The Joseph Yoga Blog

The next time someone asks you how your are tell them this: In the last 10 years the medium household income has dropped by 5%. The basic cost of living however has skyrocketed. Average healthcare annual premium for a family doubled. Home heating oil has tripled. The American family has become poor. The US education results in math and science has also dropped. Lower wages and higher living costs is causing the middle class to disintegrate. Hiding behind pride isn’t going to change things. Republicans have spent 4 years now preventing change that will save America. If you are voting republican still after what has happened, especially in Wisconsin, you are ignorant or in that top wealthy bracket and have no care for the rest of us.

Trees That Bare No Fruit

Digging and plowing and planting seeds
Energy spent and what is there to see?
Confusion and slavery paining my heart
A life of circles, circling ending back at the start 

Distractions, reactions, attractions all day
Each day to a week to a year — I must pray

This purposed and contrived delay assault
Was known and created from the first thought
It is known already that I will stumble to a fall
The 49th gate was lived before I was at all

Distractions, reactions, attractions all day
Each day to a week to a year — I must pray

The pain of staying is pushing on my chest
I breathe these words to help me digest
The agony and darkness I feel in this shell
All seeds must grow in the darkness of hell

Distractions, reactions, attractions all day
Each day to a week to a year — I must pray

I have been thinking about little birds lately. They build their own nest homes and don’t have to work their whole lives every day paying rent or mortgage. They get their food from the land and it’s organic and free. The fly around lighter than air in harmony and sing each morning. The United States once belonged to Americans. But not anymore. What are we gonna do? Who knows a simplier better way? How do we go back to nature? We are under mind control. More meditation. More yoga. More prayers. Anyone read that 3 day work week book? “…Oh why can’t I?”

We are in a culture war.  Between spirituality and religion. The religious don’t care about people they just want to keep the country religious because they are afraid. So when a Bush or a Christine ODonnell or a Romney or Palin comes along and promises to uphold religion they get the votes. Very simple. I encourage us all to leave the churches and synogogues and join spiruality. It’s you democrats who are still supporting churches and synogogues that are contributing to this religiosity and the breakdown of the USA and the blurring of separation between church and state.

I will admit something very personal because it may help us all be more aware. I was bullied in school — to a great extent through middle school and high school. I remember that there was 2 wonderful days in middle school that there wasn’t any negative comment made to me. It felt like Christmas. The other hundreds of days I was bullied, I was harassed and verbally abused. Every teacher ignored it. Except for one teacher who was in her 20’s and understood the way kids teased in their hidden ways. The real factor that leads up to the abuse of our children is a national spiritual crisis. We are not a spiritual nation but a religious nation. We are not taught the teachings of Christ in anyway. We are taught misogyny and homophobia and racism. And we call that Christianity. We have spiritualy poverty in America and we do not understand or practice human dignity. Jesus was aware of human dignity but his teachings are not found with the Pope or in the church. Ironically the Jews know more about Christ then Christians. And this is a major blind spot with Christians. Christians care more about being saved by Jesus then behaving like him. It’s extremely selfish spirituality. Not all Christians behave this way. Many have left the church and religion. But not most. Not enough still. All the kids who made fun of me were mostly from my own Catholic church. Our most important way out of this crisis is for us to leave these organizations that are damaging this great nation founded on great minds like Thomas Jefferson who knew the dangers of religion. It’s time for the fall of the church and the rise of spirituality. But that won’t happen when the majority of the country still support the church. Why? Because we care more about “Jesus being our Savior” then about each other. It’s time for marriages and baptisms, communions and tithing and funerals to be practiced on our own — separate from the church and it’s criminals. Let the church fall. But this isn’t an easy task. Fear keeps us on this ride. It’s time to tell people like Bush and Farwell and Mit Romney that they are NOT CHRISTIANS. Until then we are supporting and participating and enabling evil.

www.josephyoga.com

To anyone busying themselves trying to save America from evil based on their own religious fantasties, I remind you of this:

“Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens . . . are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion . . . No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.” –Thomas Jefferson

www.josephyoga.com

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THE LEANLIFE NEWSLETTER
V.1: The Beginning
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Hello Friends

You are reading this because you are ready to change your body and I wanted to help you because this program has helped me lose 30lbs and I know it can help you.

I wanted to help because it really is my passion. I am a yoga teacher and I really love getting the body healthy. So this is one of a series of posts that will help you find the truth about weight loss and health and to help you live with the body that will allow you to fullfill your life’s purpose. Yes the body is far different from the soul, but it is our vehicle and it is holy.

In this first post, we are starting out slow. For now I want you to take a look at the Glycemic Index Chart below. This will become your best friend. Obesity is a fairly recent problem. Only in the last 50 years or so have we started dealing with obesity. We have been trying to figure out what exactly makes us gain weight. We were told it was fat and calories and lack of exercise but this was not true. The truth is that fat needs a certain hormone to be able to be stored on the body. That hormone is called insulin. Without insulin the food you eat cannot be stored as fat. It’s that simple. Our job is to simply lower our insulin levels!!! Thats it! And I promise you, if you are overweight your insulin levels are sky high. For this week, I want you to look at this chart and study it. It doesn’t contain all the foods on the planet but it does give you a good idea. For this first week, you are to stop eating all the items above the line. These are the foods that cause too much insulin to be released in the body. Now if there is one whine or complaint out of you I’m going to really question your desire and start to think you like being overweight. Because after all, the light gives us what we truly desire. Just look at your life, the good and bad and own it. It’s what you wanted. What does being overweight give you? Think about it. It’s time to give that up.

For now eliminate from “beer to dried fruit”. No more of these items. Many of you are starting holidays now and you really have to be strong. We are starting this now to be at our goal for Summer 2011. Remember this:

“Food is not my entertainment. Being healthy to do my work in this life is my entertainment and my real joy.”

I recommend you begin now and not cheat at all at holidays.

Remember that everything you have learned about weightloss has been a lie. Fat and calories are not the issue. It’s the level of insulin in your body that is the issue. The more insulin present in the body the more weight you will gain. Our job is to reduce consuming the foods that cause an insulin response. Then the calories we eat will not be able to be stored as fat and we will be living the lean life! When we have low insulin levels high blood pressure and most diseases go away too! High insulin levels feed and cause cancers and most ailments like high blood pressure and high cholesterol!

In the last 50 years we have seen an increase in the consumption of the foods written above the line on the chart and a decrease in the consumption of the foods below the line on the chart. We have seen more obesity and diseases. Its all from high insulin levels! The foods above the line are super energy foods. These super energy foods provide so much energy that unless you are an Olympic athlete you cannot possible burn them off! Calories and fat do not provide us with energy, only carbohydrates do which are above the line mostly on the chart.

Remember, sugar is the enemy because it’s too much energy for us to burn and use and it raises our insulin levels and gets stored as weight on our bodies. —- Forget about fat and calories forever!

ASSIGNMENT 1:

1)Weigh yourself and mark it down on a piece of paper with today’s date.

2)Eliminate from your diet the foods above the line on the glycemic index chart and eat anything else as much as you like. For some of you this could knock off 10lbs in the first week.

Good luck, be strong, don’t complain and rememeber food is not your entertainment. Your tongue must be conquered!

Until next time…..

Joseph

There are three stages to true freedom. 1) Becoming aware of your soul and recognizing you have one. 2) Becoming aware of the business of the soul and the souls desire and needs. 3) Taking action and putting your time into that business and making it a priority over all else. Until then we are just slaves and are beating our own selves over the head.

In DC 2003, I attended a Jivamukti Yoga workshop held by David Life & Sharon Gannon. They played the entire I HAVE A DREAM speech by Martin Luther King. This was their class. It was cemented then for me that a yogi is not a flexible pacifist but a loud freedom seeking warrior who practices to see more of the truth and takes action toward freedom and the physical yoga practice itself is only the coals of his fire.