Approaching Your Health, Weight (or Yoga Practice) From a Place of Wholeness

Perennial philosophy is the philosophical concept, which states that each of the world’s religious traditions share a single universal truth.

We are each an individualized consciousness that is the manifestation of a Divine Ground. As human beings we possess a double nature, an egoist self and an eternal Self, which is the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. A human’s life on earth has only one end purpose: to identify the egoist self with the eternal Self and so to come to the united knowledge of the Divine Ground.

Our religions share a similar story: a tale of how we started as a whole, connected to the divine, until something occurred to create separation. In the Old Testament we learn of the temptations within the Garden of Eden, the wounding and our fall from grace.

We start to believe that we are alone, separate from the divine. We forget about the internal glory of the divine and focus fully on external victories, out-winning “others”. Our approach of ‘self against else’ leads us to hatred, violence and destruction towards others or ourselves.

Many of us struggle with health, weight and body image issues. We can spend decades of our life resenting our bodies until we exhaust ourselves fighting these issues. We often need to reach exhaustion before we have an awakening. We realize that in a physical and psychological battle against ourselves there is no winner.

Having spent years resentful of our bodies, we get trapped in the limited belief that medical and nutritional ailments can only be healed by medical and nutritional strategies. As an example, we are taught that excess weight can only be lost by less food and more exercise or by the use of a drug.

While this holds some truth, it does not paint an entire picture. For many of us the issues are not nutritional, they are psychological. Every issue we face with the body is somehow linked with heart, mind and soul. Thoughts, feeling, and beliefs all affect nutrition, too. While we can heal ourselves by dietary means, we need to move deeper into ourselves if we want to create true healing.

We carry the divine spark within us; we are perfect as we are. Yet there is a journey and on this journey, we receive clues. Each of our symptoms hints towards the things that we do that is not an expression of our authentic self. When we learn to understand our symptoms, we learn what we need to let go of.

When we don’t listen to the mild symptoms, they get louder until they grab our attention. Rather than attack our symptoms or try to rapidly get rid of them, let’s listen and learn from them. As we authentically evolve, the symptoms will dissolve.

One of my clients recently shared how once she realized that each pound of her excess weight carried a divine message, she began to feel lighter in her body. The embodiment of lightness and sense of universal support has made it easy for her to embrace a healthy lifestyle and lose weight with no feeling of fight or depravation.

Our health challenges are doorways to deeper places in our lives that call for healing. The body lives downstream to the soul. Improved health or achieving a healthy weight is the result of our practice but it is not the practice itself. The practice is carrying out our authentic service to the world.

As we empower ourselves as individuals, our metabolic power and physical vitality increases. When we learn to step out of our own way, true healing can take place.

Ghee (Clarified Butter): What Is It? And Why You Want To Use It

According to Ayurveda, ghee is said to be beneficial for the whole body. Traditionally, ghee has been used to promote memory and brain function as well as heal inflammation and enhance digestion. Modern science tells us that ghee also harbors phenolic antioxidants which bolster the immune system. 

If you are familiar with the doshas in ayurvedic medical philosophy, ghee is best for Vatas, soothing for Pittas, and balancing for Kaphas in moderation. For cold, dry, stiff and airy (Vata) types, ghee adds heaviness and lubrication to the body in the joints and in digestion. Ghee is cooling and soothing for the fire-based ailments (Pitta), such as fever, acidity, and inflammation. For all three doshas, ghee helps memory and is a healthy fat that is good for the liver and immune system, though Kaphas should consume it in moderation as it also helps build body mass.

Ghee is none other than butter that has been clarified; having had the impurities of saturated fat and milk solids removed.  Ghee is lactose-free.

In yoga, ghee is said to lubricate the connective tissues and promote flexibility,

You can use ghee as you would use butter. Remember that ghee is fat, and only a certain amount of total fat is necessary in the diet.

You'll find ghee at the health food store, or you can easily make it yourself.

* When buying or making ghee, or any dairy product, look for organic. All toxins like to settle in body fat, and especially mammary glands, which makes it important to choose organic animal products like milk and butter, otherwise they tend to be the most laden with impurities like pesticides, herbicides and other toxins found in air, water and feed.

How To Make Ghee

Cut 1 pound of unsalted butter into large cubes (keep all cubes at approximately the same size) and melt over a medium-low heat in a heavy pot with a rather thick bottom and high sides.

When the melted butter starts boiling, it will begin to create a popping sound as moisture evaporates from the butter. You may need to adjust the heat slightly to be sure you hear constant sizzling and spitting sounds.

As the butter continues to boil uncovered, the amount of foam will decrease. You will notice curd solids beginning to form and sink to the bottom of the pot. As a result, the butter will become more and more transparent.

From time to time, gently stir the surface with a wooden spoon to better check the transparency of the melted butter. Don't go deep with the spoon; the purpose is not to stir but to check if the clarified butter is taking a clear golden color.

When the clarified butter has become transparent and there is very little foam left on the surface, the ghee is ready. All solids should have settled in the bottom by now. This process should take anywhere between 10-15 minutes depending on the cooking heat.

As soon as it turns a beautiful golden color and begins to smell like popcorn, immediately remove the ghee from the heat. At this stage it can burn very quickly. If the ghee has become darker in color, it has been overcooked.

Let it cool a little. Pour the golden liquid through a fine sieve, a tea strainer or cheesecloth into a glass jar. Discard the brownish curds at the bottom of the pot.

Clarified butter can be kept covered without refrigeration. Once cool it will solidify like butter.

Anti-inflammatory Sweet Ghee Spread

6 Tbs. of ghee
4 Tbs. of honey (preferably raw.) Amount can be adjusted according to your liking.
6 tsp. of turmeric
6 tsp. of cinnamon
5 tsp. of ginger (dried, not fresh)

Mix the ghee and honey in a jar. You may need to soften them by placing the jar in a bowl of hot water (or soften in microwave). Mix in all spices and store in a tight-lid jar. This spread can last for months without spoiling. Enjoy it on toast..

Raw Chocolate Truffles

These truffles are always a hit at parties!! Sometimes I'll have one in the middle of the day and call it an "energy snack"... yum!

½ cup cocoa powder (preferably raw)
1 cup cashews
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 Tbs agave
2 Tbs maple syrup
1/3 cup cocoa nibs

Grind the cashews as fine as possible in a food processor. Add all other ingredients except the cocoa nibs and blend together.

Roll the mixture into balls. Spread the cocoa nibs on a plate and roll each ball in the nibs, making sure to coat it well.

Tips: The smaller the cocoa nibs are, the better. If you have a coffee grinder, grind your nibs down before rolling the balls in them.


Variations: You can substitute the nibs for ground cocoa, ground nuts such as walnuts or cashews, or coconut flakes.

Raw Chocolate Pudding
Click Here for Recipe

Store Bought Chocolate Truffles For Valentine's Day (or any day!)
Don't want to make your own? Check out UliManna or Gnosis

Cold Remedies From Your Kitchen Cabinet

During the winter season many of us are either experiencing, fearing or recovering from the common cold. While there is no cure, there are many remedies to maintain health or speed up recovery.

The suggestions bellow are not meant to be taken simultaneously. Pick two or three  to try at a time.

Simple Kitchen Herbs

During a Cold or For Winter Health Maintenance:

• Boil a pot of water with ginger, cinnamon, freshly squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of chili flakes or cayenne, and honey. Keep refilling your cup and enjoy several times a day until you feel well.
• Other ginger and cinnamon tea options could consist of lemongrass or a pinch of cardamom.
• Tulsi (holy basil) can be purchased in tea bags and is a great winter tea to prevent and recover from a cold or flu.
• Garlic: chop a clove of garlic into small pieces and swallow like a pill with water. Garlic helps fight bacterial and viral infections. You can do this every morning and will not experience garlic breath.

Cold Remedies:

• Half a teaspoon of fennel seed mixed with one teaspoon of honey can be taken 2-3 times a day.
• In a jar mix honey with chopped onion and garlic. You can also add chili flakes, black pepper or a pinch of cayenne to the mix. Let sit for a couple of hours until the honey has liquefied.  This concoction is highly effective as an antibacterial and for breaking up accumulated mucus.Take 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid solution daily.
• For colds with a cough and congestion: Mix half a teaspoon of cinnamon with one teaspoon of honey. Take 2-3 times a day.
• For a cough with mucus or sinus congestion: Mix a quarter of a teaspoon of black pepper with one teaspoon of honey. Take after a meal.
• For a dry cough: Mix half a teaspoon of ginger with one teaspoon of ghee.
• For a sore throat: Mix one teaspoon of whole cloves, half a teaspoon of celery seeds, half a teaspoon turmeric, quarter teaspoon of ginger powder, one teaspoon ghee, and half teaspoon of honey. Take half a teaspoon of this mixture several times a day.
• For sore throat: Chew on one whole clove followed by the black inner seeds of a cardamom pod. Spit out the remainder of each when done chewing.
• For sore throat: Mix half teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of salt in one cup of hot water. Gargle it in the morning and evening or up to five times a day.
• For Nighttime coughing: Take two teaspoons of honey at bed time to reduce nighttime coughing. Honey is also known for soothing a sore throat when taken with warm water and lemon.

Morning or Evening Routines For Winter Health

• Neti Pot:
The regular use of a neti pot can be more effective than many over-the-counter medications for cold or allergy related nasal and sinus congestion. First fill the neti pot with warm salt water. Tilt your head over a sink and place the spout of the neti pot in the upper nostril. Allow the water to flow through your nasal cavity, coming out the lower nostril. This will flush out excess mucus. Blow your nose (preferably not squeezing the nostrils shut) and repeat on the other side.
Ceramic neti pots are available at most pharmacies and health product stores. Costing about $15, they can last a lifetime.

• Sesame Oil Rub:
Using sesame oil (preferably cold-pressed and organic), warm the oil and apply topically all over the body. Daily self-massage (called abhyanga in Ayurveda) will hydrate dry skin, move lymph, enhance circulation and boost immunity. The hydration of the skin will also prevent the lips from cracking.
When applying, use circular motions around joints and long strokes up and down on limbs. When oiling the belly, it is recommended to rub up the right side and down the left to flow with the direction of the digestive tract.
A daily routine of self-massage will calm the mind and grounding the mind, and sooth the nervous system. These are the qualities that keep us in balance during the winter months.

Heal Your Cold Through Diet

• Winter appropriate diet: click here to learn more about a diet geared towards winter health.
• Mom’s infamous chicken soup: For generations people have been using this remedy during a cold for its anti-inflammatory and anti-congestive benefits.
• Hydration! Room temperature or warmer water, clear broth, or water with lemon are vital for cold prevention and recovery. Drinking hot water several times a day is effective in removing toxins and recovering from a cold.
• Avoid drinking sodas and coffee when sick. Not only are they dehydrating but their stimulating effect on the nervous system robs the body of its healing capabilities.
• If congested with mucus, avoid dairy products.

Rest And Exercise When Sick

Mild to moderate exercise can be helpful in relieving a cold if you are not running a fever and all your symptoms are upper respiratory (runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat). If symptoms are felt below the neck (chest congestion, hacking cough, upset stomach, widespread muscle ache), it is best to postpone exercising. Keep your exercise gentle. Vigorous practices can move the cold to the chest. Inversions such as shoulder-stand or headstand as well as forward bends can help prevent postnasal drip and drain mucus through the nose.

Breathing Exercises For Winter Balance

• “Breath of fire”: Kapālabhāti Pranayama
This is a vigorous breathing technique, stop before the muscles and lungs become fatigued.
Gently exhale all of the air from the lungs then inhale a little. Exhale rapidly like a gentle sneeze making a sound with the mouth closed. Then inhale rapidly and begin to exhale and inhale in quick rhythm. Use the diaphragm to create the force required for quick inhalation and exhalation. Adding a little more force to the exhalation, the inhale will be quick and automatic.
Start with 8- 12 rounds of inhalations and exhalations. Gradually build up the number of Kapālabhāti breaths taken each time. Stop if the chest fatigues.
This breath burns the cold.

• Alternate Nostril Breathing: NādīŚodhana
Alternate nostril breathing will balance the nervous system and relieve congestion. The term NādīŚodhana refers to cleansing the Nādīs (energy lines that carry prana, vital energy and life force) and nerves.
Perform NādīŚodhana by Inhaling through one nostril and exhaling through the opposite nostril . Then inhaling through the same nostril that was used in exhalation and switching nostrils after each inhalation.
Bend one arm and pinch the nose with the thumb and a finger of your choice. Breathe in through the right nostril. Exhale through the left nostril. Inhale through the left nostril. Exhale through the right nostril. Keep this flow going, trying to pause at the top of each inhalation, effortlessly retaining the breath, before naturally exhaling.

My Eight Year Old Guru and The Law of Impermanence

The day after returning from a seven-day silent meditation retreat, I was driving my eight-year-old nephew to the movies, both of us excited to see the newly released Chronicles Of Narnia movie.

Discussing the fighting that occurs in the film, my nephew was explaining to me that at this point in time he does not wish to be a soldier but that he might feel differently when he is older because he changes all the time.

Deciding he should explain himself more clearly, he continued by saying “When I was little I really liked tomatoes. Then I really didn’t like tomatoes. Yesterday I ate a little bit of tomato.” 

My nephew was sharing the realization that reality is more fluid than any of our ideas about it.

Impermanence is a fundamental insight in many spiritual practices. Most meditation practices point toward becoming equanimous in the midst of change and wiser in how we respond to what comes and goes.

Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, said we can never bathe twice in the same river. A river is a progressive moment, a successive series of different moments, joining together to give the impression of one continuous flow. It has an outward impression that it is one continuous and unified movement, where as in reality it is not. The river today is not the same as the river of yesterday. Life is like a river, changing continuously, becoming something or the other from moment to moment.

Meditative practices help us open to the moment-to-moment arising and passing of every perceivable experience. With deep concentrated mindfulness, we see everything as constantly in flux, even experiences that ordinarily seem persistent.

Sitting in meditation for seven days, I was experiencing acute pain in my knee and hip joints. However when I tried to focus on the pain, I couldn’t pinpoint the exact spot. As soon as I brought my attention to the pain, it flashed out of the existence and reappeared a millimeter to the side. It transformed into a dance of sparking sensations located in no particular place. Pain that seemed solid was actually in constant flux.

Realizing impermanence, we realize that it doesn’t make sense to try holding onto anything, because everything simply flashes in and out of existence. There is nothing real that we can actually cling to. We see that our experiences don’t correspond to our fixed categories, ideas, or images.

It is often our resistance to change that causes most suffering. We view the world in black and white and refuse embrace the shades of grey.

If we defined ourselves as “tomato haters” and discovered a newfound love for tomatoes, do we cease to exist? Our most ingrained attachments are to self, self-image, and self-identity. In the deeper experience of mindfulness, we see that the idea of self is a form of clinging to concepts; nothing in our direct experience can qualify as a self to hold onto.

Giving Up Hope As A New Year Resolution?

The Buddhist tradition teaches us that as long as we continue to wish for things to change, they never will. As long as we hope to improve, we won't. As long as we have an orientation toward the future, we will never just relax into what we already have or already are.

One of the deepest habitual patterns we carry is to feel that now is not good enough. We reflect and compare the present to the past or wish things to be different when imagining the future.

Even at times when we feel great satisfaction in our lives, we tend to think about what the future holds. We don't quite give ourselves full credit for who we are in the present.

It is easy to yearn for things to improve as a result of our actions. We create our New Year resolutions based on these hopes. Vowing to exercise more or improve our diet, we hope to feel or look a certain way.

Abandoning any hope of fruition does not mean abandoning our ambitions. Instead, it points to a path that focuses on the present rather than on results.

Whatever we do, it is usually done for a purpose, hoping to succeed rather than fail. That works well until our thoughts of success or failure begin to overpower the task at hand. Hopes and fears tend to go hand in hand and when we become result driven, we often miss the lessons presented along the way.

How is it possible to maintain our focus and work toward achieving our desired outcomes, without getting fixated on results? As we go about our activities, we must pay attention to the difference between having a goal and being taken over by our hopes, fears, and speculations.

I personally want to meditate more this year, but am not listing that as a resolution. My intention is to continue integrating more compassion toward others and myself. My methods to experience this include meditation and yoga, teaching and coaching, nutrition, and nurturing my relationships. By doing what I love, I tap into my natural strengths. In this way I can experience my ultimate result in the present moment and by meditating more, the experience will simply continue from what is already present rather than from what I feel may be missing.

As you work with your New Year resolutions, keep in mind that the root of healing is not in the premise that you are going to try to push things away, but that what you already have in each step of the process is worth appreciating. Enjoying the ride is how we ultimately find joy and gratification in our lives.

Yoga Sutras 1&2: Bringing the Mind to Rest

Now The Discipline of Yoga

Yoga is The Cessation of Mind

Patanjali’s first and second yoga sutras have been a great reminder, a mantra, to center and ease my recent experiences of a tumultuous mind.

I am fascinated by how much more the body can be affected by the stories of the mind than actual life experiences. Circumstantial events, such as my car accident this past summer, are not the worst upsets to the body. As people we are extremely adaptable in times of crisis. Although life’s events can be destabilizing, it’s the mental worrying about our imagined future or perspective on past that truly causes internal damage.

Yoga postures are not really concerned with the body, they are concerned with the capacity to be. It is only in the Now that we can understand the science of yoga, the scientific laws of being. Yoga is an experience, not an idea or belief. Such an experience can only be accessed in Now.

Discipline means the capacity to know and learn. But we cannot know unless we have first attained the capacity to ‘Be.’

Osho describes us as a crowded house of people filled with our various personas. As we currently are, there are many people in our house but we are not there. A disciple is a seeker, learning to feel his/her being, to be the master of self rather than a slave to the crowding desires. To Be is to learn to be alone in your home in silence.

Yoga is the state of no-mind. The mind includes anything thought related: All ego, desires, hopes, fears, preconceptions, philosophies, or beliefs.

I often confuse the mind with something substantial that exists within my body. I can physically feel the effects of its turmoil. The second Sutra reminds me that the mind is just a function. The mind is an activity just as talking is. If we stop talking, talking stops existing. When we stop ‘minding’, minding stops existing. The problem is we’ve forgotten how to stop. We have lost the capacity to Be in Now.

These two Sutras serve me as a reminder to recognize the turmoil of the mind and to simply remember that this “minding” can be put to rest.

It doesn’t matter how many times the mind wonders off or for how long. What matters is the moment we realize the wondering of mind and bring our attention back to the experience of now, feeling the breath. To recognize the wondering of the mind and to attempt to shift back to present is the ultimate act of compassion for our process and ourselves.

A Winter Way Of Eating

The New England winter climate is mostly cold and dry. Just as the trees and plants around us have dried, we may experience the dryness of our own skin and lips as well as a drop in our body temperature.

As things change externally, our inner body changes in a similar manner and we must care for our bodies accordingly.

Foods For Winter

*  Since winter is cold and dry we need to avoid similar food to maintain warmth and moisture within.
*  Warm, home-cooked foods are ideal, cooked with easy-to-digest oils such as ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil, but not deep-fried.
*  Use cooking methods such as steaming, roasting, stir-frying or poaching in order to heat the food all the way through.
*  Avoid raw foods, which are cold in nature such as salads, cold fruits, ice (especially in drinks), ice cream and raw vegetables as these tend to cool the body.
*  Incorporate foods that create moisture and warmth. Minimize the consumption of crackers, rice cakes and breads, as they are very dry.

Flavor

*  The flavors that nourish and balance the body in the cold, dry, winter season are the sweet, sour and salty tastes. It's best to eat less of the astringent, bitter, and pungent flavors in winter, although all six tastes should be included in your diet.
*  From the less ‘favored’ flavors use ginger (unless you run both an extremely hot body temperature and a hot temper) and radish for pungent to keep warm, enjoy leafy greens and dandelion root for bitter, and cranberry or apple for the astringent flavor to aid detoxification during these months.
*  Root vegetables and grains will provide the sweet flavor. Refined sugars will create more harm than good.
*  For salty flavor reach for small amounts of high quality sea salt and an abundance of sea vegetables.

Food Suggestions


*  Warm hearty soups, healthy lean meat and root vegetable stews, whole grains, and roasted nuts.
*  Cereals, grains, and legumes: brown rice, oatmeal, millet, soybeans, and mung beans.
*  Meat, poultry and fish.
*  Nuts (avoid in excess if you have a lean or lanky body combined with a quick and restless mind.)
*  Root vegetables such as yams, sweet potatoes, yucca, potatoes, beets, turnips, ginger, ginseng, taro, burdock, carrots, parsnips, as well as, fennel, onions, chives, scallions, garlic and leeks.
*  Herbs, spices, condiments and oils: peppermint, basil, ginger, turmeric, parsley, gogi berries, licorice, cinnamon, cloves, chamomile, pepper, honey, and sesame oil.
*  Fruits and nuts: (at room temperature) apples, clementines, cranberries, red grapes, grapefruit, persimmons, dates, figs as well as lemons and limes.
*  If eating dairy (choose organic products!) avoid having them cold. Using ghee (clarified butter) is a great butter substitute.
*  Hydrate! Hot water and room temperature only. If drinking with a meal, sip hot water slowly.
*  The salty taste is attributed to the kidney and bladder, so by adding some salty foods in your diet during winter you can improve the function of these two organs. In Chinese medicine these are the meridians/organs governed by the water element that can be most affected by the dryness of the season. Incorporate some of the following foods to support the kidney and bladder function in winter: burdock root, eggs, fish, miso soup, nuts, tofu, and sea vegetables (such as arame, hijiki, kelp, kombu and wakame.)
*  This is not the season to be eating a fat-free salad and cracker diet. Play with steaming or roasting vegetables for salads and if eating things like toast for breakfast, spread a thin layer of ghee or butter on top.
*  To promote consistency, regularity and a sense of calm it is important in winter to keep a regular routine with your meals.

Winter Breakfast Recipes (balancing the cold and dry season)

Stewed Apples


2 apples peeled, cored and sliced
4-5 dried apricots, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
4 dates, preferably medjool, pitted and cut in half
2 cups water
1 Tbs. maple syrup

1 Tbs. grated ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
 With a ladle, transfer about a third of the contents, including the liquid, to a blender or food processor and blend into a puree. Return the puree to the pan and serve warm.



Spiced Oatmeal

1/3 cup almonds (preferably soaked overnight)
1&1/2 cups of water

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 Tbs. raisins
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

1/8 tsp. allspice powder
1/8 tsp.ground ginger
1/2 banana

1 Tbs. maple syrup

Boil the water and stir in the oats and spices. Simmer for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally. If using quick oats, simmer and stir for 3-4 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and add banana and almonds.


Sprouted Wheat Bread (Manna or Essense Bread)


Purchase Manna bread at your health food store and enjoy with ghee or almond butter. For a sweetener use honey (preferably local and raw) and sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top.

Click Here to learn how to make your own Manna bread

Sprouted Bread (known as Essene or Manna Bread)

The simplest bread of all: Grains and water, no additives necessary.

This bread has a moist consistency that resembles a hearty muffin. I often enjoy a slice topped with nut butter or honey as a light breakfast or a sweet snack.

Traditionally, the Hebrew tribes in ancient Egypt made Essene bread by grinding berry roots between rocks or millstones that were then laid to bake on stones heated by a fire or the sun.

These days we don't have to work quite as hard...

You can make your own essene bread or find it in the frozen bread section of your health food store.

Instructions for Making Your Own Essene Bread:
1.  Using 2 cups of dry wheat berries for each loaf, rinse the grains and cover them with twice the volume of water in a ceramic, metal or glass bowl, jar or pot. Cover with a screen or netting that will allow a flow of air and let soak overnight (at least eight hours).
2.  Drain in the morning and rinse at least twice a day for 3 to 4 days, keeping them covered with the netting. Make sure to drain out all the water each time you rinse while shaking the berries to prevent matting and spoiling.
3.  Allow the sprout hairs to grow at least the length of the berries and/or to be sweet to the taste before grinding. If they still taste starchy, give them another day of sprouting.
4.  Grind into a paste in a food processor, knead and shape into loaves (keeping them somewhat round and flat in shape.)
5.  Bake on a cookie sheet at low temperature (160-250°) for three to four hours or until browning occurs.
6.  Let cool and store. Refrigerate or freeze if intended to keep for more than three to four days.
7.  Cut with a wet and serrated knife, and enjoy!
8.  Variations: Add honey, seeds, or chopped nuts or fruit when making your bread.
* Ezekiel and other sprouted bread are made in a similar fashion from sprouted grains and water only with the addition of yeast.