, tropical, moist trees encroached the new super-highway connecting Bombay to Pune. I felt comfortable, easy, and at home. Somehow, I've become as easy in India as the USA, they both seem beautiful, exotic, familiar and full of surprises. We arrived a month early and eager to spend time with Ayurvedic doctors, in herb gardens, and bookstores. We toured a wonderful charitable hospital in the center of Pune offering services to the poor. Everywhere we went, our hosts were gracious and offered us perspective on Ayurveda in the land of its birth. All in all, Pune was a profound experience. With a more complete picture of the breadth and many different styles of practicing Ayurveda, I felt I emerged from Pune with a more clear perspective of my own unique gifts and personality as an practitioner. What follows are some of the specific moments and stories that left their impression on me. - Saffron milk thousand layer crepe cake - Coconut and Cilantro Savory Pancake - Fried Tapioca Patties with Cilantro, Cumin, and Peanuts - South Indian Sambar with Coconut - Peas, Fennel, and Mint - Soft Idly in Sweet Yogurt Reading the Sanskrit classics. Language is a window into feelings, a style of thinking, and the gems of knowledge of a culture. Every doctor insists we read the classics as part of our early training. Charaka is one of the greatest Ayurveda classical doctors. Through memorization and meditation on his Ayurvedic poetry, we can begin to understand Charaka's mind and approach. That is how we deepen our understanding. Leaving India With the help of Dr. Lad and Dr. Marda, Ayurveda kept me healthy during my entire trip overseas. We had the wonderful opportunity to see Ayurveda in its homeland. Ayurveda is powerful and beautiful but we have to help each other understand this incredible art and science. ]]> tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2008:/journal//9.312 2008-01-18T14:57:12Z 2008-05-09T18:17:53Z

Happiness, beauty and abundance are the fruits of alignment. We feel the impulse to make decisions to improve our lives. But, behind the impulse to decide is resistance to what is being offered to us, dissatisfaction and ego. We struggle...

Happiness, beauty and abundance are the fruits of alignment. We feel the impulse to make decisions to improve our lives. But, behind the impulse to decide is resistance to what is being offered to us, dissatisfaction and ego. We struggle with making decisions instead of acceptance. We can let it happen instead of making it happen. We can let go of the impulse to decide and start noticing and being with the truth. tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2007:/journal//9.254 2007-09-18T20:08:50Z 2008-01-11T02:40:40Z

Today, Father Roy picked dogwood fruits and ate them. They were sweet and we were surprised. Figs ripen next to the church. Tasty acorns fall and we bake them into cornbread. Overhead, monarch butterflies are heading south. And grapes hang...

Today, Father Roy picked dogwood fruits and ate them. They were sweet and we were surprised. Figs ripen next to the church. Tasty acorns fall and we bake them into cornbread. Overhead, monarch butterflies are heading south. And grapes hang from a vine, reaching for the sky. Oren and I walk to a hilltop near New Paltz. This feels like a holy ground to us. In the setting sun mountains darken and become silhouettes. He leaves for Yeshiva next week. In Boston, Guy Mendilow rehearses classical and folk music traditions from around the world. Shari and I are experimenting with pesto lasagna topped with almonds. Their cat Basil overhears us talking about the her childhood home, New Orleans. It’s early September, the world’s fair in Jamaica Plain ushers in the autumn season to the sounds of Latino, Brazilian, and world fusion music. A baker is selling home made donuts and leaves are already changing colors. Apple orchards can hardly bear the weight of their fruits. The Fung Wah bus pulls into Boston and the city is crisp, clean. We pass my college dorm and a bank downtown where I once worked. I buy a new 'Charlie Card' for the red line subway to Central Square, a samosa from Shalimar’s and walk up Norfolk to JB’s house. It’s great to see Mindy again and their sweet little one growing up starting to speak. Kevin Sheehan introduces his new book to me, "A Leader Becomes a Leader". We sit in Cafe Algiers enjoying toasted pita bread with apricot jam and mint tea. He quotes Thoreau, “In an imperfect work, time is an ingredient. In a perfect work, time is not an ingredient.” Cooking, ayurveda. I think, "devotion to the sacred lessons of those two arts really can become 'perfect'". I’m struggling in the Northeast with the illusion of wanting to be successful. And remembering a radical, powerful act of healing - looking out the window for a half hour during sunset. Then remembering Dr. Lad: Life begins in the belly, the placenta. Not a heart button, not a head button, a belly button. Belly, the place of our being. And when we come home to ourselves, we come home to our belly. That is how we relax in the city. Some new links http://www.joyfulbelly.com * My favorite addition to Joyful Belly this month is the "Threads of Cooking" * Or, try a search on "vata-" for recipes that pacify vata. http://www.guymendilow.com/ * Guy Mendilow's Band http://www.yogaspiritstudios.com/KimValeri.htm * Valeri Kim’s Yoga Teacher Training http://www.flashearth.com * Search for Pune, India and zoom in. We'll be living there until mid-December, studying ayurveda with our teacher Dr. Lad. With a great faith we are peaceful and confident in our journey to India. Keep in Touch, Love and Light, Blessings on our Journeys, -Joseph tag:www.joyfulbelly.com,2007:/journal//9.220 2007-09-02T11:36:22Z 2008-01-11T02:43:59Z

Every day I'm learning. I still feel like a new student of vedic psychology. Here are some hints that are helping me on me way, given to us by our beautiful, saintly teacher Dr. Vasant Lad. Watch the watcher. The...

Every day I'm learning. I still feel like a new student of vedic psychology. Here are some hints that are helping me on me way, given to us by our beautiful, saintly teacher Dr. Vasant Lad. Watch the watcher. The watcher is the mind and the body but spirit is beyond both. Watch thoughts as if they are a movie. You will see what is inside you. Organs create emotions and the brain searches for a thought. So mind is in the organ. We make a decision then create the rationale. Mind is body and brain. Mind is also the universe around us that we created. Yoga psychology cleans the mind by cleaning organs. Yoga squeezes the blood out of organs and then opens them up again. It clears the channels. When the body wants change it creates a thought. A thought indicates discomfort or toxins in the body. When the body is content there is no thought. Bliss is the state without thought. If we are quiet we can sense thoughts coming before they happen. It feels like a vibration. We bless the thought and bring attention back to the breath. We can't know the truth but we can be with the truth. We merge with the unfolding dynamic. Joy of the sunset happens before we realize it. The moment we become conscious joy is a memory and becomes desire. Desire is the memory of past pleasure. I see the tree and the tree is me. The internal is the macrocosm. The universe my creation. God is the creator but I am the hand. This chair, I brought my body to this place and the chair became manifest. This bird that chirps in the wilderness, my echo chirping in the wilderness. Where is the tree? My eyes catch light and the tree appears, from photo cells I recreate the tree in my mind. The tree that I see is the one in my mind. Do you see the same tree? All of creation is a manifestation of God. Evil thinks that it exists but in yoga there is no separation from the divine. When you become the tree and the tree becomes you there will be no violence. If I give my attention to the darkness, it creates the darkness. If I give my attention to the light it creates the light. Experience nourishes the ego. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and were cast from the garden. Knowledge is knowledge of difference, comparison, measuring, separation. The mind wants to have experiences because it wants to know. God is beyond knowledge. God is being without a thought; God is the act of listening. All effort denies the existence of God. Creation happens. Love accepts all things. Love is listening. When we try to change creation, that is effort. Thoughts are effort and effort comes from ego. The mind creates the abyss and the heart crosses it. The mind is comparison which is separation and measurement. Comparison is judgment and judgment is violence. Comparison is desire. The mind is the cause. With meditation all thoughts can be digested into pure love. It is the heart. An emotion comes to us. We healed it through the body with yoga. We healed it in the mind through the breath. We healed it in the spirit through prayer and meditation. Body, mind, then spirit. Speech is surgery. We release our frustrations upon the world but the world is us. We cut open the external with a word. Speech comes last, last resort. Emotion the root cause of disease. World change is not the objective of yoga; it is the by product of self-awakening. Traditionally, yoga is preparation for prayer and meditation. Meditation has no purpose or goal. It cultivates 'is-ness'. This journal entry is a work in progress. Please send your ideas to joseph@greenbookcafe.com.