Days 12-14 Cyndi's Nirahara Samyama Diary: The Sacred Banyan Tree

Swami Nithyananda gives a breathing exercise for the Nirahara's to "live off of" the elevated energies of his ashram with a focus on being the sacred Banyan Tree which is considered to be the guiding spirit of the ashram. The instructions for the Nirahara Samyama Kriya for levels 1,2 and 3 are:

Sit in a comfortable Asana (Padmasana/Ardha Padmasana/Vajrasana) and breathe in (inhale) through both the nostrils and mouth together simultaneously and hold it judiciously as long as possible and visualize you are Bidadi Banyan Tree receiving your food and energy from space. Breathe out (exhale) from both nostrils slowly. Do this for 21 minutes.

I like this picture of Nithyananda and the Dakshinamurti ("the first-ever guru, the incarnation of Lord Shiva") for the devotion he shows, which reminds me to feel devotion in connecting with this sacred tree I haven't met yet. According to Bfoodfree.org, "The sacred Banyan tree at the Master’s abode, is revered as a hub for cosmic energy. The Banyan tree meditation is like a life support system for us Niraharis."

Over these 11 days of only liquids, I intend to connect more with the Banyan tree.

These three days have been relatively uneventful. I did make my own juices and much prefer these to the purchased juices. I am not convinced that any of them are truly healthy. I had thought a few of them weren't pasteurized, but am now skeptical and intend to really research the brands I have available to me before I do another Nirahara Samyama.

I made 3/4 gallon of juice with spinach, beet root and greens, carrot, cucumber, a whole bunch of celery, and an apple in a Green Star juicer I "caretake" for a friend who lives most of the year in Mexico.

I've been enjoying making my own nut milks again. To make a higher omega 3 milk, I am using about 3/4 C of walnuts with 1/4 C of hemp seeds and a pitted date. I use about 4-5 C of structured water, "milk" that in the nut milk bag, pour that out equally into two quart juice jars then put the pulp back in the blender with another 3 and a bit C of water and blend again. I milk it again in the nut milk bag and pour it out equally into the two juice jars. This is the economical version! I am using a Kitchen Aid blender, which is 600HP, but decidedly NOT a high speed blender; it does a good enough job though!

On the first day of Level 3, a Sunday, I actually hung out at Starbuck's in Yelm with a friend. I had a mocha with coconut milk, mainly because a bit of coffee helps clean my bowels out. I only get a 1/2 a shot. My friend gave me a bit of her coffee also and the effect of the extra caffeine (or whatever substance seems to help with cleanouts) helped!

I've been trying to catch live satsangs or replays and there were not very many live satsangs yet and hence, no replays. When that happens I choose a video from the archive of satsangs on the Nithyananda.org website.

The video I chose for Day 14 was: Paramahamsa Nithyananda Shares His Enlightenment Experience.

What I did on Days 12-14 Nirahara Samyama:
- Days 1-3 of Level 3

Drink or Eat

Structured Water and DE Structured Water
Neem leaf powder (1/4 tsp w/ 1/4 tsp structured water)
[Yup, still haven't been having the Haritaki!]
Juice made celery, cuke, beet, spinach, apple,
Kombucha
Ginger master brew
Chai tea
Walnut/hemp milk with bit of cacao and xyitol
Raw soup, various veggies on hand, in blender

Activities

Chanting 108 Ajapa Japa "Om Shreem Nithyanandaya Namaha"
Watered Garden
Cooked for family (raw for husband; meat & egg for teen)
Business planning
Short walks
Blogging
Watched a live satsang, replay or video

For an introduction to the Nirahara Samyama process, read the first post of this diary here. For all the posts in this series, go here: Nirahara Samyama Diary July 2015

Day 6 Cyndi's Nirahara Samyama Diary: Haritaki Cramps!

Ah, the wonders of Haritaki powder!

Haritaki powder is the powder of a fruit, also known as Kadukaai. It is a master herb in Ayurvedic healing and part of a common formula, Triphala (three fruits) which is most known for it's gentle bowel cleaning support and tissue rejuvenation.

Swami Nithyananda recommends all Niraharis (those practicing Nirahara Samyama) take 1 tsp of haritaki each evening, as powder in the mouth. Nithyananda says in Haritaki – Nectar, the Spiritual Cleanser:

The oxygen level in the blood increases to 300%. The whole stomach gets cleansed. That is one thing. The main thing is the whole blood becomes pure. 300% oxygen means equivalent to 2 hours of Pranayama.

The first time I participated in Nirahara Samyama, I didn't have any strong reaction and although taking it as a powder is, well, very dry, I found that dumping the spoonful in the side of my mouth and quickly following it with water, and swishing the water around in my mouth, to work OK. I even found the aftertaste a bit sweet.

This time around however, the taste has been quite astringent and hard to take and, consequently I haven't been too consistent on taking it every day. I had actually been taking 1/2 Tablespoon the week before I started the July Nirahara Samyama and checked the notes to see how much to take.

Today I took just 1 teaspoon around 11am, because I wanted it to do any work before the evening when I had to go out and I had missed taking it for a few days. And it did kick in about 2.30pm as we were picking up my son from summer school. I had to use the restroom before coming home and had quite a clean out and when home, was in the bathroom for some time. 

And cramps started. I don't want to scare people from using it, but that was my reality this time around! The cramps were very sharp, a bit like birthing cramps, but shorter and sharper. 

I told a friend about it who had started taking haritaki after researching it, (she has not done the Nirahara Samyama) and she had cramps, but really liked the cleaning out and detoxing that was occurring, so she stuck with it. She said, "Haritaki did such great stuff to my body so far, really good for skin, hair, lungs and all else." 

This time, she told me:

"That is what Haritaki does, it has to scrape the accumulated dirt from your intestinal walls and gets the flukes and bugs out and that is the reason you only take Haritaki at night before going to bed, so you don't feel the cramps after you fall asleep. I used to go to bed, and placing a hand on my belly saying 'I love you' as cramps would come since I took Haritaki and then stayed up a bit."

I drank a lot of water, rested on the bed between cramps. It was so similar to birthing, and the cramps made you totally present! It lasted for about 4 hours. I wondered if some nasty worm was fighting its expulsion or some such similar parasitical battle was happening in my bowels.

Although I had felt some mild nausea, I wondered if having some strained soup would help so I warmed that up and strained it, and had a cramp in the kitchen. 

My husband–who surely didn't get what I was going through–when he complained about the things I left in the bathroom and that I couldn't take our son to his meeting, I had an outburst at him. So perhaps haritaki helps with emotional purging too!

During the pain, I also retrieved my Natural Action Technologies portable unit and pointed it at my tummy and intended healing and restoration of balance. I fell asleep with the unit next to my pillow.

My advice regarding haritaki powder? Take 1 teaspoon in the evening for sure! Stick with it and if you happen to get cramping the first day, reduce the amount by half and take that for 3 days and then increase the amount to 3/4 teaspoon for 3 days. 

What I did on Day 6 Nirahara Samyama:

- Day 3 of 7 day on Liquids

Drink or Eat

Structured Water and DE Structured Water

Neem leaf powder (1/4 tsp w/ 1/4 tsp structured water)

Haritaki powder (1 tsp w/ 1 tsp structured water)

Mix of juices: Suja berry, probiotic lemon, carrot juice

Strained coconut vegetable soup

Activities

Surya Namaskar
Ab exercises
108 Ajapa Japa "Om Shreem Nithyanandaya Namaha"

Watered Garden

Cooked for family

errands
Helped friend

21min Kriya Breathing

Watched:

Nithyananda.tv Satsang

Observations

I do think that haritaki, as a cleanser, surely affected my emotions. My outburst at my husband was pretty intense and I was then able to talk to him the next day about the issues it represented. Swami Nithyananda does suggest doing a completion process while going through Nirahara Samyama.
This process is called SAMSKARA DHAHANA KRIYA and you can hear him teach about it on the video: Technique to Burn the Root of Suffering

For an introduction to the Nirahara Samyama process, read the first post of this diary here. For all the posts in this series, go here: Nirahara Samyama Diary July 2015

Squat, Don't Sit For a Healthier Bowel Movement Says Dr. Mercola

I remember a my husband's first nature poo. I was 27, he 28, camping in Northern Queensland, Australia. I could not believe he'd never taken a dump in the woods! We had both been bicycle racers, long before we met. Racing, and the rural training for racing, often necessitates taking care of nature's calls wherever you may be. I would carry a bit of toilet paper in a plastic bag on the longer rides, just in case (being a girl and all, you know). He survived the experience and learned how refreshing a good squat can be and that squatting was more than a way to build your quads via weightlifting.

Dr. Mercola published a great article that will go a long way towards improving the bowel movements of America: Want Better Bowel Movements? Squat, Don’t Sit! I can vouch for what he says. Personally, we have a couple of Rubbermaid step stools in the bathrooms; it's not perfect, but it works. The article also includes a helpful description of the types of stools; health, unhealthy and appearance of stools.

During a trip to India in 2013, I was one of the few retreat participants at the Oneness University who would use the "Indian toilets", we called them; there was never a line for those! Usually they were a square porcelain 'bowl' in the floor that you squat over it and the floor was tiled and there was a bucket with water to aid with flushing and cleaning off, sometimes there was a hose also. The only awkwardness involved was tucking your clothes in such a way as so they didn't get wet on the floor or via a 'mistaken aim' (even for girls!). This is a photo of an all-in-one squat-or-sit toilet I experienced in India.

6 Tips for Squatting for Health

1. Drink Lots of Water. Start the day with 2-4 big glasses of water and take a BM before you eat. Choose fresh spring water or Natural Action Technologies Structured Water®. Drink more water or structured fluids, like fresh juices or smoothies or raw soups.
2. Include probiotics and fermented foods in your diet. 
3. Use a step stool or a Squatty Potty to emulate a squat, leaning forward helps. If using a step stool, you may find you need a taller stool if you have an tall or ADA (handicap) toilet.
4. Do not put up the toilet seat and climb up there and squat, as some hard-core guys in the comments of the Mercola article do, it's dangerous as you can slip and the toilet was made to handle the weight distributed around the rim of the bowl, not concentrated on the sides.
5. Take a portable stool with you on road trips, or keep one in a car. Once you figure out what size works best at home, you might need a taller stool since most of public bathrooms these days use the ADA toilets.
6. Squat more! Squat when gardening, squat while reading, squat when hanging out and talking to people. Find a way to squat for a while right before you go to the bathroom without a stool, this can be handy at rest stops as it can help relax the muscle, before heading in. 

In Australia, we once even inadvertently built the perfect '"squat box" without realizing it. It started out as a large mailbox with a sloping roof to keep off the tropical rains. When we moved, we took it with us and discovered it was the perfect slope for a "squat box".

As Dr. Mercola points out in his article, the biggest reason to squat is that when we stand and sit, our bodies naturally tighten up the muscle that we need to release, to well, poo. Squatting naturally releases this and you shouldn't need to strain at all when eating well and if you're hydrated. So give your colon a break and see how you can incorporate squatting into your daily routine.