Food Indulgences

The challenge that I extend to you this week is to become mindful of the signals that your body sends to you when you eat food that is good and nutritious for your body and when you get food that is not nutritious and is not good for your body.

In order to be able to take the challenge this week and run with it, you will need to take a little extra action.  I fully understand if some of you refuse to take on the mantle of the challenge this week, but let me explain it anyway by way of emphasizing the signals that your body sends to you when you are giving it the nutrition that it needs and when you are not.

What food do you eat that you know is bad for your body, that is unhealthy for your system?  The foods that I know I love to eat but are bad for my health and wellness turn out to be chocolate or vanilla milkshakes and macaroni and cheese.  Now, I make no bones about it; I love, absolutely love to eat each of those foods.  There is no doubt about the temporary pleasure I derive when I eat them. There is some trigger of pleasure that sets in that must come from a place long ago and far away.

Of course, once I finish eating those foods, it is also the case that I feel absolutely horrible.  I get sleepy. Sometimes I have to take a nap. I become depressed.  I say to myself,

“Oh well, it was worth it, I haven’t had macaroni and cheese and a chocolate milkshake for a long time and I loved it.” 

Of course when I really look at the decision that I made the pleasure winds up lasting a mere 10 or 15 minutes.  The aftermath winds up lasting as long as one or two days.  And yet, most of us continue to eat food that dampens our life force and deflates our overall health and wellness.

The challenge I offer to you this week is the following.  I know that the foods that you probably truly love and know are not bad for you probably not macaroni and cheese and chocolate milkshakes, but I do know that you are well aware of foods that you absolutely love to eat, but try not to eat too frequently because you know they are not good for your body.

This week I give you permission to indulge in a food that you know is bad for your body. Choose at least one food that you know is not good for you and eat it!  The additional challenge however is to make very careful notes about how you feel after you eat food that is yummy to your soul and yet bad for your body.  In other words, eat the food mindfully. Taste it. Treasure it.

Maybe – just maybe – it is not giving the pleasure that you thought it would. Most importantly, monitor how your body feels after you eat.  Monitor how you feel several hours after you eat if not for the rest of the day.

Do this (if you wish to take on the challenge) just once. Obviously it is not a smart idea to eat food that you know is not good for you so I will fully understand if you decide to pass on this particular challenge.

Let a little time pass. The companion challenge that I extend to you is to eat nutritious food that you know is exactly what your body needs.  Consider eating fresh, live food that contains a vibrant colors. Sometimes nutritious foods come in the form of salads or perhaps smoothies; you know what food is good for your body.  Select nutritious food to eat and follow the same process as you followed when you ate food that was bad for your body.

Eat it mindfully, taking notice of what it means to eat each and every bite.  Then, track how your body feels moment to moment, 30 minutes, an hour, two hours afterward and for the rest of the day.  Be mindful of the signals that your body sends to you.

You already know the foods that are bad for you and the foods that are good for you. That is what determined the selection of what you wanted to eat under each instance.  The power of this exercise is to become much more aware of the consequences when  you eat food that is not in your best and highest good. I suspect that you will be amazed and excited about how wonderful you feel and how much energy you have when you eat food that is in fact good for your body.  You may also marvel at the difference between the two.

Of course it may be that when you are eating fresh food, it is not exactly your cup of tea as they say. It may taste more like medicine than yummy for your tummy goodies. It may not exactly be food that you would typically choose to eat during the day.  It is not the steak and potatoes that many people treasure for a meal. The reality is that fresh food, the food that has colors, the food that is live, is the food that your body needs in order to be able to return to full health and wellness.

To summarize, you have an official invitation to indulge – some people might call this “sinning” – and you also have an invitation to have an experience of eating good food that will nourish your body. Contrast the two experiences. Become more mindful of the consequences of each and every bite that you take of the foods that you choose to eat.

May you have an exciting and intriguing time as you indulge and challenge yourself this week with becoming more mindful of what it means to ingest food that is not good for your body versus food that is in fact, precisely the nourishment your body needs to heal. Neurons are very sensitive tissues. They need a lot support to become healthy.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

Deeper Meaning Behind Noticing the Wind

I have no doubt that you have been very curious for the last several days about what in the world is the big deal about noticing wind.  After all, wind has been a part of your life since you were born.  Here is what the big deal is all about.  When we look out our back window, we don’t see the wind.  We also do not see or acknowledge the progress that is being made toward recovery.

Some of you might think that it is an overstatement for me to say we do not notice when we are feeling better.  I beg to differ.  I have interviewed many individuals who are showing evidence of significant progress toward healing. Yet, when asked the responses are ones that fail to recognize the incredible progress that is being made.  Responses say,

“Oh, I’m feeling okay now.  I suppose about as well as before.” 

No acknowledgment is actually given.  No celebration is made for the incredible progress that is being made.

This is why I think it is important to track symptoms across time.  Of course symptoms do change.  Some get a bit worse. Some get a bit better.  There is a lot of jostling that goes around and around inside the body when it is returning to balance, health and wellness. The road to recovery can be rocky and full of pot holes.

We don’t see wind, but part of us always knows that it surrounds us wherever we are. We can see evidence of the wind through the rustling of the leaves on the trees, through the sailboats that are able to sail across the waters, through the feeling on our skin when the wind sends its shivers up and down our spine.  We know that recovery is present somewhere deep inside our heart as it flutters with excitement that progress is in fact being made.

It is helpful in the recovery process to celebrate each and every improvement in symptoms however slight they may be.  Focus on how much better you are feeling and you will begin to feel better much more quickly.

There is of course a second very important component to paying attention to wind.  Many people will feel significantly better when they start breathing.  You are probably thinking,

“Oh, that’s pretty silly.  We all breathe.” 

Yes, this is true, but many people (or perhaps I should say most people) do not breathe deeply.  Insufficient oxygen is getting to the cells for nourishment; so many cells are dying second by second.  The more you breathe, the deeper you breathe; you’ll find you will feel better.

Breathing doesn’t cost anything. It is free.  It is one of the best therapies you can adopt.

Why do people not breathe deeply?  The curiosity is that when we stop breathing deeply we are able also to stop all feelings.  It’s a little trick we learned when we were children.  When we get scared we literally freeze everything including our breath and the feeling of fear subsides.  This also includes all feelings whatever they might be.  Stop breathing and you cut off the feelings.

I invite you to begin breathing more deeply and you will discover you will not only feel better physically, but you will begin to feel more of the fullness of all that can be experienced in life.  When we breath deeply we also are able to experience our feelings – whatever they might be.

Place no judgment on whatever feelings emerge. They are not bad or good. They are simply an offset of your life force. They’re simply feelings to be honored and treasured.

  • Breathe deeply.
  • Feel the fullness of life.
  • Celebrate all that is happening in your body that is making recovery possible. 
  • See the wind as it is manifesting recovery at the cellular level in your body. 
  • Know that recovery is happening now.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

Notice the Wind

The invitation that I extend this week to you, warmly and cordially is to become mindful of the wind.  As I am looking out the back window of my house and I look into the sky, I do not see the wind; of course, nor can you or anyone see the wind.  What I do see outside my back door window is a sailboat as it sails across the Puget Sound.  I see the leaves of trees as they rustle in the wind.  As I open the door I can hear the howling of the wind as it crosses over the waters of the Puget Sound.

I can feel the tingling of the wind on my skin, for it is a bit chilly today and I have goose pimps.  Notice throughout the week all evidence of wind.  Most importantly and poignantly, pay attention to the wind which goes into and out of your body through your breath.  Feel the sensation of the breath as it goes in and out of your body.

  • Feel it.
  • Hear it.
  • Sense it.

Acknowledge your breath today, moment to moment.  Acknowledge when there is no breath, which can happen for a surprising length of time.  Acknowledge when there is heightened breath.  Acknowledge when there is halting breath.  Acknowledge when there is full and robust breath into your body and out.

Throughout the week then, notice, acknowledge and celebrate all evidence of the wind as you celebrate the glory and majesty of life.  Have a magnificent, windy week.

Click on the horn below for an audio presentation of this week’s mindfulness challenge:

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery