I first started celebrating Earth Day as a teen – organizing a school-wide event with the predecessor of Whole Foods- a natural grocery store in Massachusetts named Bread & Circus. They worked with SCAT, an eco-awareness group I co-started with my best friend, Jessie Meaney. Jessie’s mom came up with the acronym SCAT for Students Concerned About Tomorrow.

Together, Bread & Circus and SCAT created an amazing 1 day holiday in our school with workshops all day long for students and teachers in get a close look at the unconscious choices we were making… .and how to make more conscious upgrades. When I look back I can’t believe that Jessie and I convinced our headmaster’s boss – the head of the 2 town school system, to give us a day of school with our own curriculum. The power of a good idea! I’ll always be grateful to him for instilling in us budding activists the sense that we could change things- if only for a day.

Fast forward a few decades and I’m still a member of SCAT at heart. I’ve created a little cheat sheet for you to  PRINT + PIN to FRIDGE. I recommend circling one or two that are at your growing edge and the next step to you becoming an even more fully-fledged Earthling.

How to Invest in your Inner + Outer Ecosystem

1. Grow your own sprouts on your counter.

2. Plant a few edible plants in containers or in the earth. Learn how to tend them well.

3. Gather seeds. Plant seeds. Share seeds.

4. Sit by a tree and meditate.

5. Keep a “plants I eat” list on your fridge. Expand your list.

6. Listen to plants. Be curious about what they need from you.

7. Learn 2 invasive plants which are edible in your yard or ecosystem.

8. Blend tough invasive plants (unsprayed and grown in chem-free soil) like thistle

into a green drink with apples, lemon and water.

9. Get a hold of a field guide for your bathroom or coffee table reading.

10. Recover chemically polluted soil from weed killer. Add worm castings.

11. Notice in the wild areas near you what plants grow next to each other. Use your senses to get to know how that plant makes a living.

12. Once you know how that plant thrives, plant it in your own yard and tend to it’s adaptation.

13. Follow the patterns of water in your yard.

or building. Watch how is moves. Can you retain it longer on site and use it? Collect rainwater.

14. Support local food growers. Know their goals and spread the word.

15. Hire a local botanist to take you and friends and family off the beaten path on a wild plants walk. Ask them to also point out the edible invasive plants.

16. Ask a local permaculture specialist to help you better use your yard. If you have friends who are interested, you might turn it into a workshop.

17. Make your own teas, tinctures, + salves. Become your own witch. Dry greens for your winter green drinks.

18. Have work parties of trade with a friend to help each other with your yards.

19. Help children learn about seeds, growing food and composting.

20. Let your connection with nature become your daily “entertainment”.

Here is the deal – we don’t realize how much our kids symptoms- physical, emotional and mental – are correlated with their diet. We also don’t realize how we can change our cravings. When we don’t realize these connections – our kids don’t learn to identify them for themselves. The stakes are high.

Should your Family Detox

For the Yogidetox  I’ve interviewed over a dozen experts for you to hear. In the Yogidetox interview with Valya Boetenko, the daughter in the Raw Food Family, I ask her what she noticed when her family changed their diet. She was astounded by her asthma attacks ceasing, which was huge for her at age 8, who was on inhalers and other meds for the condition. Valya was also astounded that she and her brother Sergei, then 9, started to enjoy each. Historically, they had fought like cats and dogs. When they shifted their diet – they had way more fun together and remain close friends to this day.

In the Yogidetox interviews (part of the course) I’ve asked many Detox Specialists and doctors about the question of family’s detoxing. No one is talking about it. I received a ton of resistance to the questions – you’ll hear it in the interviews.

Benefits of a Family Detox

• Set better day-to-day habits in motion.
• Avoid allergies, colds, flus & other seasonal issues.
• Teach your kids the connection between what they eat and how they feel.
• Get along better and enjoy each other more!

Yet, in my own experience, and with my little family – I’ve found the results to be like Valya’s. Truly outstanding. So simple -and so effective. And the bottom line is this – I want my child to grow up in a family culture that knows-  from the inside out – the benefits of a seasonal clean-up and upleveling of our diet and daily routines. It’s that simple.

Top 6 Signs your Family Needs to Detox

1. Kids don’t want to eat REAL food.
2. Snotty noses. Lingering Coughs. Skin break outs. Allergies.
3. Your fridge is full of beer, dairy, meat and leftovers.
4.  People aren’t getting along at home. Bickering. Nit-picking. Or full on passive or aggressive brawls.
5. There is too much stuff in the house and in the drawers.
6.  Too much screen time and not enough deep rest.
   

What is a Family Detox?

A family detox can take many different forms. It’s going to start with a discussion to see who is “in”. Anyone who isn’t in – that is fine. Before the discussion – you want to identify motivating factors for each person. Perhaps your spouse has been complaining about carrying an extra 10 lbs. Perhaps you’ve spending too much dough on food and not feeling nourished. Perhaps your lives have become complicated and you’re desiring simplicity. In the Yogidetox course I have a video showing you where to begin the conversation – and where to take it for those who are “in”.

A family detox is a set period of time (1-3 days for beginners, 4-7 days for advanced families) in which members of the family who want to participate take up better diet and lifestyle choices.

Don’t make it more complicated that it needs to be. All we’re doing is:

• Intentionally choosing foods that are really good for the body
• Going to bed earlier
• Doing a quick mindfulness practice daily

It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. Our families and our kids need better food and better rest. It’s much easier when we don’t feel like we’re the only family making better decisions. Join the movement. We will support you.
Sign up for our Family Detox.

Why Yoga Students + Yoga Teachers Dig Detox:

Clear your Channels.

To know how your body works from the inside out.

To know your tools.

Heal your  old injuries.

Advance your practice.

To embed smarter cravings.

To clear your senses so that you cravings are smarter, your eyes are brighter, you see more clearly, your hearing improves, and your skin regenerates.

 To make yoga easier! Sukha.

Clean space for consciousness to travel.

To better understand the depth of yoga philosophy. You’ll learn it intrinsically. You’ll have peak experiences.

To play with the “cave experience”. To live lightly. To know deeply.

To strengthen your WILLPOWER + DISCIPLESHIP to what what is most important in your life. 

Your clothes will fit better.

 TO be empty (PURNATVA) and to Experience SIMPLE BEING (SAT)

Get into the bliss body – find your anandamayakosha.

To prevent future disease… which enables you to show up more fully with your gifts. 

You are a divine creature – discover the inner sanctum.

1. Let’s Get Going!
   First off, when you sign up, I start communicating with you as a yogidetoxer.  I’ll be sending you recipes, worksheets, audios, videos, all various sorts of ways to get inside your brain so that you can start upgrading your body.
2. We get Live Time on the Phone
   Second off,  we kick off the Live worldwide Yogidetox on April 20th by meeting  live on the phone. Dial in via phone, skype or gtalk or whatever if you’re not in the US. Come to Beginner’s Calls or Advanced Calls- or to both. Everything is recorded, so you can listen when you’re doing your yoga practice.
3. You Get Support
   I will email you and tell you which yoga videos in the Yogidetox archive to watch. Which yogidetox cleanse talks to listen to, which worksheets to print out. In other words, for those of you who like hand-holding, I’ll hold your hand.
4. Get Community
   We’ll be live on the forum.  I staff the Yogidetox forum with experienced Yogdetoxers who know the rope around here, and know my teachings, and know about lots of different ways of getting out the junk and gunk and still feeling good while you do it. So we’ll be there for you. Connect with other detoxers on this path.
5. Get Follow Through
   You have access to all of our resources for 3 months. You’ll receive follow up yoga videos, meditation videos, guest speaker audios who really get how to take what you learned from detox so that it changes your life for the better.

What are your reasons for your spring cleanse? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Dedicated to my Grandma, Nani. Teresa de la Forest Foster Nolde 1915- March 11, 2013 (Obituary at bottom).

My grandma, Nani, died last week in her late 90′s. She was born in France, and loved her lamb and wine as per her heritage. She was a no b.s. woman, an excellent golfer and a spark of a rebel in her own right.

I’ve been wondering what choices she may have differently 20-30 years ago if she knew what aging is really like. She wasn’t in a peer group that refined their habits as they aged. She didn’t give up the stuff that lead to her suffering, and neither did her peers, though she outlived them all.There is a humility to our bodies aging that bewilders me. How can I make the best of this precious vehicle – this holy abode – for up to 60 more years?

The bigger issues and opportunities with aging comes down to how we invest. How do you invest your awareness, which is your time. How do you invest your dollars in that which enables you to take up better ways of being in a body? How do you invest in being in conscious communities to support your growth?

Know how your ship goes down.

I’ve taken to using this expression to describe the unique nature of your “vikruti”. Vikruti means what goes wrong. You and I probably don’t suffer from the same symptoms. When we both get tired and run down, we’ll suffer uniquely. As we get older and grey-er, we’ll complain of different problems. We all have different patterns of suffering. 

I’ve been listening to Dr. Claudia Welch describe your “kavaigunya”. She talks about how your ship will go down in terms of vikruti, karma, and everything bad that’s left a mark on you so far.  If you get your kavaiguna – you get what choices will bring you down… and which can potentially be a game-changer for the way you will age.

What does this have to do with an Evolutionary Strategy for Aging?

If you know how your ship goes down – step by step, in intimate details, perhaps you can avert the catastrophe. As we age the catastrophes of the body and mind get bigger. Think of your ancestors. What sinks their ships? Is is Alzheimers? Cancer? Bone loss? Do your peeps keep their teeth? What does life after menopause look like? With an evolutionary strategy for aging we need to deeply understand what is happening energetically, play-by-play in our personal health history. You’ll be able to change the way you age.

Most yoga students and teachers I know don’t know that they can learn Ayurvedic diagnostics as it applies to their personal wellness trajectory. What you don’t know might lead to years of needless discomfort, suffering, and you might lose your house (see below)… before what brings your ship down gets around to killing you.

Change the way you age

As a culture, we should direct our attention to the Art of Longevity. According to Ayurveda, the art of longevity has everything to do with the micro-decisions in your day to day life. You have to put your time in and make the changes that make the difference between evolving and degenerating. It’s the same kind of work you are doing on the mat in your yoga practice.When we commit to making better decisions based on the day-to-day feedback our bodies give us, we experience the benefit immediately.

The benefits are cumulative and soon your 80′s look totally different than they would have had you ignored the messages and kept up with the current cultural pattern. The benefits are also cumulative in the people you affect. We are all always influencing each other. You don’t live in a bubble. As you consistently make more evolved decisions, they show up in your kids. And you feel better as you get older – which changes the belief system of your children or the next generation in terms of what aging looks like. That is the feedback I consistently receive from my over-50 crowd of yoga students and teachers in the Living Ayurveda Course.

When you change the way you age for the better – when you feel better as you get older – the reality affects your bank account. Basically, most of us are on a trajectory of spending a ton of dough on out-of-pocket health care expenses as time marches on.

Save a bundle + change your retirement

For this part, I borrowed reporting from AHRG

• Five percent of the population accounts for almost half (49 percent) of total health care expenses.
•  The average health care expense in 2002 was $11,089 per year for elderly people but only $3,352 per year for working-age people (ages 19-64).⁵
• A principal reason why health care spending is spread out more evenly among the elderly is that a much higher proportion of the elderly than the non-elderly have expensive chronic conditions. 
• People With High Health Care Expenses Also Have High Out-of-Pocket Expenses Relative to Income
• On average, people with Medicare coverage paid $38,688 for medical care in the last five years of life.There was enormous variation, with 25 percent of participants spending an average $101,791 out-of-pocket for medical services and 25 percent spending an average $5,163 during this period.
• One-quarter of older adults incurred out-of-pocket medical expenses that exceeded the total value of their assets during this five-year period. Forty-three percent of older adults incurred expenses that exceeded their assets, excluding the value of their homes.

This is nuts. If you skimmed over the stats … read them. Almost no one I know wants to think of what their body will feel like in 10 years, let alone when you become the elderly. Your statistical odds of spending a huge bundle on your medical expenses are a sure bet. What can you do to avoid the chronic conditions that bring us down? You can learn how to fine tune yourself, your daily habits and seasonal routines for longevity. This is the fundamental teaching of Ayurveda.

Change how you “Save for Retirement”

Saving for retirement means investing in your health and wellness. This was always the point Ayurveda has been trying to make – but now the stakes are higher. Due to our pollution soils, stress and largely hybridized diets our systems are challenged. Yet there is so much more to learn. You need to reprogram your mind to invest, not just your dollar but your awareness and your commitment, to your personal and family wellness.

I’ve been conditioned to think of “saving for retirement” as putting some dough each month into mutual funds after I max out my Roth IRA. But what if you’re taking the money back out in 5-40 years to cover your out-of-pocket health care expenses? What if those bills are so high you lose your house to cover them?

It’s obvious to me… and hopefully to you as well, that planning for retirement means not just having money in the bank, but evolving the cellular intelligence of your body-mind so that you don’t inadvertently suffer from the chronic diseases that currently puts our elders not only in the pain cave, but also in the poor house.

Say you’re a yoga student. You know that your daily choices make a huge impact on your yoga practice. Good habits make yoga easy. Bad habits make yoga hard. Your yoga practice is a measuring stick for all things good and bad for you. Getting in a peer group, like in my Living Ayurveda course, of yoga students and teachers supporting each other to uplevel their good choices seasonally and through different stages of life is a solid investment that will pay dividends as long as you and your offspring have bodies.

Ayurveda for Smart Life-Planning

When you study Ayurveda, you start to look at YOUR life in epochs. I’ve taken to looking at my life in terms of decades. I want to know what I need to do now in my day-to-day choices that will continue to pay off in 5-30 years. Sounds a lot like mutual funds. But even low-risk mutual funds are much higher risk than your own wellness evolution. If you really study Ayurveda and integrate the practice for the post-modern decades ahead you get a pricel

ess return on your investment. And the super groovy part of it is that you get the good from those body-mind upgrades today …and tomorrow.

When you study Ayurveda you get your vikruti (how you go out of balance). You get your kavaigunya (how your ship goes down related to your health history + deep karma), you get your prakruti (personal constitution) at a level of depth. But more than that, you can get yourself on an evolutionary wellness trajectory. And yes, you’ve got to pay to play. You’ve got to put in your time. You ‘ve got to find a teacher that is going to inspire change, you’ve got to get in on a community that shares your evolving worldview and beliefs.

Built to last 100 years

Yogis + Vaidyas (Ayurvedic gurus) have a different take on aging. They believe our parts can last about 100 years. Sure, stuff will happen, and we will deteriorate… but much of the suffering is optional. The entire science of Ayurveda is based on maximizing wellness longevity and spiritual evolution. There is no pill and no bill. There is simply syncing up with someone who know the “secrets” and is living into their truth. There are the seasonal refinements, there are the practices, the upleveling of self-care, the changing what you crave so that what you crave is what helps the body.

The Living Ayurveda yoga teacher + student posse from Colorado. Feeling younger as time passes.

Change your worldview. Change the way you invest in your future. You only have one body. Are you treating it to last? Or are you slowly taking your own ship down?

Accelerate the wellness of your students + children

When yoga teachers teachers study Ayurveda and live into the practices they accelerate the wellness path of their students. I don’t say this off the cuff. It’s the feedback I get the most from the yoga teacher crowd in Living Ayurveda. What I hear the most from the mothers with children at home is that their families are shifting. Their kids are making better choices. The household habits are evolving along a wellness trajectory. This feedback is music to my ears.

We’ve been programmed to think that we can’t avoid genetic diseases. We can’t change the way we age. Saving for retirement means Roth IRA’s and 401K’s. We’re programmed to think that you can’t change people. You can’t change your partner, your children, your students, you’re friends. This is a dungheap of outdated beliefs. We influence each other with every choice we make… with every investment we make or don’t make. You can’t help but influence everyone in your live. Make your choices not just for yourself, but to evolve our families, communities and culture.

Invest in your future body.

Learn your inner body technology from the inside out. I’m offering a huge discount for those who want to join my Living Ayurveda Course that starts next September. You’ll get instant access into the Living Ayurveda Prep School. Plus, you’ll get the added bonus of a 3 day Access Pass to my Future of Ayurveda Summer Solstice 2014 Event near Jackson Hole, WY.

Living Ayurveda… an evolutionary strategy for aging…

Take better care of:

• yourself
• your family
• your yoga students

Or take you yoga career to the next level.

What is new in Living Ayurveda for the Sept. 2013-May 2013 Course:

Teresa Foster Nolde  1915-2013

passed away at age 97 in Venice, Florida. She was born on March 29, 2015 iin Melun, France. Her parents were Anne and Count Francois delaForest. Teresa’s family moved to St. Paul in 1920 where she attended the Visitation Convent School. She is predeceased by her husband, Gilbert Foster. Gil and Teresa have four daughters, all of whom survive her. They are Anne Forest of St. Paul, Gail Monchik of Old Greenwich, CT, Kathleen Stillman of Driggs, ID and Suzanne Rothschild of Englewood, FL who gave her mother devoted care. Teresa is also survived by 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. She is also predeceased by her second husband, Glen Nolde with whom she resided in Englewood, FL. She was a spirited and adventurous woman. She loved to have fun. She loved to travel. Bridge was one of her favorite pastimes. As she aged her one complaint was that she could no longer play golf. Mostly she loved being with her family and traveled many miles visiting her children and their families, all living great distances from her. In her quiet moments she produced beautiful knitted works and lovely needlepoint. She was treasured by her many nieces and nephews who called her Aunt Ta. Because of her spark and zest for life, it seems like a happy and bright light has gone out. Teresa, Ta, Nani, Grandma, Mom, you are so missed.

Ayurveda Guidelines for Spring – Print + Share

Detox the Junk in your Trunk

Unglue your gut. Unflannel your channels. After the long winter every cell in your body is begging for you to press the reset button. Spring is the season of burning the fat and turning on the inner a.c. before summer. Don’t miss out on nature’s season of the reset button … and you’ll look good for those summer short shorts. Join the next yogidetox.

Move it or Lose it

Spring is the easiest season to up your exercise. It’s Kapha season, which means your body is strong and ready for endurance. Turn up your workout. Play your edge. Put some hustle in your bustle.

Prioritize Prana Pathways

Our nadis (subtle and not so subtle energy channels) get clogged. Drain-o your nadis each morning with deep nasal breathing. If you can’t inhale through your nose – try to exhale a “humming” sound. The Humming Exhale breaks up the junk and helps your blood take up oxygen.

Allergies, Sinus + Spring Cold Relief

If you or your posse have more issues as the grass grows greener do this: Make a hot drink to clear mucus with ginger juice, lemon juice, cayenne, hot water and raw honey.

Get Out

Get in the habit of having an early dinner and then playing outside. Take a walk. Go for a bike ride. Weed your garden. Just get out. And don’t make the mistake of being out and then eating late, or you’ll burn out before summer’s end.

Ayurveda – Food for Spring

Start Sprouting

Sprouts have more protein per pound than lean meat and bucket loads more absorbable and diverse nutrients. Talk about holy cow. Sprouting takes 2 minutes a day. Buy your seeds and sprouter and get going. Don’t waste plastic. Sprout your own. Aim for 1 cup per adult per day.

Eat Green

Chlorophyll is the color of spring. It’s natural for primates, like yourself, to eat green 3 x a day, especially in Spring. Use green smoothies or juices, salads, cooked greens and living soups.

Drink Your Dandelions

Wild weeds, including our invasive friends like Dandelion + Thistle are superfoods. Both with detox your liver, blood and fat, while replacing long lost minerals from your caffeine addiction. Plus they’re free once you stop spraying your yard. Add young dandelions or thistle to make your fruit smoothies green.

Get Down and Dirt-y

You’re at the start of the active food growing season. If you’ve been eating green you’ve noticed you spend more on your greens and sprouts than anything else. Grow your own. Upgrade your outside with grow boxes or hoop houses. Getting your hands in the dirt is the quickest way to ground yourself and discharge EMF’s. If you’re already a gardener start to permaculture your place.

Print it, and put it on your fridge. You are welcome to forward it around on Facebook or link in your next newsletter if you have yoga students to share it with. The next live Yogidetox with Cate begins April 20th, worldwide. And yes, the Aussies can do a fall detox with me then too.

It’s much better than my text here. You’ll love it. (direct audio download link)

Common Set-backs in Learning Ayurveda

Before we dive into the Essential Lessons from Ayurveda, we need to look at what I’ve learned along the way. I was taught Ayurveda at the California College of Ayurveda. I worked in the herb room and the pancha karma clinic. I lived with my teachers. Studied at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco – their 2 year teacher training program. I was a work study, and learned closely from the school and my teachers. From this schooling I learned the old Ayurveda. My teachers, and I mean all of my teachers across the board from both schools combined Indian Culture with the amazing principles and energetic wisdom of Ayurveda. And as a result, I wasted precious time getting the goods from Ayurvedic wisdom integrated into my hyper-modern, yet down-to-earth life.

The Old Ayurveda (West meets East)

During one detox, Winston, my husband rebelled against kitchari on day 3. He refused to eat any more, though he was hungry. That’s when I knew I had to find other ways to help my family, my friends, and my yoga students, have more fun with Ayurveda and to deeply connect to the core of this brilliant wisdom tradition. I had to ditch the old Ayurveda.

Identifying Factors of the Old Ayurveda

• Steeped in Indian culture
• Focused on constitution over more fundamental tools
• Prioritized an Indian-food diet, with plenty of ghee, turmeric, basmati rice and mung dal
• Advoctated kitchari for detoxing

My teachers, and I mean all of my teachers across the board from both schools confused Indian Culture with the amazing principles and energetic wisdom of Ayurveda. And as a result, I wasted precious time getting the goods from Ayurvedic wisdom integrated into my hyper-modern, yet down-to-earth life. I don’t want to see you waste your time learning Ayurveda. Listen to the audio to do the workshop. And listen for the bonus at the end. And if you want to go deeper with me to learn Ayurveda, I can:

• Show you hhow to make the biggest positive impact in the shortest period of time
• Give you the BEST TOOLS that make all the difference in your lives, your students lives, and the lives of their families
• Help you decide whether you want to generate income from what you know and help other people vs. simply learn for yourself and your own famil

The New Ayurveda (West meets the future)

What I’m naming the New Ayurveda closes the gap between being exactly who you are and mining the genius from the Yogis of Yore.

• You want to have the basic tools from Ayurveda – in a way that makes your life better today, your health better tomorrow, and your family more intelligent in your lifestyle design.
• You want to learn in a way that is fun. That is meaningful, and connected. You want the tools without the dogma.
• You don’t want to leave home to learn, and you’re smart enough to know that turning the barge of your habits and easing into deeper learning takes time. After all – you didn’t get to where you are with Yoga in a day!

Case Study: A colleague of mine from the south had a high vata constitution and was prone to vata imbalances. Her son had some pitta/kapha imbalances, and her boyfriend some intense rajas energy. This yoga teacher became a member of the Living Ayurveda Course last fall. I was psyched, because I knew her learning would impact not just herself, but her family and her community. And sure enough – she’s got her family in sync – the imbalances have faded over the months of the course and everyone’s healthier and more syncronized. And – her students are learning and changing their lives through her. SHe’s becoming even a greater wellness provider. It’s totally rad.

Top 3 Essential Lessons in the New Ayurveda

1. Focus on Dina Charya. Focus on eating earlier at night. Unplugging at night. Going to bed earlier.  Waking earlier in the morning.  Hydrating. Pooping. Scraping your tongue – and checking for ama. Moving after you poop – and feeding your blood prana for the day. Getting serious about meditation before dawn. Write down 1 improvement of subtle improvement you can make – that you’re excited about putting some energy behind.
2. Don’t worry about constitution. Focus on dina charya (1) and living seasonally (2). Living seasonally is harder than we think. We’re electrified. We’re hyperstimulated. What does living seasonally look like to you right now? How does it change your diet right now? How does it change your daily habits right now? Write down 1 personal upgrade to your dina charya that you can commit to today.
3. Make Ayurveda your own. Understand the principles -but discard the cultural stuff that doesn’t help you.  Separate out Indian culture. Give gratitude to the culture that gave rise to the teachings. Honor the teachings -but MAKE THEM YOUR Own.

Let’s ground this in a simple example. Let’s say you want to get a meditation practice off the ground. You heard a good first step is to create a place to meditate. Maybe even build a little altar. You’re yoga teacher might sit in front of Ganesha or Hanuman, because the symbol holds encoded meaning for her. But it means nothing to you. For you, an acorn holds meaning because perhaps your grandma and you used to gather then in the fall with the squirrels. The acorn reminds you of the industrial and stern nature of your grandma, and you sense being reminded of her consternation would help you commit to your practice. You put a dish of acorns on your altar. You’ve made Ayurveda your own.

Kick your wellness up a notch

For those who want to go deeper – and get that change happens over time and with guided support, I’m offering a chance to sign up early for the Living Ayurveda Course . When you register before April 1st for the course that starts Sept. 2013, you save $750 – or 30%. That is slightly huge. I’ve found over the years that students who sign up early get more out of the course. I’ve created a Living Ayurveda Prep School so that you can get access right away.

Why you want to take the Living Ayurveda Course and sign up before April 1:

1. Take better care of yourself
2. Take better care of your family – Upgrade your family diet without spending more money.
3. Simplify your life for a happy longevity.
4. Change the way you age
5. Enjoy your day-to-day more. Plus you’ll get sick less. You can’t do this wrong. But you can do this better.

Here is the deal – when you sign up before April 1st:

• Sign up now for Living Ayurveda at last year’s price.
• Plus, I’ll give you the Spring Yogidetox free! If you’ve already signed up for it,I’ll give you the October Yogidetox free. I like my students to detox as they really start to understand Ayurveda from the inside out that way.
• Plus, you get the 2014 Summer solstice 3 day retreat Access Pass included. (room and board isn’t included.

It’s only $1750, The price goes up to $2500 April 1st.

Signs you need to Detox:

1. You haven’t done a detox in six months- a year.

I’m going to be a stickler on this one. Our bodies and minds needs down time. Without down time, things creep up. Things like fatigue. Things like fat. Things like bad habits. Give yourself a chance to thrive. One body. One lifetime. Be smart about pressing your reset button.

2. Your pants don’t fit too good

We all know when we get fat. you might kid yourself or play the the “there is someone fatter than me which makes me skinny” game. but the fact of the matter is that your body knows when it’s holding too much weight.

3. You Stink.

If your pits stink. Or your poop stinks. Or your urine stinks. Or your breathe stinks. Or your menses stink. Or your feet stink. Basically, if anything stinks from any orifice… you need to detox. Your body is oozing ama (toxins).

4. You’re not stoked.

You wake up feeling the pull of the “no” instead of the inherent kid-like stoke of the “yes”. You’ve got a lot going on and it needs to get done. The substances: caffeine, pastries, chocolate, help… but you’d rather wake up with the intrinsic stoke and not need it from substances. But you don’t really think that’s possible. A detox will clear out the malaise, and you’ll awaken to the natural state. The natural state is stoked. How cool is that?

Join me on the next live yogidetox if you want guidance. And watch the video – as I snuck a few extra signs in there. 2013 detoxes start April 20 and Oct. 12.

Men, Boys and Testosterone

In the Healthier Hormones course with Dr Claudia Welch we’ve been talking about the roles hormones like estrogen, progesterone and cortisol play in women’s health, and it’s been amazing to learn how we can balance these hormones with simple daily practices. But many women are wondering, what does this mean for men, and especially for their sons?

It just so happened that Dr Robert Svoboda was visiting Dr. Claudia Welch when we were recording Healthier Hormones. Dr. Svoboda has been an integral part of Ayurveda in the West for almost 40 years.

In this audio clip from our Healthier Hormones Week 2 call Dr. Svoboda talks about how testosterone, the prodominate hormone controlling men’s psychology and physiology, affects them. He goes on to further explain that culture has shifted in such a way that developing and using the gifts testosterone has to bring without proper guidance can create real problems for young men who are just trying to find their place in the world. Take a listen…

   

Mentors for Boys

For women mainly keeping company with other women we sometimes forget to actively seek out male mentors and teachers, but as Dr. Svoboda suggests, that is exactly what we need to be doing for our boys. We need to find strong role models to provide guidance and help channel the natural ambition testosterone brings. We need to notice the tribes our boys join, who’s leading those tribes and the lessons they are learning from these teachers.

Just another reason it is more important than ever we women continue to be the seekers of information and truth that will help us on our evolutionary health path. We can continue to invite our friends and family (male and female) to join us in reaching our highest potential. Then we can all be there for our boys when they need us most.

You can still sign up for the Healthier Hormones Course and step into an authentic relationship with your body, your energy, and your day-to-day life. 

Or consider the Yogidetox and transition into the cooler months energized, light and radiating health.

I was asked a bunch of questions by Sarah Murray, a student reporting on the juice bars of Chicago for HUBBUB blog. You probably already know this, but just in case.juicebar

1. How long to juice fast?

That depends on the level of toxicity. A good place to start is 3 days. 7-10 days will effectively detox your lymph and blood. 21 days will get much deeper, and some people juice feast for one to 3 months. We’re all at different levels of mind-body integration. If you’ve been eating the standard american diet, you can ease in with a 3-10 day juice fast.

2. Why drink more juice?

Juice added to a Standard American Diet won’t make much of an impact. It’s more about what you’re taking out. Take everything else out – the coffee and muffin, the turkey sandwich, the chicken and rice, and glass of wine, and your body naturally starts to optimize. For most people, optimizing means detox. Fasting on juice versus water has the added benefit of flushing your cells and energizing your blood and brain.

3. Prepackaged vs. Fresh Juice?

One has usable nutrients from the plants and the other just adds calories without nutrients. Our ecosystem, where the plants (fruits and vegetables) come from is alive. The fewer steps between being plucked from the living plant to being chewed in your mouth (chew your liquids, drink your foods), The more alive the plants -the more the plants lend their intelligence and energy to your system. You get smarter and energized. The more processed and manipulated the plant is between harvest and consumption – the less intelligence and energy it can lend to you.

4. Do most juice bars use good ingredients?

They can’t. Organic juicing is very expensive, and much cheaper if you buy half cases of vegetables in bulk and do it at home. The next wave of what we’ll see is green smoothie bars. It’s much cheaper, it adds fiber, which is a scrub brush for your body. But, you need to start with where you are at. If you’re choosing between coffee and a green juice – one will take away nutrients (like calcium) from your blood and bones. The other will add nutrients and energy. The cost is short term (adrenaline rush vs. energy rush) and long term (adrenal depletion which will trigger endocrine disruption) or deep integration, disease prevention, and acceleration of wellness.

Visit www.yogidetox.com to get Cate’s FREE Recipe Book + Detox guide.