Hey Cate,
After a year of knowing about your practice with Ayurveda and the seasonal cleanse I can finally say I’m ready to participate.

Here’s what I can think of for stored toxins in my body and mind. Some behavioral patterns of mine are every now and then I tend to binge on food and eat too much. I also have the habit of sleeping through half the day. I quit smoking cigarettes this past summer. And I’m guessing that unnatural substances like medication count for ama as well. So I’m on a few different prescriptions; one for both headaches and insomnia, another for acid reflex, a stool softener for irregularity (which only helps sometimes). I take a third powerful med. I would rather not say, which helps me stabilize my mood, as I sometimes have emotional/mental crisis, and fleeting violent destructive thoughts. And when I get angry I do a lot of role playing, which is cycling through a social scenario that will never happen, which tends to lean on the aggressive side.

My bodily symptoms are as follows. I wake up in the morning with morning breath, a white coating on my tongue, stiffness, grogginess, and reddish eyes. My pee is always yellow, and sometimes has a green tint. My pooping stinks and is infrequent. I have B.O., and I love the smell of it. Sometimes it feels like somebody is tickling my ear canal with a feather. I often have a few zits on my chin and neck. And I usually have a big zit that doesn’t pop and is sore on the back of my neck of under my chin. And shin splints.

I don’t know if all of these are what your looking for, but thanks any ways for doing this. I’m really excited about flushing my body and mind of toxins and unwanted habits.

Duncan Holley

Perfect Duncan – you sound like a great candidate. Doesn’t it feel good to just recognize ama for what is it? I had snot this morning -I’ve been eating mostly raw and last night I had pizza (and not the raw kind of pizza, mind you!).

Oh my Ama!

I need to get a shirt printed up with “Ama-dicted” to coffee! or maybe a photo with my tongue sticking out with a quote for the scrapbook “Ama Moustache” does the body good. My current life plan seems to invite a “Save the Ama” campaign. Oh, I want to change, but my Ama has grown on me. Literally.
I plan for the best day, every day. I set my alarm for 5am and I hit the snooze at least three times before my husband growls. Then I turn it off all together, because really what is the point? I will wake up early tomorrow. I won’t go to bed so late tonight. I will wake up early and do yoga. Every morning. Every morning for an hour. Before the sun. Tomorrow I will start. I will meditate and then do an hour of yoga. I will go to bed early tonight.
I do try to go to sleep at a decent hour, but it is so hard to turn off the computer. I get lost envisioning myself wearing this season’s newest boot style which I had to order because my favorite on-line store kept sending e-mails and it was their last-sale-EVER of this season! Although I am not really sure which season they were referring to… and I need to connect with my Facebook “friends” or find new “friends” and tell them my current status and then remark on their new updates. Also, I like to read my dailyOM, Yoga Journal and other helpful inbox subscriptions that focus on meditation and balance.
Downstairs, with the kids, making breakfast, rushing to get out the door on time, settled by the smell of the fresh brewed coffee, I bark orders. I lean against the counter, sipping my second cup and devouring my warm, unfrozen, gluten-free waffles with a heap of butter. Breakfast reminds me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it. The kids are talking and looking for a response, but I can’t focus- in need of a bathroom. I run in just in time and someone asks through the door if my stomach is upset- again. No one uses that bathroom for the rest of the morning.
I tell myself each night that I will not need to have coffee in the morning. Each morning, I glare at the half full bottle of wine and I tell myself I will not need a glass at the end of the day. In the early afternoon, I break for tea and dark chocolate. I read the saying on the tea bag and the quote on the chocolate wrapper and I hope both will lead to enlightenment. I pour over my yoga magazine and envy the calm, joyous look upon the faces of the women in beautiful poses, but need to abandon my mat when the phone rings. After all, it could be important.
Three o’clock in the afternoon. Siesta time. No time for a nap, though. I walk to the coffee shop and decide I need a break today. I deserve it. The country runs on it. I order a triple vanilla latte and then reconsider. I have been putting on weight. I order it with reduced-fat milk instead. I shove my hands in my back pockets and suddenly remember what those waffles reminded me of. Apparently, I can put my finger on it. I sip the coffee and tell myself not to feel guilty, but I do.
I look at my list of what to accomplish today, all the tasks that need to be done, the errands, the to-dos. There is never enough time and always more to do. As soon as these next five items are done, I will be able to carve out a piece of time just for me. I will feel better when they are completed. It will give me the space I need and then I will meditate. I will go to bed early. I should take out my tongue-scrapper tonight, prop it up against the bathroom sink. I will use it tomorrow when I wake up at 5am, before I meditate. Before I do my hour of yoga. Tomorrow.

You had me rolling on your first line.

Kimberly, I LOVE your post. Way to put this into words – and with a sense of humor.

hi cate, i have heard great things about you from pam marshal and jenn mosher. i am curious about the upcoming fall clense, but i have some concerns. first, i am new to yoga, started this past july and a bit hesitant, but more importantly i am recovering from an eating disorder, i am working with a nutrionist and md, am eating adaquate amounts now daily, i consider myself sober for 6 months, but my weight still fluctuates up and down between approx 111-120 (i dont weigh myself, i am approximating) i am 5’2″. i stopped taking birth control in may (i have been on it 10 years) and have yet to get my period back. i am currently around 114 approx, am doing acupuncture and a daily yoga practice. i am interested in the clense, however, hunger is REALLY RISKY business for me to play around with. i have a hx of binging/etc in the past, and i also fear loosing any more weight. i wonder if the clense would be a good idea for me right now or if i should wait. i know i have “ama” and my main interests in doing the clense is to rid myself of the ama…feel more energized…all around better and HOPEFULLY get my darn period back. what do you think?

oh, one more thing…i cant cook to save my life and REALLY dont enjoy much food prep…i keep things simple : )…
thanks for your help
andrea vallario

My Angel cards sit on the window next to my desk so I can reach for them daily. However, the insane pace of work at the moment just allows for me to glance over the sight of the pretty colors of the box they are in and I ask that they will work today without reading one.
As I sit here sipping my coffee with my ear piece plugged in, I am smiling so hard at Kimberly’s post and trying to forgot about my headache. I love reading it all.

Beage- you rock. all the best with that headache – see if you can get some green juice in you.
R U cleansing with me this fall?

Kimberley,

What an AWESOME post! Can’t wait to cleanse with you. I am so AMA-dicted with you – you are not alone! See you…tomorrow….well, next week in the cleanse.

Linsey

Beautiful, just beautiful, Kimberlea. Thankyou!

That was great Kimberly! I just woke up, finally in my own bed after a crazy trip that took me 18 hours to get home from. I saw myself in so many ways in your “amadicted” post. As I did not do anything this morning that I thought I would, reading your post and having a laugh is a great way to start my day, and get ready for the cleanse. Thanks!

Hey Kimberley, AMA- so with you!

And AMA gonna do it tomorrow too!!

Nice piece of work. Thanks!