Day 42

Day 42-
Today's diet:
On waking: Hot water with a slice of lemon.
Breakfast: A slice of rye bread toast with a sliced boiled egg.
Morning snack: A small piece of sweet bun, a coffee with 2 sugars.
Lunch: Lots of small things, a couple of small pieces of spinach and feta pie, grapes, some organic corn chips, hommus and carrot & celery sticks.
Afternoon snack: Another coffee with 2 sugars, some homemade muesli slice.
Dinner: Grilled salmon with carrot salad (grated carrots, finely chopped spring onion, mint and coriander, pepitas, sunflowers seeds, linseeds, chia seeds, lemon, flaxseed oil and sultanas) and a couple of rice paper rolls (carrots, cucumber, celery, chicken, bean noodles).
After dinner snack: Lemon and ginger tea with honey.
At least 2 litres of filtered water throughout the day.
Exercise: Nope.
Sleep: About 8 hours, didn't wake at all...

Had another lovely day, hosted mother's group, all went well, the healthy food was enjoyed, though didn't get to make the salad, falafel or rice paper rolls on time, so made them later for dinner!!

This is the last day of the Maintenance Program for me. I am very happy with the way things have gone. I will write one more post in this Blog tomorrow to see what the end result is and if Joshi's Holistic Detox has really lived up to my expectations.

For now though, back to Meditation and Visualisation....

Visualisation is also a technique that has been used for thousands of years to encourage positive influences in peoples lives. It is a great way to change your thought patterns from negative to positive which can, in turn, lead to more positive outcomes in your life. It is really just imagining what you desire, as if it was already here. For example, if you would like to become fit and healthy, you imagine yourself in fitness clothes, running without effort. Many cancer patients use visualisation to mentally cleanse their bodies, by imagining their cancer as dirt or dust within their house that they then clean up.

It is above all, a great way to train your brain to see the world, your life and yourself in a more positive light. It can help to reduce stress, depression and insomnia, to name a few conditions. I have read a bit about visualisation and also neuroplasticity, and the fact is that the more often you think a thought, the stronger the neural pathways of that thought are. The brain is just like a muscle in your body, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes and the easier it is to complete the same task with it. So pretty much, the more you think happy thoughts, the easier it is to think in a positive way generally.

Here is Joshi's Visualisation Exercise:
- After your meditation exercise, imagine there is a bright white light pouring through you from above like a warm liquid penetrating the top of your head.
- Imagine it seeps down through and over you, onto your shoulders, arms, chest, all the way down your legs to your feet and forming roots stretching deep into the ground beneath you.
- Imagine your body as this glowing white form with a bright, glowing future.
- Visualise what you would like to happen, see yourself going for a job interview and getting the job, finding a loving person to have a relationship with, imagine how you would like to look and feel in 6 months time.
- Make the picture as real and tangible as possible, imagine what it smells and tastes like, put yourself there.
- Imagine that this is all happening here and now.
- Once you feel this, Joshi suggests covering the image with a protective white light, or simply becoming aware of your surroundings.
- Try to repeat this process as often as possible, at least once a day.

Joshi uses visualisation for 10 minutes every morning, thinking about all of the good and positive things that will happen during the day and for 10 minutes after meditating each night, visualising in a positive way events in the coming days.