A Delicious Life

Are you a mindless eater? Are you sure you’re not? Maybe you won’t admit it. Even if you don’t think you do on a regular basis, chances are you’ve eaten mindlessly before. Most people have.

If you’ve ever eaten anything in front of your TV, in a movie theater, in a car, in front of your computer, while walking down the street, or while reading a book, newspaper or magazine, you’ve consumed some food without realizing it. According to Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating, our minds make more than 200 food-related decisions each day, but many of them are without real thought.

How do we change our habits of mindless eating? It takes some practice. This habit of mindless eating is ingrained in us from many different sources. Eating on the go, working too much, social eating, and eating while doing other activities contributes to mindless eating patterns.

In New York City, there’s an event every year called Change Your Mind Day. It was originally started by Tricycle, a buddhist magazine, in 1993 as a day of free meditation lessons to teach people how to become mindful, or to “change their minds,” through meditation.

Many people believe that the purpose of meditation is to become enlightened. While it may be an eventual outcome of regular practice, the real purpose of meditation is to take you into stillness so that you can reconnect with who you really are. It allows you to come back to the present moment, to really live in the here and now – the place where we all exist, yet never seem to live in.

When you end up in the now, you naturally start to relax as you let go of memories of the past and worries about the future. You realize that here and now is really the only place you can be. You can’t live in the past because it’s long gone. You can’t live in the future because it’s always fleetingly ahead of where you are – you can reach for it, and it still doesn’t arrive.

What happens when we apply the idea of here and now to eating? Here you are, in front of the piece of cake. You have the memory of cake in the past, and attachment to this memory may be driving you to eat it – you are living in the past. You project into the future what it feels like to eat cake – the sugar high you may get, the taste of the rich, creamy frosting smothering the moist, soft chocolate cake, the texture of the deliciously sweet dessert.

But then, try changing your mind. Live in the present moment for a bit. Here you are in front of the cake. Your awareness goes to your stomach. How does it feel? Are you full? Are you hungry? If you are hungry, ask your stomach what it really wants. If you listen, you may be surprised at what it will tell you.

Depending on what you ate previously, it could be craving a number of different things. Perhaps it will tell you it wants something light, springy and green, like salad, or maybe it craves something more heavy, solid and grounding, like steak.

If you slow down the mind, and start to live in the present, you will learn how to listen to your body and understand what it really needs and wants. Then you will be able to change your mind. Instead of reacting to cravings caused by past memories or anticipated future events, you will find what you truly want in the present.

Next post will go more into detail about how to start practicing mindfulness…

Some links around the web of interesting articles, sites to add to your delicious life:

Eating Chinese bitter melon might help people with Type 2 diabetics.

Al Gore was on 60 Minutes Sunday night talking about his latest Global Warming campaign. Join his campaign here.

Scientists are studying whether meditation has a tangible affect on the brain. Also, read how meditating could save your life.

No deer penis allowed: certain Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal remedies are banned from use by Chinese Olympians amid stricter doping rules.

It’s Ash Wednesday, and there are many people walking around midtown with black smudges on their foreheads. There are a few people in my office, too, who had gone to church that morning to commemorate the beginning of the season.

Just for fun, a few colleagues who sit near me decided on Tuesday that they would give up going out to lunch for Lent - the rule was that they would have to bring home made lunch from now until Easter. They asked me if I wanted to join in, to see how long we could last, and I agreed. Not for religious reasons, but for the challenge. Also, I figured that it would be healthier anyway - for not just my overall health, but also my waistline and wallet. And I’m sure that I’ll be able to stick to it the whole time - I almost always bring my lunch anyway.

So, five of us have taken on the challenge. It’s day one, and only four of us have stuck to the agreement - one of the guys couldn’t even make it through the first day. If only he realized what might happen if he just gave up take out for a month or so - how his health might improve, even if he generally feels ok, maybe he wouldn’t have given up so easily.

I went to see Donna Eden speak Monday night. She was pretty amazing. In her book, she says something like, “My mother said I was born smiling…” and it seemed true - she just radiated positive energy, especially when she was smiling which was most of the time.

I had just picked up her book, Energy Medicine, a couple of weeks ago from the library on recommendation from a friend. A week after I started reading the book, I picked up a Learning Annex catalog and saw that she was teaching a class in a week  - I couldn’t believe it. And it was going to be the only night that she was in New York. I had to go.

The class taught a lot about how to perform the basic exercises outlined in her book and why they were good for you. She gave us a basic routine to do each day that will restore and balance our energies. Then she took many volunteers from the audience, quickly diagnosed their energy issues, and helped them solve the problem through various exercises - tracing meridians, tapping trigger points, visualizing, and using acupressure on different parts of the body to stimulate or calm the energies of different organs or systems.

Her husband, David Feinstein, was also there teaching alongside of her. He is an energy psychologist, and he also taught portions of the class and answered questions. They are both very knowledgeable about energy balance and control. By the end of the class, the mood had shifted from drained and tired to awake and alive.

I highly recommend her book if you want to learn more about how to revitalize your energy, from balancing your chakras to redirecting your meridians to strengthening your aura. Also, check out her website, Innersource, for some very good information about how to solve energy issues (look in the questions and answers section).

I found this article on Daily OM and thought I would share it:

Not Alone In The Dark
Looking At What We Don’t Want To See

It is one of life’s great paradoxes that the things we don’t want to look at in ourselves are the very things we need to look at in order to know ourselves better and to become more fully who we are. The feelings that make us want to run away are buried treasure full of energy and inspiration if we are willing to look. These feelings come in many forms, from strange images or snippets of information to recurring dreams and feelings that rise up seemingly without a reason. Whatever shape they come in, and no matter how scary they seem, these messengers bring the information we need in order to grow.

When we are tired of pushing something down, or trying to run away from it, a good first step is to write down what we think we are avoiding. Often this turns out to be only the surface of the issue or a symbol of something else. Expressing ourselves fully on paper is a safe way to begin exploring the murky territory of the unconscious. The coolness of the intellect can give us the distance we need to read what we have written and feel less afraid of it. It helps if we remember that no matter how dark or negative our thoughts or feelings may be, these are energies shared by all humanity. We are not alone in the dark, and all the gurus and teachers we admire had to go through their own unprocessed emotional territory in order to come out the other side brighter and wiser. This can give us the courage we need to open the treasure chest of what we have been avoiding.

Within the parts of ourselves that we don’t want to look at, there are emotions that need to be felt. Unfelt emotions are stuck energy, and when we leave emotions unprocessed, we deprive ourselves of access to that energy. When we feel strong enough, we can begin the process of feeling those emotions, on our own or with guidance from a spiritual counselor. It is through this work that the buried treasure of energy and inspiration will pour forth from our hearts, giving us the courage to look at all the parts of ourselves with insight and compassion.

I don’t like writing when I’m not in a good mood - I feel like this sentiment translates in my work. I want my messages to encourage positive thoughts that help people. But I also realize that if I show my real self to the world, that can be helpful too.

Right now, I’m dealing with some heavy emotions from things that happened long ago. I have been afraid to examine them, so instead I buried them. That’s tough to live with though. You can do it for a while, but inevitably, they will come up. The good news is that I’m getting the courage to look. And while it can be painful at times, this article reminds me that releasing this old energy is healthy - it’s necessary in order to grow and it makes room for new good things to come.

I’ve been talking recently about the importance of how you eat - what happens when you change your focus from eating to other things, and how your emotions affect your digestion. I found this article interesting and related to this discussion, so I thought I would reprint it:

How Mindset Affects Your Waistline
By Jon Benson

When it comes to being fit, you should focus on being happy first.

This may seem like putting the cart before the horse. However, new research on the brain shows us that simple meditation - for as little as five minutes - can alter brain chemistry in a way that improves both athletic and work performance and increases our own experience of happiness and well-being.

Numerous studies on why diets fail demonstrate that a happy person is more prone to follow through on a diet or exercise program than one who is merely going through the motions of life. Depression is often cited as the number one reason people give up on a diet. It makes sense to make yourself truly happy… and science shows us you can.

Give meditation a try. Just take five minutes in solitude, and focus on two simple things: Kindness and compassion. This is a great start. See if you can work your way up to 30 minutes a day. Changes in brain chemistry occur in as little as two weeks, according to Harvard University researcher Olivia Carter, Ph.D.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Meditation practice is really good for calming the mind, as long as you don’t get caught up in the fact that your mind is constantly wandering while you’re sitting there. That’s why they call it “practice.” If you can get over the fact that you will not be able to do it “perfectly,” even for five minutes, and just allow yourself to practice it, you will benefit over time. Five minutes per day in the morning and five in the evening is enough to get long-term benefits - as long as you practice every day.

I have been thinking a lot about the Buddhist Five Mindfulness Trainings that I learned when I was sitting regularly with the Rock Blossom Sangha. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the fifth one, which is stated as such:

The Fifth Training: Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace, well being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body and my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self transformation and the transformation of society.

When I don’t read the news or websites that focus on gossip, I feel better - happier and lighter. There are a lot of publications out there that are less than helpful - that seem to only exist to feed into fear or greed or envy.

We don’t need to live with these kinds of emotions, feeding them on a daily basis. You will get a sense of calm and peace when you start to abstain from media that poison your thinking and distort your views.

Since much of it is driven by advertising anyway, it’s not pure reporting - there’s always an angle to make the story more intriguing and really sell it so you’ll buy more. I know some people who do not tune into any media - if they really need to know something, they hear about it from neighbors, friends, and family. And most of them seem pretty content.

Feeling stuffed by all the holiday goodies? Have your friends and family heard you claim that you’ll “never eat again” more than once? There have been many meals that we have eaten mindlessly. Today, take the time to eat mindfully.

Take a slice of apple or a grape and place it before you. Look at the fruit before you pick it up. Mindfully allow your hand to approach the food. Now grasp it, and raise it up in front of you.

Notice the color and the texture. Smell it, and see if there’s a scent. Really examine it before you take the first bite.

When you bite into it, allow the bite to sit in your mouth for a few seconds. Feel the texture and sense the taste of it. Now chew slowly. Notice the change in texture and flavor as you chew it. Don’t swallow it right away - allow the bite to linger on your tongue. How does it feel and taste? Do you notice a change in flavor?

Finally allow yourself to swallow the bite. Feel what it feels like to really experience your food, one bite at a time.

Ever think of doodling as more than just a way to pass the time while in class or on the phone? According to Katherine Revoir, doodling can be used to bridge your brain and your heart and reconnect yourself to spirit. Pretty deep.  Check out her  “play book” called  Spiritual Doodles and Mental Leapfrogs - I’ve worked with it myself and have found that the exercises within it can be very rewarding.