We have been exposed to Ayurveda and cleanses a bit through our teacher. This post on MindBodyGreen seems to nail the initial steps of starting a cleanse. We have been exposed to brown-rice salads (leafy greens, brown rice, hummus, oil/vinegar) as being good base meals before coming into and out of a cleanse.

According to Ayurveda, your digestive fire has to digest EVERYTHING that you’re exposed to: all of the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and exposures through the skin. It also has to digest all the emotions and thoughts that arise from everything that you’re exposed to. This is a tall order, and most of us experience some toxic build-up that leads to blocked channels in the body and imbalances in our health.

A one-week food-based home cleanse can be summed up in the following 5 easy steps:

1. Start a kitchari diet. 

Kitchari is an easy-to-make and easy-to-digest complete meal, made with rice, yellow mung dal, spices, clarified butter and vegetables. For one week, eat this for all of your meals, and you will see the cleansing and simultaneously nourishing effect that it has on your body.

2. Avoid snacks. 

This is the best way to reset your digestion, remove toxins, and even lose weight! But you don’t need to starve yourself. If you’re hungry, have warm, cooked foods that use the same ingredients as kitchari: rice porridge, steamed or stir-fried veggies, etc. Just remember that your digestion will work best if you give it at least five to six hours between meals.

3. Sip hot water and detox tea in the morning and throughout the day. 

This also helps reset the digestion and cleanse toxins. Staying well hydrated is key. If needed, also drink room temperature water to ensure you get plenty of fluids. Be sure to avoid ice, cold drinks and caffeine.

Learn more — Here

Via MindBodyGreen and Premal Patel 

Last month, Politico owner Robert Allbritton bought Capital New York, a New York-focused digital-only publication. Jim VandeHei, a Politico founding editor and former reporter at the Washington Post, has been tasked to serve as the new president of Capital New York. Digiday spoke with VandeHei about how Politico plans to replicate its model in New York City, why the timing worked, what types of advertisers it will target, and more.

A few excerpts:

Why does Politico think it can work in NYC?
New York is a ripe target for us. The state and city are full of voracious, sophisticated readers who are willing to pay for content if it is high quality and essential. If we deliver on our end of the bargain – providing the best journalism on the topics we care about – we are very confident readers will deliver on their end, by reading us and ultimately paying to read us. Our experience suggests that companies and groups seeking to influence the readers we will attract will pay a premium for ads we put in front of these readers.

Capital New York is small in traffic. Is there a mandate to boost those numbers?
High traffic is way overrated.  It works if you are truly a traffic hose, like BuzzFeed. But, for speciality sites, it is all about the right readers. The advertisers we want are the knowing ones seeking to influence a very attractive and hard-to-reach set of readers. If we deliver those readers, the traffic numbers will mean little.

Check out more on Digiday — Here. 

In early 2013, when a leaked internal memo from Yahoo explained that the company had lost effectiveness since allowing its employees to work remotely from home, some declared that the days of telecommuting were over for everyone. But Scott Boyar, Ph.D., associate professor at the UAB Collat School of Business, says such blanket judgements are difficult for businesses to make accurately. “The success of an employee working from home depends on the person, on the job and on the training the organization provides to do that role remotely,” Boyar said.

Boyar identifies three important questions a business and employee should ask before deciding to telecommute:

• Does it fit my personality and preference for integrating work into my family environment?

• Can I structure my time and stay motivated to work throughout the day?

• Will I fight the temptation to want to skip workdays altogether?

If these can be answered in the affirmative, Boyar said telecommuting can be an excellent option for an employee looking to better balance the time spent working and the time spent with family. And this can lead to a happier employee base, which is a great asset for a company to have.

Via Big Think

According to Matthew Klein, medical seer and healer living in Los Angeles, “Seeking God outside yourself is like trying to lift a box while standing inside of it.”

Granted, the force of the Uni-verse is everywhere. It is in everything. But your personalized source of Uni-versal energy is found within. Go a little deeper, and you will discover an infinite I-Am presence in the heart.

Comparison is a poison that may create feelings of inadequacy, envy, anger, depression, loneliness, and despair. These feelings can cause disharmony in the cells of our body and as Dr. Bruce Lipton’s work demonstrates, even our DNA.

Each human being has been born into a unique situation, with a unique set of lessons, obstacles, and blessings.

Many meditation practices focus on bringing Uni-versal force into the body. But not enough practices teach how to expand the love and the divinity that you already possess.

As a child of the Uni-verse, you are automatically a vessel of light, love, joy, and infinite possibility.

When we get stuck in comparison, we forget our birthright.

The next time you meditate, call upon your own infinite and Uni-versal self.

Summon up the light of Light and Love that lives within each cell of your body. Choose foods that are healthy and full of nutrition – like fermented spirulina, coconut water kefir, and ocean vegetables – to increase your cellular energy and uplift your mood.

Before long, you will begin to cherish what you once judged. You will see yourself as precious. You will know that your worth far outweighs any object or accomplishment.

I believe that when we strengthen our body with superior nutrition and our mind and heart Uni-versal Love, we can share our talents and gifts with those around us – and that rippling effects the world.

What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

This post was originally posted on The Daily Love.

Via Donna Gates 

Krisha Das rocking out!

Many students have a hard time finding their own “yoga music” to enjoy at home. So, Do You Yoga compiled a list of amazing spiritual and yoga based music for you to practice to. I’m not sure why Krishna Das (one of our favorites!) is not on the list but this is great nonetheless!

1) Snatam Kaur (www.snatamkaur.com)

She is an American singer-songwriter who performs Kirtan and Indian Devotional Music.  All of her albums are beautiful and peaceful.  Definitely check out “The Essential Snatam Kaur”.

2) Mirabai Ceiba (www.mirabaiceiba.com)

The amazing duo of Markus and Angelika. Their music sounds mystical, Latin-infused, and devotional. To find out more about them check out their beautiful story on their website. Download their album “A Hundred Blessings,” to start off your collection.

3) MC Yogi (www.mcyogi.com)

Truly ahead of his time and a musical genius, MC Yogi delivers beats and lyrics that make everyone excited about their practice on and off the mat. His website has some free musical goodies.

Click to to check out more great yoga music. 

Here’s a great yoga tune by Krishna Das called Baba Hanuman. We feel Krishna Das is among the most powerful spiritual musicians today.

~Brian

Our friends at Eye and Pen and ACoupleTravelers remind us that the practice of keeping a bucket list is awesome.

We hope to release our versions of a bucket list soon.

Are you keeping a bucket list? Please share!