Spiritual Practices
Spiritual Principles
Helpful Attitudes
Affirmations
Exercise
Nature
Television
Sleep
Vegetarian Diets
Vegan Diets
Recipes



Spiritual Practices

In this time of global economic uncertainty, we humans need spiritual practices more than ever before. We are witnessing an especially chaotic time, a time that is increasing the Collective Anxiety. However, each of us can choose to consciously lessen this Collective Anxiety by calming our own systems on a regular, daily basis.

To calm my system, I perform daily spiritual practices from the Yogic tradition of ancient India. Through sitting in silent meditation, chanting (singing), cultivating the Witness, and understanding spiritual principles, I have healed myself almost entirely of depression, migraine headaches, anxiety, insomnia, and destructive thought patterns. I am a different person than I was six years ago. With deep gratitude for my own transformation, I am inspired to spread the healing seeds of spirituality to others.

If you are interested in bringing more calm into your life, please check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. In this little pocketbook I give basic, easy-to-read descriptions of spiritual practices that anyone on any spiritual path can learn and apply to their daily lives. If your uncle in Chicago is stressed out with his job and health issues, consider giving him this book. The Yogic spiritual practices are highly adaptable to any time and place. Anyone, anywhere, can learn to sit and watch their thoughts. Simply watching our thoughts begins a profound inner healing process.

Cultivating the Witness is one of the most important spiritual practices. It is a practice in learning to love ourselves unconditionally. When we begin to witness all of ourselves – our thoughts, our feelings, our bodily sensations, and our states of consciousness – we quickly see all of our patterns and false coverings. Gradually, as we practice witnessing ourselves in meditation and in daily life, the false coverings fall away and we become more and more who we truly are…

… And we are all truly Love. We are one continuous web of energy, and that energy is pure love energy. Once we become intimate with that pure love energy in our hearts, our lives become calmer, richer, and more blissful. Performing regular daily spiritual practices, like cultivating the Witness, brings us closer and closer to the pure love energy that we essentially are. Falling in love with ourselves spurs a whole sequence of beneficial changes within ourselves. This healing creates a Radiance rising within us that spontaneously shines out and benefits those around us and beyond.


Spiritual Principles

Understanding and applying basic spiritual principles helps us to face life’s ups and downs with more ease. In my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, I describe the following spiritual principles:

• Change is the nature of the world. Thus, expectation causes suffering.
  
  
• God is unchanging. (“God” can be conceived of in many ways – as the Unchanging Reality, the Source, the Universe, the Divine, the Great Spirit, the Eternal Light, Pure Consciousness and Bliss, the Father, the Mother, and so on.)
  
  
• Attachment to that which is changing leads to suffering.
  
  
• Directing our attachment to That which is unchanging brings contentment.

Many of us have heard or read these “simple” principles again and again, but until we actually learn how to apply them in our lives, they remain mere words. These principles are deceiving, because they sound so simple, but they are actually difficult to practice in our daily lives. Thus, it helps if we can view our lives as joyous playgrounds on which we get to “play” with the spiritual principles. As with all spiritual practices, understanding and applying the spiritual principles is an on-going, gradual process in learning to become simpler, kinder, more joyful human beings.


Helpful Attitudes

The power of positive, cheerful thinking cannot be underestimated. The way we perceive our lives begins with our thoughts, and our thoughts create our attitudes. By learning a few ways to shift our attitudes, we can also shift the thoughts that created those attitudes. In my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, I offer the following helpful attitudes for meditation and for daily life:

• Acceptance of what IS.
• Curiosity about what IS.
• Non-judgment of what IS.
• Patience with what IS.
• A Sense of Humor with what IS.
• Compassion for what IS.

These helpful attitudes expand our view of life, which greatly benefits the body-mind. Our systems relax when our minds and hearts open. Thus, changing our attitudes creates a sense of well-being that many of us are longing for with every cell of our beings.


Affirmations

Saying affirmations out loud daily is a great tool for transforming our thoughts and attitudes. There are many books available with ideas for affirmations, but you can also just make up your own affirmations as you go along.

For example, over the past several years I had grown increasingly unable to cope cheerfully with the winter chill in my bones, and I allowed myself to develop the bad habit of thinking and speaking negatively about my discomforts. This winter I consciously decided that I wanted to stop complaining about being cold, so I made the following affirmation: “The cold air is strengthening me.” Any time I am tempted to complain, I say this affirmation out loud, and it really does change my attitude. There is power in the spoken word, especially if the spoken word is positive.

A friend told me that saying affirmations out loud while walking helps to re-pattern the brain, so I often say my affirmations during my daily walks.


Exercise

Whether you choose brisk walking or another form of exercise, it is so important to exercise regularly. Exercise benefits us on all levels. When we exercise regularly, we feel better mentally, emotionally, hormonally, chemically, physically, and spiritually. Exercise is good for the heart, the liver, the immune system, and the psyche.

In some recent research studies, they found that regular exercise treated moderate depression better than antidepressant medications. When people exercise regularly, they also usually sleep better.

With all these reasons to exercise regularly, we have to find ways to make it happen in our daily lives. My ongoing personal intention is to go for a 30-minute walk each day, but life happens and I don’t end up walking every day. However, I do keep track of my walks in my weekly appointment book, so at the end of each week I can tally them and see how many walks I managed to fit in. On weeks when I walked five or six times, I feel proud of myself, and on weeks when I only walked one or two times, I challenge myself to do more the following week.

When you absolutely cannot exercise regularly, for whatever reason, simply visualize yourself exercising. I know this sounds unbelievable, but one research study actually found that when people merely visualize themselves exercising they receive some of the benefits, as if they were actually exercising! Our bodies and minds are more connected than we can ever imagine.


Nature

Spending time in nature comforts and soothes us. When we are too busy to go out hiking or camping, we can still connect with nature in small ways, such as: going out to look at the sky several times each day; gazing at the stars at night; sitting under a tree and touching its bark when we feel scattered and need to ground our energies; tending a plant or a garden; bringing seasonal clippings into our home (pine cones and cedar branches in winter; flowers in spring and summer; and colorful leaves in autumn); and intentionally walking in the rain. On that note, there was once a Guru in India who refused to carry an umbrella because he didn’t want anything to come between him and God! (From Living With the Himalayan Masters, by Swami Rama, The Himalayan Institute Press, Honesdale, PA, 1978, 1999.) Ever since I read that, I relish the feeling of raindrops on my head.


Television

During my grade school years I watched a lot of television, but in high school and college I was too busy with studies and parties. Then in my twenties I got hooked on Seinfeld and thoroughly enjoyed watching it every week, until that last disappointing episode. When Seinfeld ended, so did my television watching. Now I don’t even own a television.

While not owning a television seems completely normal and natural to me, I realize that there are a lot of people who really enjoy watching television. If you watch a lot of television, I invite you to consider reducing the amount of time you spend in front of the TV. Here’s why: regardless of the kind of program you are watching, the speed of the light changes happening on the screen puts your body-mind into a survival state in which your system has to choose between flight or fight. The trouble is, you can’t fight the television, nor can you flee it. You can’t flee it because the speed of the light changes freezes the attention of your survival state brain upon the television screen.

This is why people can’t very easily take their eyes away from a television that’s blaring in the room, even if they are trying to do something else. Advertising companies make good use of this phenomenon: they increase the speed of the light changes during commercials to make sure that they hook people’s attention.  

Watching television is one way to get into a meditative state, but the problem with this form of meditation is that it creates stress in the body-mind. Once the speed of the light changes on the screen puts you into the survival state, then the stress hormone cortisol gets released, and that hormone is responsible for a lot of health problems.

A healthy alternative to TV meditation is sitting in silent meditation. Many people think that they need the outside stimulation of the television to feel happily entertained, but once they try sitting in silence, they find so much relief in taking a break from all of the outer stimulation. To learn how to begin a regular daily meditation practice, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.

Also, when you watch less television, you have more time to pursue other interests… and those interests might just bring you incredible joy.


Sleep

There are so many theories and studies out there about sleep. Most ‘experts’ seem to agree that we need a certain amount of sleep to function well, and in my experience that does seem to be true. When I was breastfeeding babies and toddlers every few hours each night, I certainly did not function as well as I am functioning now that I’m sleeping 7-8 hours each night. Yet, it seems to me that the amount of sleep we need varies widely from person to person depending on our age and our present life circumstances.

For example, during certain life stages we might need more (or less) sleep than we usually need. During one spiritual retreat with my teacher Basil, several of us were complaining about insomnia, and he offered the following possible explanation for temporary bouts with insomnia: when we are going through certain spiritual changes and transformations, Consciousness needs us to be awake for the process.

Regardless of the reason for the sleep troubles, sleep deprivation is not a fun state to experience. One thing that helps is to let go of repeatedly thinking the idea that we need a certain amount of sleep. Even if we do need it, when we can’t fall asleep it doesn’t help to keep thinking that we need it.

Through my own bouts with insomnia, I tried many things which worked to some extent, and I will list them here, but the most important thing that worked for me was letting go of the idea that I needed a certain amount of sleep. Once I relaxed about not sleeping as much, my sleep patterns gradually improved.

Here are some ideas to try when you can’t sleep: herbal tinctures such as valerian, kava, and passionflower (check with your healthcare provider first); herbal teas such as chamomile and tulsi; aromatherapy oils such as lavendar (not for young boys, as lavendar products have been known to cause hormonal changes in boys); taking hot baths with Epsom salts; reading; and doing spiritual practices such as the ones outlined in my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. In this pocketbook I explain the basics for beginning a regular meditation practice. Current research shows that regular meditation reduces insomnia and increases restful sleep.


Vegetarian Diets

There are many reasons to consider a vegetarian diet, including improved health for ourselves and increased joy from expressing compassion for all the creatures. Regardless of whether the meat (including fish) is free range, organic, or conventional, the creatures suffer. When the animals or fish are killed they feel fear, and when we then eat the dead, cooked meat of those animals or fish, we take those fear vibrations into our bodies and minds.

I grew up eating a lot of meat, and although I was a vegetarian for a few years in my early twenties, I soon reverted back to my meat eating habits. However, once I began a regular meditation practice, I began hearing an internal voice that told me to stop eating meat. I listened to that voice because the smell and taste of meat were actually really grossing me out. After not eating meat for a few years, I realized that fish is also a meat, so I stopped eating fish as well. A few years after that, I began to feel the suffering of the creatures. I think that when we are eating animals and fish, we aren’t able to feel their suffering as keenly, either because we have to suppress those feelings to be able to continue eating them or because eating them actually desensitizes us to what they feel. Either way, once we stop eating meat for a while, we begin to develop sensitivity to the creatures’ feelings.

Gandhi-ji said, “Spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.” As I type that quote, tears are swelling in my eyes and my heart feels as if it will burst and I feel heat in my belly. I feel so pained for all the creatures who are suffering unnecessarily.

The thing is, we don’t need to eat meat to be healthy. We are actually healthier without meat. However, since our thoughts largely create our realities, many people might need meat simply because they believe that they need meat. Researching the health benefits of becoming vegetarian can help you to understand that we don’t actually need meat in our diets. Once you let go of the belief that you need meat, then you can easily become a vegetarian.

The health benefits of eating vegetarian are indisputably clear. Studies show that a vegetarian diet reduces the risk for diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and many types of cancer. For vegetarian cooking ideas, check out my cookbook, Love Soups: A Vegetarian Soup Cookbook Inspired by the Soup Devas.

I cherish this quote from Henry David Thoreau: “I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.” With increased awareness of the benefits of a vegetarian diet, it is my prayer that the human race will achieve this part of its destiny sooner rather than later.


Vegan Diets

After eating eggs my whole life, at age thirty-two I suddenly could not stand the smell or thought of eggs. This actually happened before the inner voice told me to stop eating meat, so by the time I cut meat out of my diet I was already egg-free. At that time I still ate quite a bit of dairy products. It was during those years that I published a vegetarian cookbook, Love Soups: A Vegetarian Soup Cookbook Inspired by the Soup Devas. A few months after publishing the cookbook, I slowly began shifting from a vegetarian to a vegan diet.

It took me several months to wean myself off the dairy products. First I stopped buying cows’ milk, then yogurt, then butter… but I kept buying cheese. It was really hard to let go of the cheese! Rather than forcing myself to stop buying cheese, I allowed myself to enjoy it fully, while contemplating what the cows go through for us to have that cheese. Surprisingly, this took a while – I did not immediately give up the cheese, even once I was tuning in to how the cows suffer for our enjoyment.

Discussing the matter with a vegan friend really helped. While it took me several months to shift from vegetarian to vegan, it had taken him eight years to make that same shift. He has been happily enjoying a vegan diet for over twenty-five years now, but in the beginning it was hard for him to let go of the dairy products. He thinks that it is difficult to give up all animal products at once. Many people need a transition time during which they still eat dairy. A few weeks after talking with my friend, I quit buying cheese, and I haven’t missed it once. Everything happens in its own time, when we are ready for it.

People tell me that (for all kinds of reasons) they can’t eat a vegan diet. Our minds greatly affect our bodies, so if we believe that we can’t eat a vegan diet, then we won’t be able to. Conversely, once we do the research and the soul searching, our minds will change on this subject. More and more people are changing their minds and shifting to a vegan diet.

Even the late Dr. Benjamin Spock became a vegan in his final years. After realizing the health benefits of a vegan diet, this famous pediatrician strongly advised parents to feed their children vegan diets.

Dexter Scott King, son of Martin Luther King, Jr., said the following: "Veganism has given me a higher level of awareness and spirituality." (Vegetarian Times, 10/95)

I have found this to be true as well. Since I shifted to a vegan diet, my meditation practice has deepened and I feel more mentally clear and more spiritually awake. Now I more keenly sense the interconnectedness of all things.


Recipes

I will share a few vegan recipes here, and I will also continue to share recipes in my newsletter (The Tejaswini Playground Press), as well as in the Teja Blog.

One of my favorite snacks:

1 banana
1-2 Tablespoons hemp seeds
1 Tablespoon maca powder
1-2 Tablespoons flaxseed oil

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl, and enjoy!

(Additional ingredient possibilities for this snack: fresh ginger root, cacao nibs, unsweetened cocoa powder and agave nectar syrup, sunflower seeds, tamari almonds, cinnamon.)


An easy-to-make, very satisfying meal:

Kitchari
Adapted from my friend LG’s recipe

Soak mung beans overnight (or 4 hour minimum)

Cook the following:
2 cups mung beans
4 cups water (may need more)
5-6 or more cloves garlic, chopped finely
big piece of ginger root, chopped finely
optional: big onion, chopped medium dice

Cook for 45 minutes or longer, until the mung beans start to fall apart.

Then combine with the following:
2 cups cooked rice (brown basmati or brown long grain)
½ cup tamari
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons cumin seed
1 ½ Tablespoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red chili flakes

Stir until blended – don’t over-stir.

Let sit for 45 minutes before serving.

With all of the above quantities, experiment to suite your tastes. You may like it more or less spicy.

I really like kitchari heated up for breakfast… with maple syrup on top!



From my vegetarian cookbook,
Love Soups: A Vegetarian Soup Cookbook Inspired by the Soup Devas:

 

 

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
2 medium yellow onions
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped ginger root
½ cup arame seaweed (soak in water for 20 minutes and then drain off water before adding to soup.)
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
¼ cup finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon cinnamon
cayenne pepper, 2 small dashes
1½ - 2 teaspoons salt
black pepper, 2 sprinkles

Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, bake skin-side-up in oiled pan at 350˚ until tender. Set aside.

In big soup pot, sauté onion in olive oil. After a few minutes, add the ginger. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add 5 cups of water, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, then add squash (with skins removed), chickpeas, sage, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne. Bring to a boil again. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, then add the garlic and arame. Simmer 3 minutes more. Remove from heat. Optional: blend part or all of this soup.