Radikal Life Podcast S1E11: Cleanse with Mahan Rishsi Singh Khalsa

2:09AM Oct 16, 2022

Speakers:

Marina Patrice Vare (they/them/MP)

Manjot Singh Khalsa (he/him)

Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa (he/him)

Keywords:

people

cleanses

food

cleanse

eating

et cetera

life

energy

body

creates

important

healthy

diet

support

singh khalsa

water

choices

vegan

day

liver

Sat Nam. I am Manjot Singh Khalsa Radikal co-creator of Radikal Life. Welcome to the Radikal Life podcast. Joining me today is Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa and for Radikal Life Mahan Rishi is our Cleanse Module Leader. Welcome.

Thank you, Manjot. It's fantastic to be with you. Yes. All the way from the Garden State.

Yeah, Garden State New Jersey, USA. And I'm here on the island of Gotland on the Baltic Sea in Sweden. So yeah, so fun to connect across the miles. Mahan Rishi would you take a moment just however, you would like to introduce yourself, any of your background, anything you want to share, related to cleanse or otherwise, just to let our viewers and listeners get a little taste of you.

Sure, be happy to. Well I'm here from New Jersey, as a teenager, I, and as a young person actually I was very connected with nature. I would always be out in the woods, exploring discovering things in nature. And then when I graduated high school, I decided not to go to college. And a friend of mine and I, we hitchhiked up to Alaska with the intention of never coming back. And so we were there for a while and we got some very cold icy blizzardy the snow in August. And we looked at each other and we said Southern California looks really good right now, we literally walked across the street, went down the west coast, the Yukon British Columbia. I ended up going down to Mexico and Southern California. Then I came back, I still had ants in my pants. So I, I again I hitched. This time, I hitchhiked up to Newfoundland by myself, and had an amazing trip up there. And something really powerful happened for me where somebody said, you know, you could travel around the world 1000 times, and not know yourself, the monk can go into the room, close the door and see the universe that really intrigued me. And I also realized I was a teenager, when I was traveling, I was free spirit, riding the wind, wherever it took me. And I realized that journey was an inward one now. So I came home to my parents house, transformed my bedroom, made it into a cave, where I could meditate and do yoga for hours and hours on end. And then to make a long story short, I ended up in spiritual community house of Guru Rom Das in Princeton, basically where I've been ever since. And while being there, I was becoming actually even before that, when I was meditating on my own. I was beginning to we're having a much deeper connection between mind body and spirit, and my relationship with food. And so I would be meditating. Now I grew up in a basic American household with, you know, meat, potatoes, hamburgers, steaks, junk food, Coca Cola, et cetera, et cetera. And so that's what I had been eating. And then I started meditating and in stillness became really connected with my interior. And felt like wow, okay, I'm still feeling that hamburger in my gut I had like two or three days ago, that must not be very good. So it's really a logical thing. And I found that very soon after that, I turned to a more plant based diet. Now, moving into the ashram was a very together sophisticated approach to cooking. So this was like an effortless change. I changed let go all that very quickly, meat, fish and eggs, no attachment, no withdrawal. And I did that for many years. I was lacto vegetarian for about 10 or 12 years. And then it was August 1987. I did a long meditation for like five hours or so came out that meditation said, Okay, now I'm going to be vegan for the rest of my life. And it was an interesting experience, because we be generally people tend to be what I see in our clinic, now, so just so you know, I did end up going to college for nine years, even though I had renounced it. I have gone to college and then chiropractic college. And I realized that our relationship with food has a profound impact on our body, our mind and our energy flow. And I, I

also realized that people and myself could be very habitual around eating, not necessarily eating the same food from day to day, but from week to week eating the same food. So when I became vegan, I remember the first day when I went back to the health food store I had been going to for a while, my routine, basically it was go hang out with the vegetables with the produce, and all that I go to the dairy, get yogurt and cheese or whatever, then I go to the deli and then I go out. Well, this day, I went in, I went to the produce, got my produce, then I was on my way to dairy. I said Wow, I'm not going there anymore. All of a sudden, my eyes popped open. I saw all this other food that I had neglected from my vision due to my very narrow spectrum of choices.

Yes.

And so that's one things that happened for me. And, and this is really one of the things that we offer through the cleanses. The cleanses of course, we eliminate the the traditional allergenic type foods like the wheat and dairy and sugar and et cetera et cetera et cetera. But we also work to inspire people to really expand their palate, and expand their approach and their relationship with food. So cleanses have become a really important integral part of what we offer at our center. And in our own personal life, we've got into doing him all four seasons. And so it's been a really transformational. I've learned, I learn a lot about myself when I do cleanses. And it's all a part of the journey.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, there's so much rich information there from the hitchhiking to the you know, being in the grocery store, and just these awarenesses for yourself, and then in being of service to others. And I'm picturing you as a teen in the cave bedroom. And just having this internal awareness of hey, something still internally right this this hamburger's still in there internally that you know, there's not this balance. There's not this moving through. Yeah, so I'm interested in a few different things. But from that starting point there in what I'm just feeding back the meat and potatoes parents, how did they respond to the you know, the awarenesses of the cave, particularly around food and then choices you were making that were different?

Well, it was pretty radical, because, you know, I grew up in suburban Livingston, New Jersey, and I lit my my room was literally 10 feet from my parents bedroom. I painted my walls, all dark brown, walls, ceiling trim, everything I wanted as dark as possible. I took the beds and put them vertical on the walls, the mattresses because I needed space for stretching. And then I took the the bedspreads, and hung them from the ceiling. So became like a Middle Eastern cave. What was radical most for my parents, really, in many ways, was the silence. Because there used to rock and roll, Jimi Hendrix, whoever was usually literally vibrating the walls. Now I go into my room and close the door, and there'll be silence for hours. They didn't know really what to do with that, that was probably the most disconcerting thing for them. And then, you know, the diet followed. I mean, it was soon after that, that I actually moved out, moved into the ashram and so yeah, I was living there in terms of food, and then you know, I'd come home I'd let them know, I'm a vegetarian now. And you know, we worked it out.

Yeah. Yeah. I love I love that. I really, really love that imagery and, and can resonate, I was raised on a pretty similar diet in the Pennsylvania suburbs. And I became a vegetarian at 18. And, yeah, the food in and of itself was enough of an uproar for the family system, so I can relate to some of those similarities. So moving into the ashram, it sounds like with the yoga, the meditation and the dietary alignment were major components for you. Is that for you what felt like a good match the calling calibrated with where you were?

Yes, yeah, you know, it all goes together and and you know the yoga meditation really support a healthy diet and a healthy diet supports the yoga meditation practice. So we have a lot of people who come for yoga meditation, who, who struggle in their bodies, or they struggle in their focus and things and a lot of is food oriented. People don't realize how inflammatory and disruptive certain foods are biochemically to the brain and to our, our whole energetic and glandular organic systems. And so our whole internal ecology is really, in many ways supported by our diet. And so as we transform that it transforms every part of ourselves. So it's been a huge part of it, I would say, in terms also of vegan, it is non cruel, which is important to us to being compassionate and non violent toward other species. Environmentally, it's, it's supportive. The plant will be doing much better if we weren't raising so many animals and destroying the land and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, what that requires in terms of water and, and resources. So yeah, I mean, in terms of health and vitality, I think it's been important and, and I see with everything that actually that we're offering through our clinic, that the food and the cleanses and our relationship with food is hugely important. It's a huge it's, I would say, in many ways it appears to create the most miraculous changes in people.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. When you were talking about, you're noticing within yourself, the habitual pattern, right? When you'd visit the grocery store, get your items, etc. And then now, you know, part of what you are offering with cleanses, and the awareness of this expansion of the palette. So is it like, are we as humans creatures of habit? Is it you know, do we get stuck in our ways? Is it like what what happens there that we, you know, go to the produce section, go to the dairy go down aisle 11. And yeah what is that about?

Yeah, yeah, well, I mean, those those habitual patterns are really coming because of many reasons. familial, they could be social, cultural, around genetics, our own internal makeup, our own emotions. And so one thing I do really like to impress your people with food, and cleanses, is all eating is based on emotion, all of it. So our emotional state of mind and state of being. You know, a lot of times people talk about comfort foods, well comfort foods, people go for comfort foods, let's say, excess dairy products, or wheat products, bread products, things like that, because they're either stressed oftentimes bored or depressed, or the energy or the energy is basically out of balance. And so people are drawn to those things. Those are addictive foods, and there's many addictive foods out there, people don't realize that the degradation of gluten actually leads to opiates, and has a morphine effect on the body. And that creates, you know, addictive, habitual patterning around bread and things like that. And so, yeah, I mean, a lot of it depends on how we were brought up and our state of consciousness. So I find it is all emotion and it is all states of consciousness, because when you're in a really relaxed, higher frequency state of mind, you're going to choose you're going to choose live food, you're going to choose sprouts, you're going to choose high vibration, nutrient dense foods, rather than these comfort type foods that really just give this dopamine drug like reaction to body. People think that they're grounding themselves. They're not grounding themselves. They're they're stimulating the this biochemical reaction, and also the parasympathetic nervous system. So yeah, it's an important aspect.

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Um we've been using the word cleanse a bit here. So if we could take a moment, could you give some description or definition around What does it mean to cleanse? And why would somebody choose to cleanse?

Yes, that's an important question. Well, the body is trying to cleanse every day. It cleanses through, you know, four different vehicles the colon, urination, perspiration, and respiration. So anything we take in, there's gonna be byproducts there's there's a, there's a, a, a byproduct to breathing, which is carbon dioxide. And so there's byproducts to everything we drink and everything we eat as well. And so the body is trying, constantly trying to eliminate through urination, perspiration, hopefully, you know, through sweating, and through bowel movements. And so that's natural, the body does that. And yet, oftentimes, we are really blocked in that we don't have the ability to really cleanse properly. Because of too many obstructions. There's just too much in us and too much that's built up. And in Ayurveda we call it Ama, which is basically waste products due to food that's not really broken down and really eliminated properly. And so what we do with cleanses is we support this process of cleansing, and give the body many ways a pause from its everyday eating habits, and the things that tend to get embedded in the tissue of the body. So there's all different ways to cleanse. Some of them can be just very simple by drinking water, and eliminating some of the traditional allergenic foods or you can really start juicing, start adding nutraceuticals or herbal formulas, they get deeper into the cleansing process, into the liver, into the spleen into the kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, blood, etc. So all these different aspects of our body become healthier and more vital. This is so I talk to people like all the time our we had a plumber, working on our bathtub today. I said I said Lyndon, you know, I'm concerned about your health. And, you know, unfortunately, you know, he says oh, he says my cardiologist is monitoring me. Well you know, I'm sorry to say but most most of the the medical profession out there is not addressing food and diet. If you're going to a doctor and they're not talking to you about food and diet, you need to find a different doctor, because all they're doing is just they're making a diagnosis and prescribing drugs. So anyway, we just through cleansing we support this process of the body being healed, and whole. There's there's many, many dimensions to this. Also, just having a structure that helps stabilize us people are very kind of haphazard about body choice, or food choices. And this gets kind of scattered, but we go, you can discipline yourself not in a harsh way, where you're trying to bend your will or fight your biological desires. But just focusing yourself by focusing your energies on what you want to create, which are self nurturing ways, you're going to begin to create changes.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm thinking about Lyndon the plumber working on the pipes. And, you know, he probably has a very acute understanding of stuff getting stuck in the pipes, and you got to blast it out or clear it out. But yeah, I mean, no judgment to Lyndon, but. And Lyndon, if you're watching us, we love you. Thanks for the good plumbing work. But yeah, he obviously was not in a place of wanting to, you know, being able to wanting to desiring to take in that concern in that way today.

Yeah, hopefully, I talk to people about this all time, doesn't matter where I am, I could be at the airport or, whatever, and some people will receive it well. Some people don't receive it well at all. But I feel like if I can help just plant a seed, and have people get a little bit of different input and information that may help them could save their life. I mean, I said to him, you know, Lyndon, you could have you're set up for a heart attack, you're set up for a stroke, and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, these things need to be attended to before you have a major event, or your whole life is focused around that event. And your whole life is gonna be focused on, on on worrying about having another heart attack or whatever. I mean, so much of this is preventative and in the States, you know, the whole thing is so out of control in the relationship to food. It's unbelievable.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, and highlighting that piece that you referenced about that pause, you know, taking, giving the body giving the system giving the, you know, back to the plumbing, the pipes analogy, giving the pipes an opportunity to pause and flush and allow things to move through. But yeah, many are in a cultural context, especially in USA, where taking a pause of, you know, the day, the mind the body, whatever it is. Yeah, is a challenge.

Yeah, yeah. And that pause is very healing and very restorative, it opens up our perspective on how to relate to ourselves. And what I find with being that we do pauses every season, it just keeps us in this flow. So that, you know, of course, we're not going to be perfect with all of this, but we keep coming back to it. It allows our body to have that restorative experience and not be overwhelmed by things that may not be as healthy for it.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And you talked about food choices and relationship with food, being focused around emotion. And I'm wondering, in your experience, when individuals are going through cleanse and doing something, you know, potentially very different than their typical usual habitual pattern. What are some things that can come up from that emotional landscape for individuals?

Well, yeah, that's a great question. Because, I mean, when we were doing cleanses in the ashram, we would say, Okay, well, you need to meditate more. Okay? Because we knew the, you know, when you're practicing any level of restraint, or, or quote, unquote, deprivation, there's going to be a meeting of that with resistance on some level, or some type of reaction. So that's why we give breathing practices and all and a lot of yoga and meditation along with the cleanses. Yeah, I mean, there's all kinds I mean, you cleansing organs. Organs hold energies, they hold the emotion. So, you know, you know, people often talks about the liver as anger. So you a lot of cleanses target the liver because it has over 500 different physiological responsibilities in the body and, and a lot of people's livers they become toxic from the excess sugar and fats and whatever people are eating, and that's unhealthy and gluten, whatever. And so yeah, people will there will be withdrawal. Sometimes. I mean, sometimes people don't feel anything. So there's nothing to worry about with this. But we do tell people it's very common to have some withdrawal, emotional and physical. Yeah, that's a normal part of cleansing. In that you you always as you stay with it, move beyond that withdrawal. Whatever the emotion is, the emotions will rise up and become more vibrant and joyful as time goes on.

Yeah, yeah, it's helpful. And I think it's great for people to Yeah, to understand there are some things it No, it doesn't occur for everyone. But yeah, it's just it's part of the process. And if we're not stuffing it, you know, medicating it with certain calories, then yeah, it can rise, these things can rise to the surface, and that's okay. And there's practices like you mentioned, the breathing exercises, meditation that there's space for that to, to clear through. Yeah.

Yeah, I think people don't really realize how food choices are numbing them. Yeah, just to give you a really interesting example, which is really insightful. I had a gentleman come in, he was smoker, drinker cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He was coming for chiropractic. And of course, I start talking to him about diet. I didn't even really talk to him about smoking. But after six months, he comes in and says, Well, I quit smoking. Says But , I'm never letting go of coffee. And then, you know, he comes in about a year later and says, Well, I let go of sugar, like, like excess, like concentrated sugars. And he said something really insightful. He said, You know when I let the sugars go, I had more energy. And it required me to do something with that energy. So, you know, he realized while he had been numbing himself, unconsciously due to the foods and now he had increased energy, and the realization Okay, I need to direct this energy somewhere. And so he was, you know, very multifaceted person he was an attorney, a poet, rock musician, et cetera, et cetera. And then he comes in a year later says, Well, I let go of coffee. And so yeah, we I think it's very unconscious. Our relationship with food and ourselves and my thing around food, I was like a pizza addict. So I love pizza, I could go to two different pizza places in a day. And so when I became vegan, I said, Whoa, you know, I'm not going to be eating pizza anymore. It was a huge choice. But I realized, well, this little flap of my mouth isn't going to rule or dominate my whole body, and the impact of that pizza, how it affects me for days, if not weeks.

Yeah.

So you know, that choice was huge. And it unleashed an incredible amount of energy. And my relationship with food is really not about tastes. Although I enjoy eating. I enjoy really good healthy foods. I'm married to an amazing vegan chef. She just dropped off this smoothie for me. And so I choose food out of it's going to give me vitality.

Okay.

And how am I going to feel I don't like feeling overly full. I don't like feeling sluggish. You know, one of the most dynamic parts of our cleanses really is the liquid time or we're just doing liquids. And I know you've done juices, juice fasts and things like that and the vitality we get from that is like, you know, off the wall off the chart. So I remember one one liquid fast I was doing. I was initially just like, a couple of years ago, I said, I don't even know if I ever felt this great. And I've generally felt really good through my life. But my energy was like, Whoa, really clear, clean, vibrant, peaceful. Anyway. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And you bringing forth that Yes, you are making choices of what you're ingesting based on vitality. And based on feeling that energizing effect within yourself and what you know, what liquids, what plants, what herbs are you connecting to, to bring that forth?

Yeah, I think is good for people to realize why we eat biologically, we eat basically, for two main reasons. One is to fuel, we need to fuel the body, the body needs these carbohydrates for fuel, it also needs all the nutrients for the building, regeneration, strengthening on a cellular level, we live and die on a cellular level. So that's why people talk so much about antioxidants, high antioxidant foods, will preserve the health and vitality of cells. Whereas a lot of these other foods that people eat, are destroying them. And so if people keep that in mind, we can become very healthy. And we do tend to by physiologically does change every 10 years, it will be like 98% different cells. So let's say you're 30 by the time you're 40, those cells 98%, those cells will be different. So we are who we are now because of our food choices in many ways these past 10 years. And I tell people, my own experiences getting healthier, in many ways younger, you can be healthier, 10 years from now. We age in many ways, not chronologically is is almost irrelevant compared to spiritual, mental, emotional, diet, energetics, et cetera. Those are what determine our age. Really.

Yeah.

In terms of our well being.

Yes, and you're talking about why we eat like physiologically why our bodies require sustenance, as opposed to and I'm thinking about this social, the, you know, importance that's placed around connecting around the table around food around getting together with others. And yeah, I'm wondering either if for you personally, or individuals that you've worked with, with cleansing, about negotiating if people feel like a social pressure or a challenge or a difficulty in navigating those types of situations?

Yeah. Oh, it's a great question. Because I, I think your comment about community and family and eating is extremely important, and a very big reason why we eat as well. It happens usually with other many times with others and sharing that I mean, I grew up in a harmonious household where we ate together, and we talked and it was a good time being together. And I know, for many people that can be that, well, yeah, I mean, making a commitment to a vegan lifestyle is definitely ripples into relationships and, and different places. And, you know, I do make remain committed to, to eating healthy, and I feel like we should all we all should have the choice as to what we eat, you know, whatever people are eating, they should be able to eat what they want to eat. And I don't judge that in any way. And, and so I hold that same respect for myself, in these different environments. So I've gone to many environments where people have offered me many things that say, you know, thank you very much. But I think, you know, pass pass on this, or some way, or a lot of times, we, when we're going to different gatherings, we will bring food and we bring it not only to just have our own food, but to help support the gathering, s aying to our hosts, well, no, we're happy to bring a few dishes as well to help support the gathering. So you don't have to do all that cooking. And so there's a lot of ways I mean, we do travel with our own food, oftentimes. And we learn from each other, I really promote people, it's okay to be different. Food is really important. And I've been taught, I've been inspired by people coming to our home and saying, you know, I, I really don't eat that. And I don't feel any disrespect, I honor that choice. And it's opened my eyes. So maybe, maybe it's a food to let go. And so I think that it's okay to be different. And especially when you're loving and compassionate, and you want to be healthy. And to offer that, you know, a lot of times we do, we remain in these habitual patterns until we're exposed to a new frequency. And, and so we can be the new frequency. I know other people have been a new frequency for me. And so as we bring that into the world, we can help support some people. And I've seen people, they make dramatic changes really quickly, totally transform their whole internal state, and they become healthier and more vital.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm wondering, right, we're talking about nourishing dietary choices and cleansing. And they're related. And how are they different? How are they related? And how are they different?

Well, cleansing is different than going on a diet. Going on a diet. Oftentimes, people go on diets, because they don't like something about themselves. It might be just the weight, okay, but people generally go on their diets to lose weight. Cleansing is multifaceted, is yes, you will lose weight on on a cleanse. But I think there's a whole different, it implies something very different. And it's not like we're, there's something wrong with us. We're just supporting our well being. And it doesn't matter what your weight is, everybody needs to cleanse. We have a lot of people who are very thin, who come and do cleanses. And so it's a very different approach emotionally, I think the mindset is different. But also, I think cleanses are really important, and much more effective and deeper than diets because we're focusing on supporting the internal physiology of the body, the liver, colon, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. As we are creating greater health and vitality in these organs. The body is going to function better, and there's going to be that much greater sense of wellness. I think a lot of it is intention and also the depth of our relationship with our body. I think is much more effective and more powerful. The whole mindset around cleanses, is really vitality and well being and energy and happiness and, and just joy.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, thank you for that. And it is a great point that the mind set in going into shifting something for the body and the intentions around it that Sure, there could be a secondary gain of you know, letting go and you're letting go of all kinds of things when you're moving through a cleanse as opposed to an attachment to a particular outcome related to being displeased about something within oneself. You know, in this physical structure, yeah. Yeah,

Yeah. And a person who does a cleanse, they're gonna find, you know, when they do blood tests, they're gonna find their blood tests dramatically change I've seen, I mean a person, she did a 40 day cleanse, spring cleanse, her cholesterol went down almost 100 points, in just 40 days, dieting and doing herbs. Another gentleman recently I've been working with personally, he his cholesterol just in like 30 days or so went down 50 points, and his triglycerides went down, like 300 points. So that's a sign that the organs are functioning better. That's, that's take, removing a tremendous amount of stress off the liver, and off the kidneys. And, you know, we tend to run the adrenals pancreas we tend to run these organs and glands into the ground, and just keep assaulting them with with unhealthy things. And once we create that pause and start supporting them, it's like, wow, they revitalize themselves.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I know, for myself, through cleansing practices, I years ago, had been diagnosed with fatty liver and going through cleansing process that was reversed. I also then, few years or a couple of years after that had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. And then through cleansing and health practices, eliminated that as well. So yeah, I personally can relate to the healing effects of engaging in the practices and can personally relate to habitual patterns. So you know, yeah, I'm really excited about cleanse and and, you know, having you on board with Radikal Life and, you know, personally supercharging myself too to get back on my structure of, of cleansing. Are there thinking about the physical health. Are there some people who are contra indicated? Or, like, it's not safe for them to do cleanses? Yeah, I'll ask that.

Yeah, I don't think it's contraindicated for anyone, you just, you just modify the approach you work with approach that works for people like I mentioned. And for myself, I tend to I can lose weight really fast I'm really thin. And we have people that are really thin. And so we work with the person in such a way that they're not gonna lose more weight, yet still cleanse. There are people yeah, we've had people who are let's say, have anorexia or bulimia type of conditions in the past. The cleanses can be extremely good because it creates a healthy structure. And it creates a a knowledge around foods that can be really good for them and why it's healthy, it's good to be eating these foods and to to maintain and how that will actually increase their well being they will increase their their relationship with their self image their internal world will be be really vitalized through that, so I don't know anyone. Yeah, I mean, it's not like we're doing when we do cleanses. We're not really doing fast type cleanses, fasting cleanses, I think maybe contra indicated for certain people. But the way we approach cleanses is really kind of shifting our diet there are there's a week or so where there's just liquids, but the liquids, it's not just water, you could be doing different cleansing teas or smoothies or juicing things like that. Which is really good for us.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good for folks that are listening that are new to this whole cleanses and fasts, etc. Can you just highlight a little bit about like, what a fast is, as opposed to how a cleanse might not be as I don't know if you would say it this way, but maybe not as extreme?

Yeah, yes. Well, a fast generally would be restricting all food. So some fast, I mean, a real fast would be just water or even no water at all. And just going that way. So that's, I mean, that it's, that can be very good for people. I mean, I had a gentleman come into our clinic, he did a 40 day water fast, just water for 40 days. And it was amazing to see, I was adjusting him. And each week, he came in his spine felt better, looser, more supple, after, after those 40 days, his spine felt like 10 years younger. So when you're doing extreme fast like that, you are totally eliminating any, any food that can be having any inflammatory reaction in your body. And so that's there's a, there's a benefit to that you're just really letting the body really cleanse deeper and deeper and deeper into the tissue. So I think that can be beneficial for some people, although I think not eating will tend to slow the thyroid. So I think there's can be a negative reaction to that for some people. I choose cleansing because my approach to this is sustainability. And so when we do whatever, 30 day cleanse, 40 day cleanse, we're focusing on day 31, day 50, day 60, day 365. One of our cleanses so we said, Okay, we're looking 10 years down. What I've seen most where most people fasting or cleanses, they go back to their old diets. And so our focus right from the start, that's why we give so many recipes and things we want people to reconnect with their kitchen, and be able to create their own meals through preparation and cooking. And in that they're, they're dropping away some of those allergenic foods and incorporating other foods that are sustaining for them and healthy. And so after the cleanse is over, they will continue to eat healthy that's that's the intention for it. And so I think that with cleanses there's usually a variety of juicing, herbal teas, herbal formulas, nutraceuticals, and things that support the body in the cleanse so that a fast generally you're not incorporating herbal formulas and cleanses oftentimes you are so that you can, you know, really help clear out toxins more deeply.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I think they're both valuable, though. I mean, a fast is extremely, I've had major transformative experiences through fasting. And so fasting, as we know, has been done through the ages for spiritual development and growth. And so fast can be good if a person is it really an in condition for that.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, thank you for that clarification. You share some nice stories, personal stories and then also of people that you've known and worked with, et cetera. Any any other like special memories either for yourself or someone in your life whether that's a patient or student or a personal around cleansing your experience their experience with cleansing?

Yeah, you know, there's many I have I find there's stories every time a person does a cleanse, and I think, generally what I hear is wow, you know, I'm sleeping better. I'm feeling so much more energy. I'm feeling calmer. Food irritants especially coffee I'm very much not into coffee. I've only had two cups of coffee my whole life. And one of them was when I was in Alaska, and it was freezing. Because that's what was available. So, you know, a lot of these foods are irritants. And many of the foods people are eating are very inflammatory in nature or, or stressing. And so I think the stories I hear over and over again, are people just feeling better. You know, I see people, their faces, we encourage people, if you feel like it, take a picture of your face at the start of the cleanse, and then take a picture at the end. I've seen people like, it looked like they had a facelift, or there I could see their bone structure, even in really thin people. I mean, it looks like whoa, you know, did you actually do something physically to your body? So yeah, I see that type of thing a lot. You know, that transformative time. And then people you know, like I said earlier, one of the key things with this is just getting back into your kitchen and doing your own cooking. And we had one woman she came in after there was a spring cleanse. She came in, I remember coming, coming in and saying, you know, I've lost 10 pounds. She said, I lost 10 pounds in the first week, she lost 10 pounds. I said, How did you lose 10 pounds in one week. She said I stopped going to Thai restaurants. And you know, I like Thai food. But a lot of these restaurants, you don't know what you're getting GMOs, MSG, pesticides, herbicides, food additives, trans fats, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All kinds of different things are increased salt, increased sugar, even if it's a good restaurant, they want the food to taste good. So all these things are increasing, your body will blow up with inflammation and fluids. And so yeah, I mean, it's I hear great stories all the time.

Yeah, yeah. You you said that you engage in seasonal cleanses. And I'm wondering how important is it to engage in consistent regimen around cleanses?

Yeah, well, consistency is really important. And what makes a lot of this transformational. It people what we what I say to people, when you come into this cleanse, you want to want to be focusing, you want to commit 100%. So that means when you have the cravings, and people will have withdrawal, because different things people have eating been eating, and there'll be a tendency to go back to those foods because they feel comfortable. And there can be a drop in energy because, you know, they're letting go different stimulants and such. But as they do that, consistently, they will transform and help move away from that habitual patterning. So that consistency is important. Each cleanse is different. Because each season is different each season offers a different climate, we can say for our lives and so you know, spring and summer, they they're similar in some ways that it would be doing a lot more raw food, a lot more juicing, et cetera like that. But going into the winter into the fall and winter would be do more warming foods. It's a very different energetic influence in terms of the elements and such. So and it's just colder in the northern hemisphere. So you know, the cleanse would would change according to the season, and also depending on the person. But yeah, the consistency is very important with this. And that's, you know, a big part of this is creating new habits and incorporating new things. So we go for these new things that are healthy for us, rather than the old things.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm wondering, I'm thinking about some helpful tips for people. And I know for me, quite frankly, as a parent of two small children, while I am a wellness entrepreneur, right, so I am in the field of wellness. The consistency of fullness of life and time in the kitchen as opposed to, on the go, right kids up in the morning to school back and forth from school, they both go to Waldorf. So they have great vegetarian food, there at school, right? And then, you know, I'm running errands, I'm taking care of the dog, the bunnies, the businesses, et cetera. And I love to cook, I do enjoy, but the prioritization of getting back in so I'm just sharing myself as an example. But right there's people have all different life life situations, whether it's kids or caring for aging parents, or work responsibilities of long shifts, et cetera. So not that I am asking you for some magic answer of how everyone prioritizes. But yeah, can you give any helpful hints or some wisdom or guidance of for individuals who have, whether they're familiar with cleansing or not, how to adjust or shift and find a way back into the kitchen or prioritizing?

Yeah, well, that's a hugely important question. Because it's a lot of the business of life, the busyness of life, the responsibilities and obligations and in care of family and life that keeps people on the go and disconnected from the kitchen. So you know, there's a lot we can do even with with a pretty busy life, and I would say one of the first things is just drinking a lot more water. Okay, people drink water. I mean, this is number this is really the number one thing that we start with just drink more water, you as soon as you wake up drink water, quart of water, another quart by noon, another quart by three, just keep drinking, drinking, drinking, that's going to have a huge impact, because that's going to affect how we relate to food as well. Because we're more full from it, we have more energy from it. But you know, not being in the kitchen, I, I tend to see people who are not in the kitchen, not as healthy. So that priority of self care needs to be really up there. And as time goes on, I think we become a little bit more efficient and skillful at creating dishes and recipes and things that don't require so much time. And also, maybe days, like, you know, we'll have like cooking days and have make like kitchari, or different soups and things that you can actually keep in the refrigerator for two or three days. And so we do oftentimes is have that soup in there, or whatever that meal is, and just, we can just pull it out and heat it up. It's not like we have to have a whole nother day of cooking, or spend a lot of time in cooking. So I think the first thing is making our health a priority within our being. And as we do that, we will find the way and we will find the time so that it doesn't have to be a rush. I would just you know give it focus give it attention and the time will appear. And and just continuing to experiment.

Yeah.

And have fun.

Yeah, yeah. And good suggestions and the water is so important my three year old Karam Kaur. Most times when she says I'm hungry papa I'm hungry. I say uncle Rishi would say you're probably thirsty. You're probably dehydrated. Did you drink enough water? Go drink some water first and then we'll see if you're hungry.

So so so true. It's a great habit to get in to with your children. I really honor that. Yeah, I mean a lot of people misinterpret hunger for thirst. And a lot of people go for food when they really need water. And most people are not drinking enough water. Yeah.

Any other you know for people who may or may not be excited and ready to take the cleanse on right a full 30 or 40 day cleanse. They could begin by drinking this water. They could would begin by being more plant based, even if they you know, choose to eat non plant options, they could eat out less. Those are some morsels that I'm pulling out any other things to help people just begin to get into this awareness.

True. True, very good. Yeah. And also not eating after six or seven. That's huge. That's big. That's one of the main reasons people feel sluggish the next day, and are gaining weight, even if you're eating really healthy food. If you're eating late, you're stressing your system, because the morning time is the elimination cycle. So that's one time we really want to be flushing out a lot of fluids, and water and such. And then the main time for digestion is around midday or one o'clock when the solar energies are stronger, activating the digestive juices and fire. And then the nighttime is a time for assimilation, absorption. So if you have food in your stomach, you're exhausting your body because it takes 30% of body energy to digest food. And you will not break down that food in the same way as if you are walking around and having some activity during the daylight hours. So that's that's really important as well. I think whatever you can do, I think you know, when I see people the two first things even though I'm a dedicated vegan, two first things I have people eliminate is all gluten type foods barley, rye, oats and wheat. The grains moving away from grains, because they're creating an incredible disruption dysregulation to the thyroid and liver and other parts of ourselves. So letting go of the grains, if you do one thing, let go of bread, definitely pasta, that's total junk food, just creates sludge in your gut and hyper acidity and mucus and etc. And it also letting go of coffee, because coffee is a stressor. It's people who drink coffee, they're de mineralizing their bones, because it creates so much acid in the in the system, the blood has to be like 7.4. So the body is going to do whatever it has to do to maintain that pH, that pH is off, you're going to be extremely ill. So what does it do, it's going to pull calcium out of the bone because calcium is alkalizing to the system. So yeah, I would just you know, choose I would eliminate something and then incorporate so when we look at our diet and cleanses, we do restrict, but the idea really is to expand bigger, that's the bigger part. So as you bring in new fruits and vegetables, they're probably a lot of foods and fruits and vegetables you've been avoiding for some reason, just try them. There's millions of recipes now online, and see how your body responds to that.

Yeah, yeah.

You'll get healthier, you know, as you increase. You know, one simple thing, let's say in the morning, some people just start with a warm lemon water. Okay, that's something. So, you know, the lemon water is breaking down mucus is it's just helping to clear, you know, supporting the liver and such. And so you begin to incorporate things like this and your body will you will get energy as time goes on. And then that creates momentum. And then you just say you want to stay healthy. You want to stay vital, rather than going back to that numb state of lethargy.

Yeah, yeah. For you thinking about you had mentioned earlier, some of your own path, yogicly meditatively, pairing it with food, also some consciousness and spiritual elevating experiences that you had related to food and internal experiences. Anything else you want to share about the relationship between your religious and or spiritual beliefs or practices and food or cleansing?

Yes, well, I think the calmer we are the calmer we are, the more relaxed we are and our food choices will be in harmony with that. Like I mentioned earlier, oftentimes we choose food to help relax us. Well if we're relaxed already. We're going to be choosing foods that are are are restorative and healing and vitalizing. And so I always say be with the breath, be peaceful. Like I asked I was with Swami Bua who lived to 121. Of course, you have to ask him, you know, Swami Bua ji So what is the what is the secret to your to your longevity? He says be simple, nimble, peaceful, simple, nimble, peaceful. And I think that's, that's important. I think people tend to be very busy, that rushing creates stress, that stress creates cravings. You know, when you're stressed, the body wants more glucose, it wants more sugar in the system. So you can start craving those things. So as we're relaxed, we're just not going to have those. You know the body is stressed, and it's going to need something, right. So it's going to go for these other foods, and it's gonna go from this more reactive reflexive mechanism, rather than from consciousness. So I would say, Be peaceful, loving, you know, and, and, and, you know, we're not going to find what we're really looking for in life in the refrigerator. That's a quote from one of our yoga students, she said, you know, after she did like a green diet for like 120 days or something like that. And she, you know, got really healthy and that was her quote. You're not going to really find what you're looking for in the refrigerator.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great quote. It's an absolutely great quote. Because it's so true. Yeah. So poignant and so true.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and I've had this experience to where my food desires are really occupying my attention. And they're driving me to, to coordinate my schedule in such a way that I can get to get this food. And so people are really preoccupied with food. And we want to have healthy foods, so we can enjoy that. But also other activities in our life that are fulfilling.

Yes, yes. And I think it's important for people to hear I remember your vegan donut story, right? For that whatever period of time you were preoccupied with the vegan donut at the health food store, and when you take a break in your day to get it. And I think that that's important for people to hear that it's not just, Oh, Mahan Rishi, the master cleanser, until he, you know, gave up pizza and went vegan, then he never had a food craving again. It's like, well, yeah, he did. He had the vegan donut preoccupation. Because I think that right, people who are hearing this and you know, interested in your module and hearing your teachings and working with you, that you also have had some interpersonal experience that can be relatable to them, even if it's a different food or to a different degree that Yeah. We all are in the human experience, and somewhere along the way with it. Yeah, yeah.

Yes. And I still get craving. So you know what I tell people what you make you make your kitchen like a produce department. So you have all this really healthy food around you. So that gets illuminated. I had a radio show once and I went on, I went on air and I said, Everybody go into your cubbards, and pull out all of your sugar, and all those unhealthy foods and throw them away. And the producer came in. Well, Dr. Khalsa has his opinions about that. This is not reflective of our radio station. But anyway, you want to elim get those things out of your house. So there's like drugs and have healthy things around. We have healthy things around. So when I have cravings, I just go for a fig or I go for for apple or whatever, berries. So eating something healthy, right? That's that's one way to work with it. And this isn't just this isn't really, it's not really about deprivation or just restriction. It's about shifting. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Any thing else that surfaced for you during this conversation or in thinking about this conversation that I didn't target today or ask about today that you feel like you want to mention as we're nearing our wrap up,

Sure. Thanks, Manjot. Well, yeah, a couple things. One is that if a person were to choose a cleanse, that cleanses are not difficult. The most difficult thing is getting the mindset. It's all and I've heard this over and over again, once you're in the mindset that you're going to eat this way. It's not hard. It's not difficult. That's the whole thing is putting your mind in a space that, okay, this is how I'm going to eat now, I'm not going to eat those other foods, this, these are the foods I'm going to eat. That that's the key. Also, this it's important, it's really important. I see over and over and over again, people are setting themselves up for incredible suffering, and pain unnecessarily because they're eating these really garbage foods. I was down in Upper Darby, two weeks ago, I was going down for a flute lesson. And I was there early. So I went and sat in a Wawa parking lot. This is a convenience store, right? And, you know, the people going in and out of that store, eating incred total junk food, were incred I could see we're incredibly unhealthy. And if they weren't looking incredibly unhealthy, then they were like smoking or whatever. And I was thinking, you know, you know the folks, you know, people are due to these choices are setting themselves up for diabetes, heart conditions, cancers, et cetera, et cetera, when a lot of these things can be easily avoided by by healthy food choices.

Yeah.

So I wouldn't wait. You know, don't wait till you have a condition because it's that much harder then. I mean, and you can shift your energy tremendously through healthy food choices.

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Final question that here at Radikal Life, right, we like to ask all of our podcast guests, module leader to share a little bit about for you, what is your vision of a Radikal Life?

Well, I think it's a life that's in harmony with one's true nature, with one's heart with one soul with one that being that that is also resonant with the Earth, resonant with the environment. Also one that is of love, one that is one of service, caring for the environment, caring for animals and all beings. And being conscious of how what we're offering energetically to the space in thought and, and presence. So I would say it's a very living a very healthy, holistic, whole life that is compassionate, and loving to all beings.

Beautiful. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining me for this time together, this conversation. So rich, and so sweet to connect and share all of this with all of our Radikal Life friends. So thank you so much. Sat Nam.

Sat Nam, Manjot Singh. It was wonderful conversation. I appreciate all your questions, and I think we were able to cover a broad spectrum.

Absolutely.

Thank you for joining us, head over to our website at Radikal dot Life to sign up for your free Radikal Life Starter Kit. Our website is R A D I K A L dot L I F E. Today's episode was hosted by Manjot Singh Khalsa. The Radikal Life podcast is produced by Marina Patrice Vare and edited by Cassidy Vare. Our theme music was created by Mark MeeZy. Radikal Life is a co-creation with Manjot Singh Khalsa and Radikal Healing. Connect with us on social media Radikal with a K. We're on Instagram at Radikal underscore Life underscore 22 and Facebook at Radikal Life.