So I’m back at the store- back in my body. Here’s a picture to prove it!

John Douillard and me at Life Spa 

After 11 days in Colorado, it’s kind of jarring to enter the land of sea level. There is something so extraordinary about being in Boulder . It’s like the earth vibrates at a higher frequency there. So much so that I can barely sleep. It’s the same feeling I have in Glastonbury, England. 

Last November I was in Westminster, CO – about 20 minutes from Boulder (for a Chopra workshop) and I had to ask the hotel to change my room because the energy was so wacky I couldn’t sleep. Eventually it dawned on me what was going on – it was just the land. Then I was able to settle in a bit better. Understanding what was happening took away the anxiety and I settled into a sleep-less high vibrational consciousness – feeling exhilarated and energized in the morning. 

That’s what being in Boulder is like for me. 

So add panchakarma to that. For those of you who haven’t read my other postings (or my weekly newsletter – email me at oracle@breathebooks.com to sign up) panchakarma is the Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation treatment that helps one regain balance in their body, mind and soul. It’s an intense 7-day program involving daily ayurvedic treatments (various massages, nasal applications, herbal rubs, steams, basti – herbalized gentle, nourishing enemas – and more), yoga, meditation, and, in the case of Life Spa where I just was, journaling, breathing exercises and almost daily meetings with John Douillard, who runs the spa. 

John calls these meetings “Ayurvedic Psychology”, and it is.  John sent me on an “inner safari”. I don’t think I’ve really come out yet. It was an amazing process. So deeply spiritual and undeniably physical. I think I’ve had a bit of a transformation. Maybe this panchakarma (my second one – I did my first one at the Chopra Center in CA last August) has my mind catching up with the transformation of my body. 

Since the first panchakara, I’ve lost almost 50 pounds. I shouldn’t say “lost” because that leads one to believe they could be “found”. No way. That weight is gone for good. And now my mind is catching up to that. As I settle into this body (at a weight I haven’t seen since I was 17) my mind has had to play catch up. The weight came off so fast I really didn’t have a chance to process it all. Emotions run wild. 

It’s a funny thing losing so much weight. At first it doesn’t seem real. Then you wonder why you aren’t euphoric. Then you realize that you didn’t feel a lot of things when you were heavier and now you can feel them. So you go around really feeling things. Really experiencing things.

I met a man in Colorado while I was on the panchakarma retreat. He didn’t know me (at least in this lifetime). Didn’t know I’d lost weight. After a few days of knowing him he asked if I’d seen any health benefits from Ayurveda. I said, well, actually, I’ve lost about 50 pounds in less then 10 months. He thought about it for a minute, then he said – “so there was more of you, but less of you”. 

That’s it. There was more of me, but less of me. I thought that was pretty profound.  (thank you Isaac). So now there is less of me, and more of me. I love thinking of it that way. Less of me but more of me. So true.