How to Drink Urine

I am coming out of the closet I have drank my own urine....only twice so I am not an expert but I can give you some advice. (I start again tomorrow).

Firstly if someone tells you it that urine has no taste they are lying, it has a taste, a most peculiar taste, that I can't describe, it is not yummy like chocolate, it is not as disgusting as Oil of Oregano, somewhere between the two is the taste of urine.

It is thicker then you would expect almost velvety....not as thick as gravy mixed with cornstarch but thicker then water.

It is not dirty, if fact it contains nutrients your body needs and wants. We Yogi's do not recommend eating feces...that is dirty...so just in case you thought why not make a meal out of your next bowel movement, forget it...that is just gross.

I find it help full to just drink it up fast, like a shooter, I have actually drank worst tasting alchohol.Once in Greece while , on my honeymoon with my first husband, a bartender gave me a drink of home brew made from Artichokes, I couldn't swallow it I had to rush to the bathroom and spit it out. This may have been the first time I wasted alcohol but that is another blog. Urine is not as bad as Artichoke home brew.

It is warm, not hot, but mildly warm...did I mention it is smooth like velvet and kind of sticky, have your touthbrush handy and perhaps mouthwash.

Don't think about it, do the research and then just drink it fast.

While in Thailand I met this guy named Peter, a 30ish American guy from Colorado, he was travelling the Eastern countries studying yoga and meditation, Peter was cute, boyish, very down to earth and he made a ton of sense. He shared with me that he was hesitant to drink urine, but what convinced him was that the people in his group who were drinking urine were clear skinned, bright eyed and that this change occured very quickly. As the last hold out of his group, Peter began to drink his urine and with in must a few days felt amazing. Hearing this from Peter made me think maybe I should just open my mind to the possiblity.

On Being 50 Soon

Seems like these days many of my friends are younger than me, actually quite a bit younger...so I have begun to feel like it may be my duty share with them what to expect when you start getting close to 50.

1) Random face hairs appear....not just on your chin and mustache, weird thick hairs that start to grow out of your nose, cheeks and neck...and generally because you need glasses for the fine print you don't see them until you are in the car and without your tweezers...meaning you are spending the rest of the day wondering how many people are watching them vibrate as you speak.

2) 10:00pm is late...chin dropping, tongue hanging out in front of the TV....late

3) cellulite is not just limited to your bottom and thighs over the years it creeps out towards your ankles and arms...if you are as lucky as I am, your younger friends swear that they can't see it (thanks Misty).

4) sex....while sex is still great...when you want it....and when you can stay up late enough to have it and when all your facial hairs have been removed

5) being told you look good for your age starts to feel okay...the first time it happens it is a shocker, you want to scream what age ? Its like the first time the kid at the meat counter called you Mame and you looked behind you to see if your mother was standing there.

6) I recently had someone describe a friend of mine as an older woman....I thought HEY she is the same age as me.

7) you really REALLY start to look like your parents.... I am a blend of both my parents...my fathers legs...my Mom's..(not saying she reads my Blog).

8) everyone starts to look young to you...you wonder if all those Moms in the grocery store are really old enough to have kids....you wonder if you looked that young when your kids were born.

9) 60+ year old men start to flirt with you and you flirt back....okay maybe not you but I have a "thing" for older men love them.....I married one actually

10) age spots start to crowd out the freckles......

11) everything you do shows on your face the next day...sigh your period of "bounce back" grace is well gone.

12) you start to emphasize with turkeys as you watch you neck resemble one...sigh...

13) and weird but true while all this is happening you thank God you are not 30 or 40 any more

The funniest Moment

In Thailand I was taught many ancient health techniques, natural remedies for curing just about any disease. Some were yoga poses that tune and energize the Chakras. Chakras are energy wheels that govern certain areas of the bodies, organs, skin and even emotions.

Some were the drinking of bodily fluids such as urine, blood and even sperm. Definitely not for the squeamish. At first some of the information seemed ridiculous....I had to keep a very open mind. Some I swore I would never do, some I thought hmmm maybe. Along with the drinking of bodily fluids there was the daily vomiting to clean toxins from your stomach, tongue scrapping and more.

Most evenings I would talk with my husband on Skpe and I would share with him the content of the lectures, we would discuss the merits of each, or even how disgusting we felt they were....some we had a good laugh over others we thought maybe we would try them.

So.... fast forward to yesterday, I am home, working in my studio when in walks a mother with her 2 children to sign up for classes. The youngest of the 2 girls was a 7 year old full of spunk and very talkative. She bombarded me with questions.....the final one being.....

ARE YOU THE LADY THAT DRANK HER PEE IN THAILAND ?

I am a fast thinker and it is rare that I am caught off guard but....I must say....this floored me....so much for my private conversations with my husband......I had a good laugh over this one.

Who am I ? Why am I here ? These are the questions we are told to ask ourselves, there are even signs in the bathrooms with these questions. I am coming home soon and have a great deal of mixed feelings. I know I will return to Koh Phangon and this amazing yoga community, I have found my place here and I love it.

The last week has been a blurr of activity...classes, lectures, and more. Saturday was our final ceremony, it was an emotional day for me. I had this

overwhelming sense of gratitude for where I am today. My journey has not been easy so far but looking back I wouldn't change much...so many lessons learned.

Last week there was a quote on the white board in our class this quote made me cry.... it was.

This place where you are. God circled on a map for you....Haqiz

I had many reasons for coming here, some I shared some were private, all those reasons have been fulfilled I hope that upon my return this new knowledge about who I am will change me for the better.

There have been so many good times here, walking with Steph to hear the Swami speak, learning to ride a motor bike, overcoming my fears, sitting up late talking about yoga, heading to the food market in Ton Sala for local food and flair.

Saturday night was our graduation ceremony, we received our certificates, a blessing from Swami and we all had a chance to entertain. I sang a devotional song in Sanskrit with 2 other people and it was amazing. I have never sung before in a small group and people later asked me how long I had been singing. I told them about 3 hours and they were amazed, secretly I sing all the time and love it. And truthfully I have always had this secret desire to be a rock star...so this was my debut LOL.

I am leaving in 2 hours, I stay tonight in Bangkok and then fly to Hong Kong to catch my flight home. How nice it is to have a place to call home and people looking forward to my return. Perhaps that is the biggest blessing.

Week 3

I have now completed week 3 of this program, I love it here most days, but there is the odd moment that I feel a bit homesick but soon someone or something captures my interest.

I ran 7k on Saturday in the middle of the day and wow, running in Thailand is rare and almost stupid, after my run it took a full dip in the pool to stop the sweat from pouring out of every sweat gland in my body. People here don't run, only the odd tourist, in fact the locals move at this very slow pace and never seem to be in a hurry, tropical climates seems to do this to people.

We are only off one day a week and I am tired by the end of the week, it is hot here and humid everyday, even after it rains. Today I am off and I went to a 2 hour Ashtanga yoga class it was led by this beautiful Yogini from Spain who has the voice of an angel, I thought it wouldn't be hard because of her gentle spirit, but it was hard, very hard, but it was just what I needed to burn off monkey mind

Each week I get a little more accustomed to life on this island, I am bartering better with the taxi drivers to get the best price, I however still feel like vomiting once I get out of the taxi's, I wonder if they drive faster if you are the only passenger which means they are making peanuts, or, if this is just their way. The taxi's here are like pickup trucks with benches and and roof and sides, you get thrown around if you don't hold on tight..hence the desire to vomit.


I have attended two lectures with the Swami this week both were great, he is why I am here so I try to attend anything he is presenting, this on top of school can make for a long day.


My butt is sore, from sitting, and sitting and sitting on cement floors. I think I lost some of my padding on it too LOL. I have lost 10lbs now....I am pleased I was hoping to lose weight and have been able to avoid junk foods I am eating vegetarian and drinking tons of water, it has been just over 2 weeks since my last coffee, I inadvertently gave up coffee as it was a no no on the detox, I then decided just to stay off it while I was here. I look great, the weight loss and the rest combined shows on my face as more relaxed.


The lecture I loved this week was on Karma, given by the Swami, he said Karma can be defined as Action and Reaction, it is a law of the universe, not something dished out by a loving or punishing God. Every thing we do will cause a good or bad reaction, he said our actions are like a pendulum you swing it out and it will come back, either in the next moment (see Misty you are right), the next year, in 40 years or the next lifetime. I will be on the look out for the knock in the back of the head...sigh..from the return of the pendulum. He also said that it is our Karma good or bad that keeps us coming back life after life and he said there are only 2 ways to rid ourselves of Karma, one is to detach from the results of our actions and the other is to consecrate all our actions to God. Only by living in this manner can we hope to break the cycles of rebirth.


I am getting used to Swami's presentation style now, it is blunt, complicated and he speaks as if he is yelling, but he is very soft and warm in person, his love for the people here shows easily on his face. It is easy to see he has helped a many people, his program is transformational. Many people end of on the island for the party atmosphere, are drug use is widespread and stumble into yoga class only to find a new way of life that is more freedom then any party could every give you. Drugs, alcohol and parties are widespread, in fact in some bars you can order Magic Mushroom shakes.

After tonight I only have 6 more classes, time now seems to be going fast, as I am 3/4 of the way through the program. I have learned lots and also reconnected with Hatha Yoga, it is not a popular style but it is my first love in yoga, a quiet meditative practice is a balance to my busy life and the running.

Today while I was walking to a yoga class and young girl from Los Angeles offered me a ride on the back of her motorbike, her name is Sarah, and she said to me that in order to get the most from this program you need to surrender and forget everything that you know. In that moment I realised that I needed to surrender, it is not easy coming here with a ton of yoga experience and being told that I am ignorant or treated in a manner that suggests we new students know nothing. However, it is not meant in that way they are just saying that the door is opening and wait until it opens more. There is clearly a distinction in levels here, level one students are the tadpoles in the pond, and each level you move up seems to bring you more recognition. With the Swami being the big frog on the lily pad.

Being away has given me clear insight into my life and how great it really is. What an awesome experience it is to step out and look into your own life and feel such gratitude for your family and friends.

Namaste,

Here at Agama we have come together for a common interest or pursuit, the love or the desire to know more about yoga. So I am in my element, I love yoga. Underneath this seems to be something deeper, many of the people faced personal bottoms at home and just packed up and left. Over and over again I meet someone who, in whatever country they are from, either worked too much, lost a relationship or felt unconnected. Several sold all their belongings and have been travelling through south east Asia for many months, as nomadic spiritual seekers. Agama is roots of sorts, a month long program where friendships are made. Others are like me here for a rest and some yoga. But like many people it was personal crisis many years ago that brought me to my knees and then to yoga, so I understand their search.



Each day is full there are 2 yoga classes lasting anywhere from 2 to 2 1/2 hours, postures are held for 4 to 6 minutes each, sometimes the class includes a music meditation, this is my favorite, I love the lightness that seem to permeate my body during these meditations. Evenings are lectures lasting about 1 1/2 to 3 hours. After that we gather to eat and talk.



My back has healed so I am really enjoying the yoga, I do however have moments of being really restless, missing the running or the more vigorous yoga, I have run here but is is difficult as it gets dark early and the mid day when we are off is incredibly hot, also we have had tons of rain.

Thursday I attended a lecture held by the Swami on the topic of death and how to prepare for death, so that you ensure your launch into another world that is pleasant. He said that there is a hell and that many people think Christians invented hell to scare people, but that hell is a part of many religious and spiritual traditions, including Shamanism. He said that only the ignorant would choose to ignore this fact. He said there were many things you could do to prepare your "launch" after death. Unfortunately he didn't give us much more.

The Swami is a great speaker and he doesn't mince words, he is a times shockingly blunt and quite arrogant, yet in dealing directly with people he is warm and loving, he is passionate about what he is teaching and I am sure that is why, he is so dramatic, he wants to get his point across. He wants you to have knowledge and to make conscious decisions and he wants you to live a full happy life. There is no doubt he his grateful for the journey yoga has taken him on.

Fridays lecture was on a Kriya, or cleansing practice, where upon waking you drink a litre or more of body temperature water and then jump around and then vomit the water out. This practice is said to balance your Dosha, clean out mucus and toxins and even create mental balance.

Next week we learn about urine therapy...I don't want to tell you more until I have had the lecture.

Last nights lecture was held by Swami about Brahmacharya or sexual continence, or how to keep your vitality and not waste it. It lead to a conversation of the benefits of either celibacy or tantric sex, tantric sex sounds like a more likely choice for me. However as with most of the Swamis lectures it was long and left us only knowing that there is much more to learn. I am considering a Tantric 1 Workshop before I leave.


So far we have been taught only 11 posture but since we hold them for so long the class lenght is 2 hours.

It is so easy to meet and get to know people here most people have come here alone and are eager to talk. I am meeting people from all over the world, this week I met a guy from Iceland, he is the first person I have every met from that country.

Sunday is our day off and the school empties as everyone rushes off to have some fun and do some shopping, I am heading to a larger town in search of Tibetan singing bowls for my husband and in search of some food that will satisfy my need for something real or even cooked or for that matter not Thai, I am craving some different flavours.

As I enter the third week they tell my body is now purified and I am about the enter into emotional purification....sigh...I hope that goes okay.

Anyone wishing to see pictures can find me on Facebook I loaded some more last night.

Agama Yoga School

So the first week of school is under my belt, it has gone fast, we are learning lots about yoga philosophy and there is a focus on the Chakras and attunement with the universe. The teachers are incredibly well read, very bright and some of them have been studying here for 6 year. Because they are so well read they bring great examples into their analogies and most are really good story tellers.





It has been tough, choosing to do the fast zapped my energy and included colemas that we a mental block for me the first few I dreaded and had to force myself to go to, they were self administered thank goodness, but the first couple were awkward and uncomfortable. The last one was a breeze I felt like a pro, I even took pictures during it. And yes much like my husband has said (on occasion), I was full of shit.



Also I hurt my back and was in tremendous pain, thank god for Ibruprofen, I was crying one night because the pain was so bad. I decided though to still attend classes and to use a chair at the back of the room and it is working out okay. Just being around the energy of all people doing yoga helps to make me feel better.







My fast ended yesterday and I am glad I did it, the experience was challenging but I had really wanted to attempt one and thought this was the perfect safe place to attempt one. I lost almost 7lbs and have tons of energy. I also have not had coffee in 4 days....and feel okay. Whether or not I return to coffee will depend on whether or not I choose to come home to my old way of life, I hope that I do make some changes, I have a good life but I was tired and I need to find more balance between work and personal time, maybe just more time away, in fact I am booking a weekend away with my husband as soon as I return, so more Kama (pleasure) in my life will be a focus for me.







Spiritual practices require discipline, as discipline is one of the Niyamas or guidelines to living with self, doing the same thing over and over again requires discipline. It also takes disciple over a number of years, one does not become enlightened at their first meditation, nor do you realize much about yourself, it takes years of going inward to even begin to understand how you tick. The question they suggest we ask is "Why am I here?"





A yoga teacher back home once confessed to me that she is so busy and stressed that she no longer does yoga, she swore me to secrecy because she is so well known. I can easily see how that could happen and hope that I can maintain balance in my life. and stay connected with yoga, meditation and prayer once I leave here.







Today I attended a Spiral Mediation which is based on the Theory of countering the Yin energy of a full moon, which is Svadistana chakra, and is partially about sex and emotions. Here on the Island they have full moon parties which are massive and are about drinking, drugs and dancing, people come to the Island just for these Rave like parties. Agama school tries to counter this energy but creating Yang energy.





At the meditation we were lined up male/female by our stars signs and then spiralled a senior teacher was at the head/middle of the spiral and energy was moving through our arms. It was a standing meditation which lasted 45 minutes, it takes discipline to move through the distractions of the mind while standing for that long, the heat was incredible I had sweat pouring down my body. Since I was holding hands any movement would have distracted the men on either side of me so I stood perfectly still. Each time my mind wandered and towards the end it wondered quite a bit I brought my concentration back to the breath and I made it through the whole meditation. It really was an incredible experience. It left me feeling amazing but unfortunately I couldn't sleep because my energy was so good.,







I am not all yoga and meditation thought I must confess, I an having a blast, the people I am meeting are interesting and from all over the world, I am learning lots and making friends I sure I will see again. Saturday night a couple from Dubai rented a pick up truck and took about 9 of us into town, we went to an open market full of portable stalls selling food, it was neat to see the generations of Thais gathered around their kiosks, young and old gathered to sell food. I had mango sticky rice which is addictive some grilled veggies with a couple of grilled prawns that were caught that day. Luckily I love spicey food because everything is served with a side of spice.





Sunday some friends of friends came out to meet me and then I rented a motor bike and headed into town for some souvenir shopping and bought Thai Fisherman pants for myself. I am still very rusty on the bike and have to laugh when elderly women zoom past me with a grandchild or two on their bikes, I just keep to the side of the road and do around 30 or 40k/hour.





It is 6:45 am the first day of my second week of school, I am excited about what this week may bring, new people arrive all the time so not only is the school interesting so is meeting all these people, most of them are travellers and all are spiritual seekers, it is not chance that we are here at Agama at the same time, there is a reason unfolding for each of us.