Do you wonder why I do not eat onions and garlic?

 

Many things can disturb the mind. We are constantly bombarded with radio and micro waves of energy, advertising, and thoughts carried on an undercurrent of sub-vocalization. These possess a great deal of information that we are not necessarily understanding and comprehending in the natural state of thought but, our bodies are reading and taking all of it in. This is why meditation is so very important.

In addition to a steady practice of meditation, I suggest a very clean diet with very clean water both for bathing and drinking. Most do not realize that the body absorbs a great deal of its necessary water through bathing. I suggest you consider filtering your water. This is going to save you a lot on your drinking water if you buy bottled water and I urge you to filter your bathing water as well.

Our physical bodies cannot handle the hormones, antibiotics, plastics, and pesticides that show up in the food industry. This is why it is ever so important to eat as organic as possible. City water as well as ground water coming from wells has many chemicals and bacteria that harm the body.

Another great toxin is sugar. Sugar has more than 200 names and is often hidden in everything from sauces to salt! That is right! Some brands of salt add sugar! This is very disturbing for the internal organs and the mind.

We must find our way to healthier living! This in turn eases the grip of the mind which in turn helps us to relax and tune into our intuition. One way I have experimented with removing hidden sugar from my diet is though a brilliant program called WildFit. I found it to be a very easy way to get off of and let go of all sugar causing foods thus changing my relationship with what I eat.

The more advanced meditators do not eat anything from the Allium family of plants. These are very disturbing to the mind. Many question why I do not eat allium and why the meditators and yogis choose to avoid onion or garlic in the diet.

Simply put, it is forbidden to eat allium as an advanced meditator. Sure you could just accept it but I urge you to do a bit of research and try going off it to get a sensation of what I am talking about.

Dr. Robert Beck a former professor at UCLA and highly respected research physicist speaks on his philosophy about the use of Garlic.

BBC News posted an article about the use of Garlic and other Allium plants echoing the information of the Far Eastern Mystery Schools warnings about these plants in dietary use. Goutam Paul posted a paper entitled, How Onion and Garlic Ruined My Research,  explaining the prohibition of these plants and his own personal experiences.

I used to begin every meal with onions and garlic sauteing in oil. I loved the fragrant pungent aroma and taste. When I worked as a Chef Garde Manger and went on the hot line to create soup stocks this was the base of just about everything with the addition of celery. Celery is a vegetable I highly recommend keeping in your diet!

Later I lived in an ashram and was asked to stop eating Allium plants for several days before arriving. I had heard about this and was prepared to handle it figuring the varied spices of India would save my palate. What I began to notice in the following weeks was that it became easier and easier to sit for an hour of meditation, that I began sleeping better, and my digestion and general outlook improved.

Over the months it was amazing to notice how my senses of smell and taste sharpened. I imagined this is what animals experienced. One day while I was standing in the ocean a shoal of small fish came around me and began nibbling at my legs. I laughed realizing I must have smelled like a friendly plant to them rather than the stench of Allium plants.

Upon arriving back in the states I ate some dolmas—a dish of rice-stuffed grape leaves—from a grab and go fridge at restaurant I frequent. They have delicious very healthy Middle Eastern food. A little while later after eating them I got a headache and for three nights and I could not sleep. I went out to my recycling bin to read the ingredients on the label and sure enough there were onions in the stuffed grape-leaves.

I decided to experiment. I cleaned out for a week and then I tried garlic. The smell was a huge turnoff and the migraine it produced almost instantly let me know that I was not supposed to eat this anymore. I stopped eating Allium and cleared it out of my system.

I travel a lot and occasionally these plants sneak their way into my food even when I specify that I do not eat them. I tell people that I have an allergy to them so as to gain more understanding from those creating and serving food to me. I have become so sensitive that if a little gets in me I feel the speeding sensation and intense headache instantly and it usually last for one to three days. Turmeric tea, lots of clean drinking water, and extra bathing in Epsom salt baths helps clean this out of my system quicker. Since the cessation of ingesting these plants my digestion has become even better and I sleep so much more deeply without these plants in my food.

We are told through the media about the benefits of Allium plants due to their chemical components and their ability to create viscosity in the blood. These chemicals are seen as helpful to the cardiovascular system however they also possess a sulfuric neurotoxin that Dr. Beck warns is a powerful weapon of destruction.

Try experimenting with letting these pungent plants go for a month to really clear them out of your body. Then try eating them again. I wager you are going to have similar experiences to mine. You do not have to miss the flavor. Try the herb Asafoetida also known as Hing. You can find it here. The powder from this pungent rhizome is super strong. A pinch goes a very long way and when tempered in oil it produces a lovely warming and pungent flavor reminiscent of the sauteing Allium plants and it is great for digestion!

Food alone is not going to take you more deeply into meditation but it does effect your ability to relax and concentrate. Breath and sound are superior to launching us into meditation. Learning the proper way to sit, breathe, and relax are important components of a steady meditation practice.

Guided meditation and creative visualization can be quite useful and are a great stepping stone to get to the bliss of sitting in silence. I invite you to visit www.MeditatewithAmbika for my hypnotic guided meditations podcast to become an even healthier and happier you. Try the Mini-break Meditation and for those of you craving the ability to sleep more deeply I recommend my Guided meditation for Dreamers.

 Do you want to spend a week with me in Hot Springs, connecting with your animal spirit guides and relaxing with guided meditations? Come join me in the splendor of 

Mother Nature's Magick on a retreat in Costa Rica!

Ambika in Costa Rica this April 18-24 for

Mother Nature's Magick

a retreat hosted by A Journey of Discovery!

Places are going fast! Say YES today!

Do you Meditate?

I know, the word meditation usually gets an eye roll and then people want to change the subject. Or, did you want to give me an excuse? Perhaps you have tried and just got frustrated.
Think back to when you were a child. Did you trust anything that you didn't feel in your body? I am sure you did not. We need to have a full-bodily-felt experience to trust that it is happening!
It is likely that you have reached the meditative state and didn't realize it. People often confuse the gateways and triggers to help get into meditation as the act of meditating. Allow me to demystify this for you.

The state of meditation, trance and sleep are closely related. Your brain has the potential to naturally enter a trance state every 90 seconds. This is how a skilled hypnotherapist can draw you into this realm. Have you ever tried to get someone's attention when they are deeply involved in watching something on TV? Perhaps you have walked in front of them and stood there trying? Did they see you? They were hypnotized by the TV and enjoying chemical releases of dopamine. Here is more on this by one of my favorite authors John Gray.

When the body finds the state of meditation and is in need of sleep—it usually sleeps. Let it! This is very rejuvenative! Go with it. When people first begin to practice guided meditation they often fall asleep. This is a good thing as the body was likely really exhausted!
Visualization is just that. It is creative and lovely and I encourage it however it is a gateway to meditation and not the true state. Imagining is part of this.
Truly there are only three entry points into meditation.

1. Physical movement such a sport, dance, walking running or cleaning. This can easily trip the brain into a trance.

2. Creative visualization, guided meditation, or hypnotic suggestion. You are invited to try this out in my podcast Meditate with Ambika.
These first two are ways to settle into meditation. I am a true advocate of both of these methods and use them often myself! It is important to realize that creative visualization is not the deep-trance-state of meditation—it is a gateway to the meditative state.

3. The third is the true state of Meditation. It is the deep-trance-state and is accomplished by these three things:

1. Sit up straight. I know this sounds easy but it is really important to give space to the lungs so that you are able to breathe comfortably and fully. In addition the elongated spine gives space to the body and takes pressure of the central nervous system.

2. Close the eyes. This is easy, just relax the lids down and shut out the light. If you can find a darkened space or shroud your head and eyes with a shawl.

3. Focus on the breath coming in and out of the nostrils paying close attention to the quality of the air across the inside front edges of the nostrils. Many of the ancient texts are translated to say, "Focus on the tip of the nose." This is only going to make you cross-eyed! The secret is that you are going to notice a change in sensation of air as you breathe it in as compared to the exhalations through the nose. On the way in during an inhale the air is going to feel cool and fresh. On the way out during and exhalation the air seems to disappear. This becomes the point of focus.

That is it. Just these three things!

If the mind is engaged in following something you are not meditating yet. You are still trying to relax. This is why when you are listening to a guided meditation you might drift into sleep or you could come to a realization later that you somehow missed a large chunk of the words being spoken. I do not recommend using video for meditation as it puts too much blue light into your body and this prevents you from really letting go into the meditative state. When you are trying to focus on something—you are closer to centering then the true state of meditation.

All meditation gateways potentially lead to the full-bodily-felt sensation of the deep-trance-state. This is our true state of being. This is where the boundaries of the seeming edges of the physical body disappear and we merge into the state of oneness where we are pure energy.

Indeed meditation is a stress reliever. In the meditative state we have the ability to tap into the unified mind. We become one with the greater where—just as the statement by the great statesman Cicero suggests, "Everything is alive and everything is interconnected."

Here is the secret sauce: It is best to stay focused on relaxing. Forcing the mind and engaging it with a topic is exhausting. Just drift and float in the relaxed state of meditation once you feel it.

We find brilliant insights and gain information from the practice of meditation—and it is an on-going practice—is after we have been in the deep-trance-state and begin to realize that we are once again in a body. It is a good idea to keep the eyes closed at this point. This is where the brilliance happens so be sure to have a journal near by to write everything down!

I am happy to coach you and to create customized guided meditations for you to use. Contact me here.

What is the best solution for stress? Rest! Next, clean diet and health habits like bathing more. Sleep more when you are able.

Guided meditation is entertainment for the mind. It is like giving a monkey a banana. It is a pacifier. It is indeed valid and useful as a stress reliever but please do not mistaken it for meditation.
It is possible and even probable that one could focus on specifics like the ideas of emotions and a particular chakra and drift into the meditative state.  *Remember, these are gateways and that we do not find information in meditation.
In meditation we find stillness and supreme quiet.

Any ideas or brilliance come to us as we are exiting the state of meditation—not while in it. If we are conscious of thought we have exited the state of meditation.

Shifting brain wave influence can indeed bring inspiration and ideas. This is not meditating. Meditation is quiet stillness. Here is information about brainwaves you may find interesting.
I realize I am blowing up some preconceived ideas here and am happy to address further questions.
Meditation is an art. Therefor it is best to learn techniques from an expert.
Ambika Devi has a Masters degree in Yoga from the Hindu University of America and is passionate about proving to everyone that they are meditators! She is delighted to come and speak to your organization and lead you through an experience.

To book her as a speaker please visit: https://speechesbyambika.com/
For coaching please visit: https://ambikascoaching.com/

Listen to my podcast of Guided Meditations HERE!

What Integrity means to me!

Create Jedi—You are a co-creator with the Universe! ~Yogini Yoda

We are co-creators with the Universe!

That is right! We are here as co-creators? So what are you waiting for?

You don't need a red or blue pill to Enter the Matrix your words are creating it! But, even before they leave your lips, the thought seeds of words begin to settle and sprout.

The great philosopher Hafez said, 

The words you speak become the house you live in.

When I taught holistic health at the college level I insisted that my students read:

 

The Four Agreements 

If you haven't read it, I ask you to!

Find your copy here 

Please pay close attention to the First Agreement:

Be impeccable with your word.

 

The concept is absolute genius!

So, watch your thoughts in Meditation

Be Mindful of the words that come out of your mouth!

The best way to slow things down is to practice a mind-quieting Pranayama like Bhramari breath.

I have taught this to thousands of people over the years and find it to be absolutely magickal in its ability to instantly quiet the mind!

Still craving more?

 Engage me for a private session via video chat or bring me to your studio to teach!

Have you read my book on: Happiness, Health, Ayurveda and Meditation?

Find your copy of Unfolding Happiness here!

 It is my pleasure to guide you!

 Contact me today!

 

Guard energy—you must, young Jedi! ~Yogini Yoda

Are you being drained by someone you love? 

Do you have intense full-bodily-felt sensations when you are with certain people? Do you need a lot of recovery time after being in social situations or with certain people? Are you feeling drained?

It is likely you are empathic and are not fully grounded, centered, cleansed, or shielded. These are integral processes that are needed for all of us and especially in the case of highly sensitive people.

I know this particular group can feel challenged. For all empaths—as this is the group that tends to feel preyed upon by narcissists and other forms of energy vampires—it is of the utmost importance to learn to do the following: Centering, Grounding, Cleansing, Shielding, and Protecting. It is also very important to get in touch with all of the gross senses associated with the physical body, then the level of super-sensing and finally the clear or psychic senses.

One must also be sure the senses are giving the messages and not the ego mind!

There are tools you can use!

I keep Shungite and Selenite in my environment. Selenite is the white crystal above. It is great for absorbing EMFs and keeping the energy clean. Shungite is the black crystal above. I find it to be better than shielding stones like Tourmaline and Smokey quartz. Shungite crystals transmute negative and challenging energy into positive. Selenite cleans everything it touches energetically  Both are Selenite and Shungite are self-cleaning!

 

You can also carry a piece or wear it as jewelry. 

Learn to recognize that allowing your energy to be drawn from you is a choice!

It is a two way exchange!

Are you giving permission for this to happen? 

Would you like to learn more about this?

Join me for classes in the Psychic Arts department of the Grey School of Wizardry!

This could be coming from a thought loop of wanting to be nice, or be liked. Even with those who are hurtful, or we deem anything but love we must look at our own fears and then give love, give more love and as Christie Marie Sheldon says, "Love and above!" 

Begin your journey of self-love and learning with my book, Unfolding Happiness!

 

Find your copy Here!

Need coaching and guidance? Contact me today!

Clean and Clear you must Jedi! ~ Yogini Yoda

The burning of Sage and other magickal herbs is a lovely technique and I use it often. I enjoy using Palo Santo for sweetness however my go to daily cleanse is essential oils in a very old and cherished hand-blown glass atomizer. I run a combination of oils in my sleeping space every morning and usually use a combination of Clove, Oregano, Thyme, and Helichrysum oils. This keeps one extremely healthy and free of viruses, bacteria, and is quite effective for keeping the physical body clear of parasites. 

Please note that one should conduct internal cleansing twice a year preferably in Spring and Autumns to keep clear of potential illness.

In addition I use Selenite and Shungite crystals throughout the house along with many more for various purposes. Selenite clears and cleans anything it touches. I also place a piece in one of the pillow cases on my bed and keep a large rod of it on my desk where I work and on my divination table. Shungite transmutes negative energy into positive and I feel it is of the utmost importance to create as much positive energy that we are able to. Both stones absorb EMFs. Please note that these two crystals are self-cleaning and never need to be in water.

Do not attempt to make elixirs from Selenite or Shungite as they are toxic! Selenite is quite fragile and does not work for jewelry however cleansing your necklaces, rings, and bracelets by placing them touching Selenite when not wearing them helps the stones and metals to generate at peak performance when placed upon the body after such a cleansing!

Shungite is a great stone to wear though I do not recommend bathing with it on the body.

It has a concentration of Arsenic as do other stones like Tiger's Eye and Malachite. The two latter should never be used in an elixir either! It is important when choosing crystals to learn the chemical compounds as well as the magickal uses! This of course is true of the plant world!

I also always keep a few Himalayan salt lamps on in various rooms as well which clean the air and keep negative ions generated. This helps dust to fall to the floor and keeps the air very clean as well as creating a great deal of happiness.

Bathing is of the utmost importance! It is recommended to bathe in the morning upon rising and in the evening before retiring. When we submerge in water or stand in a shower the energetic fields of the body dry in and like a sponge wring out anything they have picked up. 

Try using salt rather then soap to really shift your energy!

Please let me know how this works for you!

 

Engage me for consultations and self-enrichment workshops!

 

Study in the Psychic Arts department with me at the

Grey School of Wizardry

and major in Meditation!

How to do Bhramari Breath with Ambika Devi

Ambika leads you in a soothing Bhramari Pranayama.

Ambika's research in meditation is earning her a doctorate in the
field. Her two books on the topic have won international awards. Ambika
guides you in Yoga Mystery School teachings utilizing Vedic chanting,
cosmic sounds with her voice, and techniques from Yoga Nidra that seduce
the mind into pure quiet. The result is a full body felt deep-trance
state of meditation!


More about Ambika here: www.AmbikaDevi.com. Call Ambika for more information on the meditation: 772.233.8229
Learn more about Ambika Devi and read her full bio at www.AmbikaDevi.com. Visit Ambika Devi’s home page at: www.AmbikasWisdom.com. Enjoy her Astrology blog at www.MoonWisdom.org and her Yoga wisdom blog at www.YoginiYoda.com

A Letter from 90 year old me to present moment me

One with the Universe we are Jedi however—it our job to keep it positive! ~ Yogini Yoda

Recently I have been experimenting with revisiting creative visualization young Jedis. As many of you know I have been meditating since 1967. This began when I was a student at the Abington Friends School as tiny child. You have to love a school that has the word friends in their name!

Back then I fell in love with the Quaker style of sitting silently for an hour on Wednesday mornings with everyone. Later in high school I added a two hour seated meditation with my school mates on Sundays. This is the antique meeting house that still hosts weekly meditations on the property that once belonged to William Penn!

Over the years I have been certified as an instructor and taught many forms of meditation including traditional seated silent Meditation, Mantras, Creative Visualization, and Yoga Nidra. I have experimented with Bi-neural beats and Innerpulse brainwave entrainment equipment both myself and with students and clients. Added to this list are my certifications in hypnosis and NLP. These last two weeks I have been revisiting many of these very valuable tools to help clear the mind-stuff and rejuvenate creativity. This and the constant thirst for learning is what drives me and inspires me daily! In addition, I know that when I am learning I am happiest!

Experimenting with various forms of meditation and mind control is a passion of mine. After 21 years of teaching holistic health for colleges in three different states, I retired in 2000 when I woke up to the fact that it is the mind and our relationship to it, that needs healing, not so much the physical body.

My recent need for a transfusion of knowledge led me to find my way to Mindvalley. Here I have been experiencing classes and quests led by superb instructors delivered in a great format to both my computer and devices. The delivery configuration is really remarkable and it is so wonderful to be able to take my classes with me whenever and wherever I choose. I find myself daydreaming to be an instructor for this wonder-filled organization and have already become a lifetime member of their tribe.

It is a wonderful gift when we stretch outside our self-imposed boxes. My current effort to do this is including a combination of silent meditation along with creative visualization and hypnosis at various points throughout the day. I have noticed intense dreams returning and I want to see just how much more happiness I can create to radiate to everyone around me. Today I watched people's expressions change from gloomy to smiles as I passed them at the grocery store. These three tools together seem to create a magical cocktail of happiness!

As you know I am a huge fan of happiness as it is the topic of my second book, Unfolding Happiness an introduction to happiness, health and Ayurveda with a great deal of hands on experiences in meditation written along with Ayurvedic doctor Vijay Jain, MD.

You might find it strange that a seasoned meditator wants to listen to a beginner level guided meditation. I am finding it to be rather magickal—I like to add the "k" as it is even more magickal! In creative visualization this morning, I had a flash insight into what is consciousness and found that it is centered in Vishuddha chakra.

 

The magick of the throat chakra is that words coming out of our mouths circulate back into our heads and there transform into images.

These pictures are the communication that form our realities.

 

The miraculous best-selling author, motivational speaker, leading celebrity therapist, and pioneering hypnotherapist trainer, Marisa Peer teaches about the importance of keeping the pictures in our heads positive, especially about ourselves. She encourages us to look at the words we use to describe ourselves and our situations. This inspired me to share a list of positive words with my students today. I urge you to have a look at the words and phrases you use on a regular basis to describe your relationship to money and abundance, career and relationships and your level of health and happiness. I have placed this on my mirror and around my home at eye-level to infuse myself with love. I hope you are going to do the same.

As Marisa advises, ask a friend to tell you the words they hear you speak repeatedly. If you find words that need to flip over to the positive, you can look up antonyms or search for new words here. I am so grateful for the inspiration and healing love I am receiving from this wise Yoda's teaching! Try putting I Am in front of one of these words for a potent infusion of self-love. This is a really dynamic way to make an affirmation!

Speaker, author, former business school professor and creator of Creativity and Personal Mastery, a course designed to affect personal transformation, Srikumar S. Rao is going to be my next great instructor at Mindvalley. I took a class with him today on the topic of resilience and am so excited to be going on a 45 day quest with him beginning in April. I invite you to join me!

 

Here is another an amazing video on Ted delivered by this fellow Yoda giving wisdom on happiness.

I hope I am inspiring you to learn and grow today and that you realize your mission. Let us all focus for a few minutes each day on making this world happier and healthier for all.
Do you crave knowing more?  Visit: www.AmbikasWisdom.com
Do you want to stake classes with me? Visit: www.GreySchool.org  and take classes in Psychic Arts.
Would you like a private session in Meditation? Contact me.
With LOVE and Magick always,
Yogini Yoda