I know the normal tradition of how one spends their birthday (and most other holidays) is usually big meals (including big desserts) with family and/or friends, coupled with some moderate to heavy alcoholic inebriation/or possibly other intoxication. This is certainly one way to observe and celebrate, but I have usually opted for one of two other alternatives, especially on my actual birthday.
I have always seen my yearly solar return as an optimal day to reconnect to GODDESS/GOD/UNIVERSE, the Earth as it is where my physical body currently dwells and through it allows me the chance for Spiritual Growth, and to my Life, its Purpose and Mission. It is a day where the veil between the Worlds is much thinner than normal. It is the particular day you chose to incarnate into physical form this Lifetime, and that is no small, trivial thing.
So in honor of that I usually do one of the following:
1. Go off by myself for most or all of the day, deep into nature, reflect on my Life—the past year and the one to come—and meditate deeply on my True Nature. I normally fast and I do more Spiritual Practices than I would do on a "normal" day. I try to kickstart ones that I have let lag a little; it is a great opportunity to reprogram oneself and get things going and moving in the Right Direction again.
2. I incorporate at least some of the above, whether I go away or not, and try to do a little of each activity I want to have in my daily/regular life for the next year. Generally this is meditation/prayer/spiritual practices, multi-modality exercise, yogic asana and other advanced yogic/tantrik practices, deep breathing exercises, income producing work, charitable, selfless work/service, some time outside in nature (I favor the mountains & woods) or at the beach, positive affirmations and intentions and blessings, expressions of Love, spending time with family and maybe good friends (now virtually through Facebook too!), fasting or really healthy eating, writing and now writing blogs—like this one.
So I generally wake up really early (3 or 4 AM), or stay up late the night before into my birthday, and perform extended meditation and Spiritual Practices, called "Sadhana" in Sanskrit.
I get one or more exercise sessions in during the day, which will include strength/resistance training, moderate and intense cardiovascular training, yogic asana and other flexibility training, deep oxygenating breathing exercises, and mental training.
At least some of this is performed outside, preferably at the beach where I deeply breathe the negative ion rich air, while enjoying the Blessed Sight of my Ocean Mother (I call Her "MAA Pacifica" (did you know that in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan named it Tepre Pacificum in Latin, meaning "pacific" or "peaceful, calm, quiet ocean/sea").
The type of workout I do most frequently, because I find it most efficient and effective is my version of Interval Training. I often train clients who are willing to work at this type of fast result producing, exercise intensity, in this modality as well. After going through my normal warm-up, where I gently warm up each joint, muscle and spine, my version of Interval Training consists of performing moderate to high intensity cardio for 10-20 min, to get me in the higher end of my cardio zone, followed by alternating supersets (or sometimes giant sets) of weight bearing exercises with 1-2 min of cardio. Typically I'll run up 102 stairs at Grandview Beach (which is a 30 second jog from my home) with different types of step modalities (singles, doubles, triples, doubles/triples to the side, double/triple sideways, backwards and jumping) and perform exercises with bodyweight, dumbbells or other simple aparatus. If I am indoors, I favor a treadmill that I can walk on at least a 15 degree incline, if not more (mine goes up to 30 degrees and I'll vary it during the workout). I might use an elliptical machine, jump rope, run down the street or at the hill by my house, or lower body exercise as alternate cardio intervals.
I always stretch after each superset, sometimes after a cardio interval if my quads, hamstrings, calves or glutes, etc need it, and I do a thorough series of full body yogic asana stretches afterward, making sure I stretch my spine forward, backwards, to each side and with twisting rotation, as well as the entire musculature of my body—especially emphasizing various parts of my legs, hips, and lower back (I'm trying not to get too anatomy technical here).
I'll do some work that earns our family income as well as performing charitable work/selfless service known in Sanskrit as "Seva".
I'll spend time with my life partner, Prakasi Robin Lee (view her website at http://www.intuitionheals.com and our two little Goddesses Kanyakumari Devi and Vismaya Devi (today I get to see Vismaya's 1st Grade Performance!)
I'll state positive affirmations, intentions, blessings and prayers throughout the day.
If I am not fasting, I eat only really healthy meals of foods I really want to make sure are in my regular diet. These would be lots of different types of Live, Biogenically and Enzymatically Active Foods like:
Fresh, Organic Raw Vegetable, Fruit and Grass Juices,
Micro Algaes (Spirulina, Chlorella, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae/AFA/Klamath Blue-Green Algae (which is really a cyanobacteria), Astaxanthin, Marine Micro Algae and others,
Macro Algaes (Seaweeds),
Organic 7-10 Day Grass Powders and Grass Juice Extracts,
Super High ORAC Value Antioxidant, Free Radical Scavenging Fruit Powders
Organic and Wildcrafted Herbs and Spices (fresh, in supercritical CO2 extract form, and other forms) from Western, Ayurvedic (Especially Rasayanas), Chinese Medicinal, Amazonian and other regions,
Organic 3-10 day Sprouts/Micro Greens,
Wild Organic Nutrient Dense Weeds,
Organic Leafy Greens,
Raw, Dried (often I soak this) Organic Fruits & Vegetables (some lightly cooked veggies as well),
Soaked Organic Seeds and Nuts,
Soaked and Sprouted Organic Beans/Legumes and Grains (sometimes eaten uncooked, sometimes cooked)
I especially favor heirloom varieties.
Undenature, Unheated Protein Powder (Organic Whey Protein Concentrate & Isolate unsweetened or sweetened only with Stevia and/or Lo Han Guo (Awesome Herbal Sweeteners), and Mixed Organic Vegan Protein Powder/Concentrates from Raw/Germinated Brown Rice, Pea, Chia, Hemp, Alfalfa, Barley, etc
The Life Enhancing products the bees give us—Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, Propolis and Raw, Unheated, Unprocessed Honey,
Green & Herbal Teas (especially Yerba Maté),
Omega-3 Fatty Acid Rich Oils (Chia, Hemp and Flax),
Plant Based Digestive Enzymes and Probiotics,
Food Grown Multi-Vitamins,
Ionic (Fulvic Acid Rich) Multi-Mineral,
a few other extras like Maca, MSM, Effervescent Vitamin C, Raw Cacao, High Grade Goji and Longon, Beta Glucan/Polysaccharide Rich Mushrooms/Fungus or some other herb, nutrient, or compound that I am focusing on at the moment,
and possibly a smidgen of Raw Organic Grass-fed Dairy in some form—Ghee, Butter, Cheese, Yoghurt, Kefir, Cream, Colostrum or Milk.
I call this the "Modern Yogic Diet" and it encompasses what I refer to as India's "Holy Cities Diet"—as everything from eggs up (fish, fowl, pig, meat) is actually ILLEGAL in the Holiest cities in India. "Miss, drop that muffin and step away. We know it has eggs". HA!
And then I'll wind down the day with some light entertainment, like a bit of reading, some sort of word-based game, and possibly a movie. Finally another long session of meditation and Spiritual practices and off to deep, restful sleep.
My tradition is also to honor my birthday (and that of other's in my immediate family) as starting at 12 Midnight and continuing until 24 hrs from my actual birth time, which in my case is 11:11 AM. So I start as the clock strikes Midnight at the cusp of December 15 & 16 and continue until 11:11 AM on 12/17.
I've found this a much better way of spending this personally auspicious day each year, though I like to work in a sweet treat as well when we blow out a candle and make the traditional birthday wish. On an occasional year there are other surprises, like Joe's Pizza or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
I've held back no secrets by sharing this article. I hope this gives you some alternative ideas for your own special day. Now you have seen the Path of the Wohlist. Now you too can begin to Live The WOHLISTIC WAY!
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu (May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy)
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
AUM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (AUM—The Sacred Word/Sound that encompasses all Creation, Peace X3
AUM Sri Gurubhyo Namaha (I bow down Before The One Teacher Who Removes All Darkness/Ignorance)
Hari OM! (The Lord Rocks!)
JAI AMMA MAA! (Victory to the Divine Mother Goddess of The Entire Universe—my AMMA!)
Blessings and ZUM WOHL! (To Your Health in German)
I have always seen my yearly solar return as an optimal day to reconnect to GODDESS/GOD/UNIVERSE, the Earth as it is where my physical body currently dwells and through it allows me the chance for Spiritual Growth, and to my Life, its Purpose and Mission. It is a day where the veil between the Worlds is much thinner than normal. It is the particular day you chose to incarnate into physical form this Lifetime, and that is no small, trivial thing.
So in honor of that I usually do one of the following:
1. Go off by myself for most or all of the day, deep into nature, reflect on my Life—the past year and the one to come—and meditate deeply on my True Nature. I normally fast and I do more Spiritual Practices than I would do on a "normal" day. I try to kickstart ones that I have let lag a little; it is a great opportunity to reprogram oneself and get things going and moving in the Right Direction again.
2. I incorporate at least some of the above, whether I go away or not, and try to do a little of each activity I want to have in my daily/regular life for the next year. Generally this is meditation/prayer/spiritual practices, multi-modality exercise, yogic asana and other advanced yogic/tantrik practices, deep breathing exercises, income producing work, charitable, selfless work/service, some time outside in nature (I favor the mountains & woods) or at the beach, positive affirmations and intentions and blessings, expressions of Love, spending time with family and maybe good friends (now virtually through Facebook too!), fasting or really healthy eating, writing and now writing blogs—like this one.
So I generally wake up really early (3 or 4 AM), or stay up late the night before into my birthday, and perform extended meditation and Spiritual Practices, called "Sadhana" in Sanskrit.
I get one or more exercise sessions in during the day, which will include strength/resistance training, moderate and intense cardiovascular training, yogic asana and other flexibility training, deep oxygenating breathing exercises, and mental training.
At least some of this is performed outside, preferably at the beach where I deeply breathe the negative ion rich air, while enjoying the Blessed Sight of my Ocean Mother (I call Her "MAA Pacifica" (did you know that in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan named it Tepre Pacificum in Latin, meaning "pacific" or "peaceful, calm, quiet ocean/sea").
The type of workout I do most frequently, because I find it most efficient and effective is my version of Interval Training. I often train clients who are willing to work at this type of fast result producing, exercise intensity, in this modality as well. After going through my normal warm-up, where I gently warm up each joint, muscle and spine, my version of Interval Training consists of performing moderate to high intensity cardio for 10-20 min, to get me in the higher end of my cardio zone, followed by alternating supersets (or sometimes giant sets) of weight bearing exercises with 1-2 min of cardio. Typically I'll run up 102 stairs at Grandview Beach (which is a 30 second jog from my home) with different types of step modalities (singles, doubles, triples, doubles/triples to the side, double/triple sideways, backwards and jumping) and perform exercises with bodyweight, dumbbells or other simple aparatus. If I am indoors, I favor a treadmill that I can walk on at least a 15 degree incline, if not more (mine goes up to 30 degrees and I'll vary it during the workout). I might use an elliptical machine, jump rope, run down the street or at the hill by my house, or lower body exercise as alternate cardio intervals.
I always stretch after each superset, sometimes after a cardio interval if my quads, hamstrings, calves or glutes, etc need it, and I do a thorough series of full body yogic asana stretches afterward, making sure I stretch my spine forward, backwards, to each side and with twisting rotation, as well as the entire musculature of my body—especially emphasizing various parts of my legs, hips, and lower back (I'm trying not to get too anatomy technical here).
I'll do some work that earns our family income as well as performing charitable work/selfless service known in Sanskrit as "Seva".
I'll spend time with my life partner, Prakasi Robin Lee (view her website at http://www.intuitionheals.com and our two little Goddesses Kanyakumari Devi and Vismaya Devi (today I get to see Vismaya's 1st Grade Performance!)
I'll state positive affirmations, intentions, blessings and prayers throughout the day.
If I am not fasting, I eat only really healthy meals of foods I really want to make sure are in my regular diet. These would be lots of different types of Live, Biogenically and Enzymatically Active Foods like:
Fresh, Organic Raw Vegetable, Fruit and Grass Juices,
Micro Algaes (Spirulina, Chlorella, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae/AFA/Klamath Blue-Green Algae (which is really a cyanobacteria), Astaxanthin, Marine Micro Algae and others,
Macro Algaes (Seaweeds),
Organic 7-10 Day Grass Powders and Grass Juice Extracts,
Super High ORAC Value Antioxidant, Free Radical Scavenging Fruit Powders
Organic and Wildcrafted Herbs and Spices (fresh, in supercritical CO2 extract form, and other forms) from Western, Ayurvedic (Especially Rasayanas), Chinese Medicinal, Amazonian and other regions,
Organic 3-10 day Sprouts/Micro Greens,
Wild Organic Nutrient Dense Weeds,
Organic Leafy Greens,
Raw, Dried (often I soak this) Organic Fruits & Vegetables (some lightly cooked veggies as well),
Soaked Organic Seeds and Nuts,
Soaked and Sprouted Organic Beans/Legumes and Grains (sometimes eaten uncooked, sometimes cooked)
I especially favor heirloom varieties.
Undenature, Unheated Protein Powder (Organic Whey Protein Concentrate & Isolate unsweetened or sweetened only with Stevia and/or Lo Han Guo (Awesome Herbal Sweeteners), and Mixed Organic Vegan Protein Powder/Concentrates from Raw/Germinated Brown Rice, Pea, Chia, Hemp, Alfalfa, Barley, etc
The Life Enhancing products the bees give us—Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, Propolis and Raw, Unheated, Unprocessed Honey,
Green & Herbal Teas (especially Yerba Maté),
Omega-3 Fatty Acid Rich Oils (Chia, Hemp and Flax),
Plant Based Digestive Enzymes and Probiotics,
Food Grown Multi-Vitamins,
Ionic (Fulvic Acid Rich) Multi-Mineral,
a few other extras like Maca, MSM, Effervescent Vitamin C, Raw Cacao, High Grade Goji and Longon, Beta Glucan/Polysaccharide Rich Mushrooms/Fungus or some other herb, nutrient, or compound that I am focusing on at the moment,
and possibly a smidgen of Raw Organic Grass-fed Dairy in some form—Ghee, Butter, Cheese, Yoghurt, Kefir, Cream, Colostrum or Milk.
I call this the "Modern Yogic Diet" and it encompasses what I refer to as India's "Holy Cities Diet"—as everything from eggs up (fish, fowl, pig, meat) is actually ILLEGAL in the Holiest cities in India. "Miss, drop that muffin and step away. We know it has eggs". HA!
And then I'll wind down the day with some light entertainment, like a bit of reading, some sort of word-based game, and possibly a movie. Finally another long session of meditation and Spiritual practices and off to deep, restful sleep.
My tradition is also to honor my birthday (and that of other's in my immediate family) as starting at 12 Midnight and continuing until 24 hrs from my actual birth time, which in my case is 11:11 AM. So I start as the clock strikes Midnight at the cusp of December 15 & 16 and continue until 11:11 AM on 12/17.
I've found this a much better way of spending this personally auspicious day each year, though I like to work in a sweet treat as well when we blow out a candle and make the traditional birthday wish. On an occasional year there are other surprises, like Joe's Pizza or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
I've held back no secrets by sharing this article. I hope this gives you some alternative ideas for your own special day. Now you have seen the Path of the Wohlist. Now you too can begin to Live The WOHLISTIC WAY!
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu (May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy)
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
AUM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (AUM—The Sacred Word/Sound that encompasses all Creation, Peace X3
AUM Sri Gurubhyo Namaha (I bow down Before The One Teacher Who Removes All Darkness/Ignorance)
Hari OM! (The Lord Rocks!)
JAI AMMA MAA! (Victory to the Divine Mother Goddess of The Entire Universe—my AMMA!)
Blessings and ZUM WOHL! (To Your Health in German)
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