Why You Fail

Virtue and vice do not come by mere words;

Actions repeated, over and over again, are engraved on the soul.

You shall harvest what you plant.

~ Siri Guru Granth Sahib

We are heading into the final week of The Elemental Cleanse.  I have 19 teachers in training deep into it.  Of course, this is a rest and relaxation week to allow the body to do what it does best, release.  Not to stir up any stress or drama, but it’s a nice week to reflect and make a commitment to embracing new habits cultivated during the Cleanse.

Why does this matter?  The Elemental Cleanse creates a “break” in your habitual patterns by bringing healthy routines and choices to your consciousness.  A healthy routine includes movement, meditation, and mindfulness.  It also includes powerful breathing modalities and thought replacement to interrupt the “norm” of self-soothing with sugar, quick fatty foods, alcohol, drugs, and mental forms.

Planning for long-term success is critical to maintaining the natural high of the Cleanse and a life of balance.  Critical because when you are out of balance, you are on your way to returning to a life of poor choice making and negative karma.  This is how your mind works.

You are out of balance.  Perhaps you have been staying up late, skipping your meditation, skipping yoga, running too much, or simply hit a bad patch of stress at work or in relationship.  Because your dosha or energy (usually Vata) goes out of balance, a desire is sparked to quickly balance.  This is called a craving.  Things that immediately ground the energy of Vata are heavy, dense, sweet, or salty food.  Oddly, Vata will also desire destruction and more chaos to avoid the situation faced.

Now you have a craving.  The craving is your karma arising or your first reaction to any stimulus. You’ve learned skills.  You could step back, look at your life, and get it back in balance.  Or you could rationalize your craving.  You “deserve” it.  It’s “okay.”  It’s “just this once.” It’s “a special treat.”  It’s “been so long.”

You resist, but unconsciously or consciously you put yourself in a high risk situation.  By this I mean you accept an “event” on some level where your old habits are welcomed.  A great example would be stopping by a favorite bakery, bar, or restaurant fully intending to get the healthy option, but secretly knowing you will get the unhealthy.  Or maybe not knowing and fully intending, but forgetting all of your new skills to get you through the situation.

So you gotta make a plan.  Your plan must include some disciplined practices like a stabilized routine including meditation, personal time for self-care, and rest.  Your plan must also include a plan for noticing when you are in the moment of your cravings to interrupt your patterns.  Your plan must also include the following to create the system needed to not go back to drama karma ways:

• Successfully weaned from habit in group setting. (During the Cleanse)

• Body, Mind, and Spiritual Holistic approach. (Established During the Cleanse)

• Staying engaged in community and supportive system (Maintaining contact with yoga studio)

• Understanding triggers and the karma seeding the trigger (Established during the Cleanse and empowered to continue to self study.)

• Gathering information and learning…speaks to the need for therapy on a 24/7 basis using books, groups, friends, and community as support. (Come to workshops, events, lectures, and read.)

• Staying with the practice of meditation, movement, and mindfulness.

• Surrounding self with like-minded individuals including friends and family.

A great way to monitor your progress is to simply take a balance quiz every 3 weeks and tweak your life.  Here’s the link below.  OM, Pamela

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