Where to begin.   Today was the day the Shamans came and everyone drank lemongrass tea to force themselves to purge the darkness of the underworld.  I went for brunch and a little light shopping in town instead.  They said we didn’t have to do it if we weren’t “called” to and my Uterus which is unhappy with all my coughing fits was not going to love vomiting.  I’m glad I didn’t do it because although the people who did it said it was the most amazing transformative experience ever, they were all looking a little done.  Purging does have it’s place in Ayurveda, but it is prescribed very specifically.

Once we all rejoined as a group we learned a wee bit about plant medicine.  I’m feeling truly inspired to kill the entire yard at the Mason studio and plant “medicine.”  I bet you didn’t know even common herbs like Basil and Rosemary are Adaptogens meaning they help you to reduce stress.  Before you cut a plant, the Mayans have a practice of walking by the plant 4 times to make sure the plant is a willing participant.  Other things you can do is simply blow into your hands and touch the plant or at least caress the plant and thank it.  It really is a beautiful practice.

SOOOOO…..after that we had to have plant medicine bath.  I’m sitting there like “what on earth are they talking about???”  Well, they took us to this yard overlooking the lake which they call the Marriage Platform where they had a huge pot of boiling plant medicine.  It wasn’t exactly a cauldron, but you get the picture.  They poured the hot (lovely smelling) mixture into buckets where we mixed some cold water into it.  Then everyone got completely naked (except for me of course) and sang songs and dumped the plant medicine over their heads.  I did wash my hair with it and I have to tell you they need to bottle that stuff.  My hair smells so good right now.

So, of course I’m stuck with why I was the only one to keep my clothes on.  I don’t know. I’ve done tons of naked things in my life like Eselon and Harbin and Wilbur Hot Springs.  I’ve been to Burning Man.  It wasn’t even that I am the oldest or a man is part of our group.  I think I’m just over it.  There’s a lot of emotional healing and empowerment work going on here that, quite frankly, I’ve already done.  I’ve been in this lifestyle for 16 years and keep in mind I hit it hard for about 10 of those.  If there was an extreme spiritual practice anywhere within a plane flight I was doing it.  I got some stories I could share.  Also it was freezing cold out.  I’m almost all the way over my cold, but still coughing a bit especially at night.

SOOOOO….after that another Shaman, I think, came and we did heliotropic breathing.  I’d done this at the Chopra Center long ago.  At the Chopra Center we inhaled through the nose and out through the mouth while sitting until we hyperventilated.  Your fingers curl up and you get freezing cold.  You end up curled in a little ball and then nurses and doctors come around and lie you down and cover you up and then check on you continuously to make sure you are okay while you journey.  At Chopra Center the breathwork was intense.

This was different and much more sweet.  We eased into it and the longest practice was only 7 minutes with 2 short inhales through the mouth and one audible exhale through the mouth.  You still hyperventilate, but just a touch.  My hands did not curl up nor did my body go numb.  I did go on a bit of a journey with it.

Now those of you who know me know I have certain skills.  I’ll just write down what I saw and you can do with it what you want.  So basically my journey began with me standing on my dream bridge (I do dream yoga most nights).  Goat came, but he couldn’t climb.  Turkey came, but he couldn’t blink.  Then The Great Mother came, but she would only let me see the side of her face and not look at me.  I was lying down and realized I was lying in the Tree of Life.  It was mostly dead.  This made me sad and I (intentionally and in full awareness) called in Lance (my partner in life) and my heart did that flip your heart does when it is in love.  From my heart sprang ? flowers and love.  The love dripped down into the Tree of Life.  The Great Mother then turned her head just a bit to smile and then became an ? eagle and just soared off like eagles do.  I looked up to the mountains and saw hundreds of people dressed in yellow ? robes holding their arms out in a T and looking down on me.

Then I started shaking a lot and had to sit up.  When you shake they say your nervous system is resetting.

I looked up goat and it symbolizes new experiences and curiosity yet it wouldn’t climb. (Interesting I wouldn’t try the lemongrass vomit and am skipping the Mesculine trip)-The Turkey is all about honoring nature and the Earth.  It’s a reminder to honor your sources of nourishment (interesting after the plant medicine talk).  I looked up the Tree of Life from the Mayan perspective and interesting as it plays a crucial role in their religion representing the cosmos and connecting the three realms.  I told you in a previous blog that this teacher training is broken into the 3 realms.  Right now we are in the underworld or ? snake energy (Roots of the tree but I was in canopy’s of 3rd world) and are supposed to be cleansing from darkness.  Now this is actually the crazy part.  The canopy of the Tree of Life reaches out in the 4 directions.  My tree was mostly dead but had 4 large leafless branches reaching out very symmetrically in all directions.  Chills…..

So what does it all mean?  I don’t know.  I think we are all aware of climate change and if we all could love the earth the same way we love the ones we love then that love would juice up that dying tree.

I’m hoping it either starts storming or the ridiculous concert below ends promptly at 10 pm tonight.  It’s as loud as being at a fair where they have a band and you are two rides over.  It’s Friday though and I’m afraid they will go to 11 pm.  We have to practice teach tomorrow at 6:30 am so I really needed to chill after such an intense day.  Maybe the electric will go out.  Praying!!! Our teachers want us to think our annoyance at the loud nightly concert is some personal problem.  I don’t think they know about the Gunas…Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.  You guys know.  But if you are in a very Rajastic place (lots of extreme noises late at night with fire works going off and some crazy ass dude screaming religious shit in another language on a loudspeaker), you can’t cultivate Sattva or peace because your energy body is simply shot all to hell.  So that fucking sucks.  Missing my peaceful home and all of you.

*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.