Feeding the Inner Hunger

Everyone has deep seated hunger and feelings of emptiness and lack. We try to fill this hunger by satisfying our desires and sense pleasures. We eat and drink, watch TV, spend money, meet with others, try to find fulfillment in work, and go on vacations all to feed this hunger. However, we can never fill the hunger inside by satisfying our desires for sense pleasures.

In the Bible, Jesus says, "Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled." (Luke 6:21) The great yoga master Paramahansa Yogananda elucidates this passage saying "Blessed are you who thirst for wisdom and who esteem virtue and righteousness as the real food to appease your inner hunger, for you shall have that lasting happiness brought only by adhering to divine ideals - unparalleled satisfaction of heart and soul." (The Yoga of Jesus, p.78)

So how do we feed this hunger that we are blessed to have? The great masters tell us that the deep seated hunger that every man feels is actually the soul's desire for God. And to appease this hunger, we actually have to turn our hunger around from seeking to fulfill the desires of the senses on the outside to going within and seeking the kingdom of God within. This can be practiced in big and small ways.

Practices such as prayer, meditation, hatha yoga, scriptural study of your religion, stilling the mind in the present moment, mantra repetition, formal worship, and making some time to be with yourself in contemplation can all be forms of going within.

Desires can also be turned around with awareness and managed in order to start to truly feed our inner hunger right away.

Here are some ways that the Yogic Diet teaches to manage desires:
- I feel hungry, but I don't overeat (desire) because I want to have a lot of energy to do my my practices and be there for others.
- I want to eat a mostly highly nutritious diet, but I crave sweets (desire). So I pass on the cookies, gum, and diet coke and reach for the fresh pineapple and raisins instead.
- I want to be fit, but I feel a little lazy (desire). So I nudge myself off the sofa to go for a brisk walk in the evening.
- I want to be and feel beautiful, but I dislike parts of my body and want to criticize it (desire). So I train myself to love my body the way that it is.
- I try to remember to nurture myself and refrain from harming myself by smoking, drinking, picking my face, overeating, etc (desire).
- I want to have good health, but I am still holding on to resentment from the past (desire) which makes me susceptible to illness. So, I practice forgiveness and positive affirmations and achieve great health.
- I want to please others (desire), and sometimes I over commit. I turn it around and take time for myself first to deeply relax in meditation. Then I can serve other others with light-heartedness.

Learn more about practices like these in our Yogic Diet Workshops!

My Perfect Client

Does this sound like you?

- Inspired by YOGA lifestyle and philosophy + Law of Attraction – You love yoga and the power of positive/attractive thinking.
- Ready to Implement Body, Mind, and Soul Practices - You are ready to create the time and space to be with yourself to contemplate, meditate, do spiritual practices, exercise, improve your diet, practice positive thinking, and heals samskaras, old tendencies and patterns.
- Ready to Permanently Lose Weight and/or Ready to Improve Body Image and Heal Self-Esteem Issues – You are ready to love and accept your body as it is and raise your energy to attract a healthier, stronger, more flexible, fit, slim, and beautiful form.
- Ready to be Masterful in Handling Your Emotions – You are ready to be emotionally self-reliant with the support of self-inquiry and contemplation.
- Ready to Improve Your State of Mind – You want to attract a more serene, happy, positive, secure, relaxed, patient, loving, courageous, focused, and disciplined state of mind.
- Ready to Deepen Your Connection to Source/God – You want to deepen your relationship with Source and practice spiritual practices that build upon your own faith.
- Ready to Improve Your Relationships - You are ready to make huge shifts in your relationships with the keys of yoga philosophy and the Law of Attraction.
- Ready to Make a Dream Come True – You have a special dream for your life that you are ready to make happen.
- Ready to Let Go of Limitations – You are ready to release old limitations that no longer serve you.
- Manifesting a Good Life and want to Manifest a Phenomenal Life – You already have a highly functioning life and want to tweak/improve your physical, mental, and spiritual states and relationships to create a phenomenal life with the support of coaching.

Contact me at Monique@yogicdiet.com for more info or check out our website at www.yogicdiet.com for more info on the Yogic Diet Six Week Workshops and Consulting programs.

Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction simply states that "like attracts like." We get back what we put out into the universe. Many times our thoughts, feelings, and actions are focused on and reacting to what we don't want. For example, if we have a problem with someone, we may go over and over a list of their faults. That just brings more of their faults into our lives! We must learn to be focused on what WE WANT in order to attract it.

I discovered the LOA for the first time in 1996 when my friend Annie Sherwood mentioned that she was a life-coach and would love to help me improve anything in my life before she moved to Spain! Since I had done healing work in the past, I decided to give it a go. We worked through a Strategic Attraction Plan(TM) developed by Jan Stringer of Perfect Customers. This plan was originally devised to help businesses attract perfect customers. But, it also can help anyone to attract more of what they are seeking in any aspect of their lives. So, I did a plan with Annie and it totally rocked my world. My family life improved and I stepped into a flow of success and happiness that I had not known before and have not let go of since.

I don't just believe in the Law of Attraction, I have seen it's miracles in my life for several years now with me, my family, and my clients. Let me share some of these experiences.

On my first attraction plan, I wrote many of my goals. One was that I could weigh 120lbs. Having always struggled with my weight, I choose a magical number, though perhaps unattainable. Fast forward a year later. I took my yoga teacher training in Singapore in 2007 and we practiced yoga twice a day, two hours a session, for three weeks. We also only ate two meals per day. So the calorie reduction, lots of exercise, plus taking the subways in Singapore to get around had the net effect of me losing some weight. But I never got on a scale during the whole experience. Instead, I waited till I got home. And what do you know? The scale said the exact number 120. Not 119 or 121. I found it very cool that I attracted the EXACT number that I had written on my plan!

I have also taught my children to "see it in your head and feel it in your heart" if you want to attract something. In kindergarten, my son could not reach the top of a really high rock climbing wall in PE class. However, after he taped a picture of himself reaching the top of the wall onto his bedroom wall, he did it on the very next class. And recently, he was upset about a situation with a friend. So last Sunday he taped a picture to his wall that has a picture he drew of himself with his friends and a caption that reads, "I am happy and surrounded by friends. I am the best friend anyone could have. I am great!"

Yeah, for the Law of Attraction!

Softly Marching Forth

Poem of the March 4th (march forth) Yogic Diet:
- sleep, rest, relax
- I eat right. I exercise.
- walking and stretching
- My mind is calm.
- I practice meditation. Even a few minutes stills my mind.
- I am dancing.
- Gratitude
- Nature, nature walks, and Mother Nature
- Children!
- Play!
- I buy that new comfy sofa.
- Soft, warm glow
- Endless possibilities…
- Creating, sharing, beauty, community
- Magical connections
- Deepen, experiment, risk, expand...
- Love.

Inner Treasures

One of my great teachers, Annie Sherwood, recently asked me to make a list of things that I treasure about myself. This idea touched my heart because I know that it is only when we truly love, appreciate, and approve of ourselves, that we can treat ourselves and others with love and respect. On the other hand, if we don't fully love ourselves, we may end up harming ourselves in big and small ways, not setting boundaries, self-medicating with addictive behaviors, and feeling overwhelmed with fear, insecurity, anger, stress, worry, and so on.

So, she said to make a list. I need to make this list. I have had trouble setting boundaries with someone lately and then feeling angry afterward. Perhaps this list will set me free. Perhaps if I find more love and respect for myself by thinking about my greatness rather than worrying about my smallness, I can release the past. I can release resentment and fly freely.

This reminds me of a powerful meditation experience I had a few years back in an intensive in Jakarta. I was deeply inside and then saw a list of my faults. I anxiously began to go through the list of faults. God showed up (thank God) to go through the list with me. God was lighthearted and chuckled, “Oh, I love this fault. I love that fault. Even though you have this, I still love you. I love you despite your faults. I love you.” I went through the list until nothing was left and God loved me all the way through it. Of course, I was blown away by this experience of being with God. I also remember thinking that if God can love and accept me as I am, I could do the same.

Louise Hay says, "Everyone suffers from self-hatred and guilt. The bottom line for everyone is 'I'm not good enough.' It's only a thought, and a thought can be changed. We create every so called illness in our body. Resentment, criticism, and guilt are the most damaging patterns. Releasing resentment will dissolve even cancer. We must release the past and forgive everyone. We must be willing to begin to love ourselves. Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the keys to positive changes. When we really love ourselves, everything in our life works."

My Treasures
- I am courageous. Courage carrying me to Italy, China, and Indonesia. Courage attracting immense grace and healing in these journeys.
- I am faithful and I have faith. I believe in the power of family. I treasure my husband and our deep friendship and love.
- I am spiritual and steadfast. I treasure my 14 year commitment to my spiritual path and practices.
- I am a good teacher. I treasure this gift to be a teacher. May I deepen my capacity to heal, be healed, and to touch lives.
- I am willing to change. I understand that I attract whatever comes into my life and that if I want to change what I am attracting, I must be willing to look at myself and my beliefs and make a shift. I am willing to look. I am willing to change.
- I am not self-conscious (most of the time) and I dance like no one is watching.
- Almost 40 and just discovering my inner athlete. Got to love second winds.
- I am a good mother...which means more to me than almost all of the others put together.
- I love and approve of myself exactly the way that I am.

Affirmations from Louise Hay

Last summer I took a Hay House "I can do it" cruise to Alaska with my husband and kids. The cruise was completely chartered by Hay House and so everyone on board was a teacher, writer, thinker, healer, searcher, researcher, etc. It felt like a floating ashram. I even met Louise Hay, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and many other famous self-help powerhouses.

I am so moved by Louise Hay's personal story. She went through so much suffering in her life and was able to overcome. She wrote her first book in her 60's and now she's a mega-publisher and in her 80's. She says this is the best decade of her life so far.

I found transformation and healing in her book "You Can Heal Your Life." I did not know I still had so much to release from the past, but apparently it was (is) so. And that's fine. Thank you L. Hay for helping me widen my toolbox to include more forgiveness and releasing of the past to add to the yoga, meditation, and positive thinking that I practice. On that note, here are some lovely affirmations from Louise:

"I love myself; therefore, I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing foods and beverages, I lovingly groom it and dress it, and my body responds to me with vibrant health and energy.

I love myself; therefore, I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it.

I love myself: therefore, I work at a job I truly enjoy doing, one that uses my creative talents and abilities, working with and for people I love and love me, and earning a good income.

I love myself ; therefore, I behave and think in a loving way to all people for I know that which I give out returns to me multiplied. I only attract loving people in my world, for they are a mirror of what I am.

I love myself; therefore, I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences, and I am free.

I love myself; therefore, I live in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the Universe, and the Universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more.

All is well in my world."

I Loved God as a Child

Ever since I was a child, I have loved God. When I was a very small child I would walk to church by myself. I remembered feeling that God was with me and I remember my grandma’s insistence that I go to church. My family was Church of Christ which was a conservative path in which no musical instruments or dancing was allowed. As a young teenager, I had many strong experiences of God by participating in a Methodist church’s youth group. However, as an older teen, I lost touch with my spiritual seeking and starting seeking other things like boys, etc.

A lot of emotional baggage and dis-ease from my childhood crept up in college and I suffered feelings of depression, anger, insecurity, and unworthiness. I was not at peace, but I was functional enough and muddled through. Although I was not particularly looking, I found my treasure shortly after college while I was in teaching English in China. Through a friend there, I met an enlightened Indian saint. The experiences I had from following this saint’s teachings were undeniably powerful. I received a very physical experience of Kundalini awakening. Kundalini is a dormant spiritual energy that lives within everyone and resides at the base of the spine.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within” and I have found that to be true in meditation experiences. So that is where I look for God, in my own heart. When I experience the depth of my heart in meditation, I notice more goodness, light, and beauty on the outside as well. I have HUGE signs, miracles, protection, dreams, and experiences of God on a regular basis and I understand that God is in everything, but most especially in the human heart. I believe everyone has access to God and by putting their attention on it, and even going more deeply into their own path, they can be taken very deeply into their own hearts. I have seen Christians, Buddhist, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Hindus, and yogis all lit up by divine love.

I would love to hear from others about your experiences of the divine. Please feel free to share your light on the path.