Dancing With Discomfort

How relaxing and rejuvenating yoga can be. I lie on the floor, first on my back, then on my belly.... Taking my time I gently roll around, taking notice of tightness in my neck, shoulders and back. A downward dog gracefully maneuvers into an upward dog and back again. I sigh deeply. Life is good... One leg swings forward into a lunge and suddenly,

as if all the trees had been ripped up from Earth like in that Star Wars movie,
I hold my breath I start to sweat my face gets tense with struggle as a silent groan emerges from the depths of my hips which I swallow before it can leave my lips and as quickly as my stiffness lets me I move back into the safety and relative ease of downward dog.

Who likes discomfort?

It is the parts of our bodies that ache the most that we need to give the most attention to. It is in these areas that we store our stress and our fears. Sure, our ego feels really good when we can touch our toes or stand in headstand for 5 minutes. But by ignoring the areas that cause us discomfort we are turning down a beautiful opportunity to really learn something and progress in our yoga.

Growth doesn't occur when we always take the easy way out. A seed must fight through the dense darkness before emerging into the light. It is by practicing the postures that are most difficult for us that we can begin to explore our intimate selves- How do we handle stress? What images do our minds drift off to in order to avoid discomfort?

Dance on the edge of your limits. This applies to more than asana. Where in your life are you avoiding discomfort? Perhaps you still haven't called someone back. Maybe you're avoiding having 'that talk'. Move forward with your intentions, sit in your discomfort with a gentle smile of acceptance, and be open to the beauty this experience can bring.

Into the Woods- A Vision Quest

I recently signed up for the 100-person vision quest taking place in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey this August. This decision will put me alone in the woods for 4 days with only water. "The Vision Quest is an ancient rite of passage used for thousands of years by indigenous cultures and mystical societies for spiritual growth and expansion. The tradition passed to us consists of 4 days and 4 nights immersed in the beauty and healing energy of nature, alone in a Quest circle, no distractions, fasting from all things familiar. You come face to face with yourself, and get to know more deeply who you are (and who you are not). With all distractions and the noise of daily life removed, and the voices of those around you silenced, you are more able to hear the whisperings of your soul reminding you why you came here in this life. 4 days and 4 nights -- just you alone with the Creator."

While reading up on the history of the vision quest and what to expect, I came across the following quote, which kind of makes me laugh at the things we humans do in the quest for spiritual growth.... "It is said that a strong urge to leave the quest area will come to the seeker and a feeling of insanity may set in. However, the seeker normally overcomes this by reminding him or herself of the overall outcome of the quest, causing the mind to stop wandering on random thoughts. The individual can generally find solace in the fact that he or she will not die in just two to four days." read more here

Its not so much the solitude or the silence, its the fast that I am apprehensive about. I fasted with the Master Cleanse for 9 days, and lived on fresh vegetable and fruit juice and raw food for 2 weeks. I also spent 10 days in silence during a Vipassana meditation. But I never lived not even 1 day of my life with just water. I just have to remember that my body will survive 4 days without food, and remind myself of all the others in the forest who will be questing as well.

To prepare, I have already cut out caffeine and sugar (which is very difficult!), I will want to abstain from alcohol at least a few days before the program begins, try to meditate more and spend time alone outside, and I will do a water fast (only drink water) one day a week for the next two weeks. I also am advised to develop a list of specific questions I want answered or clarified during my time alone with the Creator.

I meet the group August 8th, and go alone into the woods at dawn a day or two later.

My first garden

This weekend I will be helping my dad get started on our first garden ever. This is going to be a fall garden with seeds to be sown in early August. We have decided to use the lasagna gardening technique advocated by Patricia Lanza, author of Lasagna Gardening- A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

"Lasagna gardening is a nontraditional, organic, layering method you can use to create better soil while keeping your gardens neat and attractive. Based on a commonsense approach and readily available natural ingredients, lasagna gardening is an easy, time-saving way to install and maintain any kind of garden without removing the sod, digging, or tilling. Close planting and generous mulching greatly reduce the time needed for watering and weeding. And because of the healthy growing environment, lasagna gardens are plagued with fewer garden pests."

The basic technique is as follows:

Layer 1: Smother grass with overlapping thick pads of wet newspapers and/or cardboard
Layer 2: Add 2-3 inches of peat moss
Layer 3: 4-8 inches organic mulch (like animal manure, compost, grass clippings, hay, chopped leaves, peat moss, sawdust, newspaper, etc.)
Layer 4: more peat moss
Layer 5: more mulch
... and continue adding alternating layers of peat moss and mulch until the beds reach a height of about 18-24 inches. Optionally, you can scatter bone meal and wood ash on the top for added nutrients, as you would parmesan cheese on lasagna.

You can plant directly into this bed, or you can cover with a black plastic bag for 6 weeks, allowing it to cook in the sun, to speed up decomposition.

I've watched gardeners work so hard removing sod, digging up the earth, and weeding, and though I had never gardened before something inside me told me that all that work is unnecessary! This is why I've chosen to lasagna garden, because it saves work, energy, time, and money. "After you make the beds, all you have to do each year is plant and mulch- no tilling or digging required. The ground stays cool and damp under the layers of mulch, so regular watering is a thing of the past. Setting all the plants close together encourages them to fill in faster, so weeds don't stand a chance, and the few that do pop up are easy to pull from the loose mulch."

It seems that lasagna garden, especially when companion planting is used, is a superior method of gardening.

For information on how to create great compost, refer to my post Compost Changed His Life...

Plant Medicine

I recently emerged from the woods of Maine, after living for 4 weeks at the Blessed Maine Herb Farm School of Herbal Medicine. As an apprentice at the herb farm, I helped as much as I could in the gardens given the abundance of rain bestowed upon us.... I learned so much about the plant world in general, but specifically about the personalities and uses of particular herbs, and how to make medicines. I know that I barely know anything, however I feel so much more confident in my ability to create medicine for myself and my loved ones.

My teacher, Gail Faith Edwards, has an amazing book called Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs. The book includes an introduction to the Wise Woman tradition, a section on ceremony and traditional earth-honoring days, a bit on wildgathering, drying herbs, water-based medicines, tinctures and extracts, flower essences, oil-based medicines, and detailed information about the traditional uses of as well as her own personal experience with TREES like apple, ash, birch, cedar, elder, elm, larch, maple, oak, pine poplar, and willow, and HERBS such as agrimony, angelica, basil, blackberry, blessed thistle, borage, burdock, calendula, cannabis, cayenne, chamomile, chaste tree, chichweed, cleavers, coltsfoot, comfrey, corn, dandelion, echinacea, elecampane, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, ginkgo, ginseng, goldenrod, goldenseal, horehound, horsetail, hyssop, lady's mantle, lavender, lemonbalm, marjoram and oregano, milk thistle, motherwort, mullein, nettle, oats, pennyroyal, peppermint, plantain, red clover, red raspberry, rose, rosemary, rue, sage, saw palmetto, shepherd's purse, skullcap, St. John's wort, thyme, uva ursi, valeria, violet, wild grape, yarrow, yellowdock, and more.

What I like most about the tradition carried on by Gail is its emphasis on Whole Plant Medicine, and the use of herbs that are common and abundant in the area you live (instead of those from overseas or across the country for that matter).

As Gail states in her book, "I pray that you understand that herbs are not drugs. They carry powers and properties not measurable by scientific means. They are gifts from Great Mother Goddess intended for your spiritual, emotional, and spiritual sustenance... I pray that you open your wild heart and learn to listen to the herbs. They are important friends and allies and have many secrets to share with you."

Another great herb author is Euell Gibbons, whose books, including Stalking the Healthful Herbs, are an incredible resource for wild edible and medicinal plants.

If you are looking to grow herbs, a good resource is Your Backyard Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting, and More, by Miranda Smith.