(Im)pure

pu·ri·ty

–noun 1. condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.

Imagine my surprise when I attended a new yoga class yesterday and the teacher started the class with a talk on purity.

Purity? Purity, to me, is such a loaded word bringing about thoughts of church, chastity, and perfection. "Who wants to be pure. Pure seems so boring!" I said in my head.

Then I thought--what in the heck do I think I'm doing with all this yoga and meditation? To some degree I AM purifying my body and mind (even if that was not my original intention).



A natural consequence of doing yoga is purifying the body through the breath.



A natural consequence of doing meditation is having a mind that is more calm and peaceful.

What I realized is that as a result of doing these practices I was making different choices about what I consume.

The Buddha taught that there are 4 kinds of "nutriments"--things which enable living beings to grow and maintain life--I think about them like nutrition we use to feed our mind and body.


4 Nutriments
1. Edible food and drink--the nutrients that sustain our bodies and feed our brain
2. Sense impressions--what we see, hear, taste, smell, touch and think
3. Volition--our inner motivation
4. Consciousness--everything that we have thought, said, or done throughout our lives

According to Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, through self reflection people can discover the nutriments that feed them and the nutriments that can lead to happiness or suffering.

Think about this in your own life:
-What messages do you feed your senses through the TV you watch or the magazines/books your read? Are they feeding your senses toxins or healthy messages?

-What foods/beverages do you consume that may be creating health or causing long term suffering?

"If you nourish yourself with four wholesome nutriments, consuming a healthy diet of edible food and drinks, sensory impressions, intention, and mental formations for your consciousness, then you, along with your loved ones, will benefit in concrete ways that are noticeable in your daily life."

From Savor by Thich Nhat Hanh







Make a commitment. If you are interested in working with your own "purity" here are 2 ideas:

• Choose one toxin in your life-something you feed your senses or your body. Try to eliminate or minimize your consumption of the toxin. Examine how it feels. Do you feel better? Do you feel completely irritated? Neither is right or wrong. Being aware is the key.

• Try a yogic breathing exercise: Kapalabhatti breath (cleaning breath).

Begin seated. Take two normal breaths. Inhale. Now exhale, pulling in your abdomen and use sharp puffs. Repeat twenty times, keeping a steady rhythm and emphasizing the exhalation each time. Then inhale, exhale completely, inhale fully and hold your breath for as long as you comfortably can. Slowly exhale.

Eggstatic about eggplant

I am currently obsessed with eggplant--the veggie and the color. I know, it seems strange. Some people crave a beautiful pair of shoes, but for me (right now) it's all about eggplant.

Up until 2 weeks ago I'd never actually eaten an eggplant. Never. However, in my newly identified eggplant craving I have experimented with an eggplant recipe that was delicious.

Test out this recipe and you may find that you, too, are eggstatic for eggplant.


Eggplant and couscous

Ingredients:

1 eggplant
1/2 cup couscous (whole wheat is better and more delicious)
Olive Oil
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
Tumeric (dash or 2)
Chili powder (dash or 2)
2 scallions, chopped
1 carrot, diced finely
3-4 baby bella mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp raisins
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop out the "flesh" with a spoon. Chop it up and set aside.

2. Make the couscous by following the instructions on the back of the box.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, almonds, tumeric, chili powder, scallions, carrot, mushrooms and raisins. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the eggplant and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the cilantro and mix well.

5. Remove from the heat and mix together with the couscous.

6. Serve with a green salad. Tastes delicious!

Be well and show a little gratitude for that eggplant before you take your first bite.

Attitude of Gratitude

Now that you've turned off your television and created an environment that supports mindful eating, you can start eating (well, almost).

Before you take that first delicious bite, take a moment to honor your food. This is time for you to express your gratitude for your food by thinking about where the food came from--the farmers that grew the vegetables, the workers that transported the food, and/or the cook that prepared the food.

You may find that by taking a moment to think about where your food came from, that you make healthier food choices.


Imagine what it would be like to do a cheeto meditation--it's hard to find gratitude for the cheeto. Where does it come from? Who farmed it? The cheeto farmer? It's harder to cultivate gratitude for processed foods when one tries to think about the source.

The beauty about fruits and vegetables are that they are a representation of the earth--a combination of the water, soil, and sun. Show your gratitude for mother earth by thinking for a moment about all of the causes and conditions that came together to produce this beautiful food.

You may find that by cultivating an attitude of gratitude that you may make healthier food choices, but I guarantee you won't find Jesus in a cheeto. Or will you?

Mindful Eating: turn off your f*#&ing TV!

Did you know that the average home has more television sets than people? It's true of most...is it true of you?

Other interesting facts--

• television is watched an average of 6 hours and 47 minutes a day
  
• 66% of americans eat dinner while watching tv
  

In a bold move last year my husband Jim and I got rid of our TV (the shock! the horror!) and replaced our television with...a reading chair! It's interesting how this small (but important) shift has changed our lives.

One of the most important things that we do differently-sans telly- is that we actually eat dinner at the dining room table. We light a candle, pull up a chair, and have a healthy side of conversation with our veggies.


Many people fall into patterns of MINDLESS eating--they watch tv, play on their computer, talk on the phone, or check out facebook while they are eating their dinner. This type of behavior has consequences. When we don't pay attention while eating we:

• tend to overeat
• make unhealthy food choices
• don't enjoy the full experience of our food
  
• eat out of emotion rather than hunger

So, the first step of eating mindfully is to set the stage and remove your obstacles.
Mindful eating is more likely to happen when you are in an environment that supports it. This means removing distractions that interfere with your mealtime. It is as simple as turning off your tv, computer, and cell phone.

Once you make this small change you have achieved the first step to eating mindfully.

Try it one day a week and see how it changes your relationship with your family...AND your food.

Be well.

How do you rate? A Mindful Eating Assessment

I've been reading the book Savor by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung. I started reading this book because I was doing some research to write a workshop on mindful eating. As I learned more I came to some startling realizations about my own relationship with food. My mindfulness practice seemed to be put "on hold" each time I sat down to eat. I would do anything other than pay attention to my food. I'd mess around on my Blackberry, check facebook (haha), read a magazine, listen to the radio...the list goes on. How interesting! I decided at that point to take some time to work with my mindfulness practice--and eating--in a whole new way.

For those of you that are not familiar, mindful eating simply means eating or drinking while being aware of each bite and each sip. Eating mindfully has so many awesome benefits. People who eat mindfully tend to:

• Have decreased risk of obesity
  
• Have more awareness of physical and emotional sensations around eating
  
• Make healthier food choices
• Eat out of true hunger, not emotion
• Stop eating when they are full
  

In order to start working with food and mindfulness it's important to understand our own eating habits. As a part of this process I did a self assessment. The assessment is not meant to give you a "score", instead to identify some areas of opportunity where you could improve your own mindful eating.

The questions included in this assessment are drawn from a variety of sources including Savor and the web. I would encourage you to answer the questions for yourself and see how you rate.

Mindful Eating Assessment

1. Do you pay attention to how your food looks, tastes, and smells?
2. Do you eat in response to sadness or stress?
3. Do you eat in response to environmental cues like seeing an advertisement in a magazine or on TV?
4. Do you focus on other things like the computer or television?
5. Do you continue to eat even when you are full?
6. Do you live or work in an environmnet that makes it difficult to eat healthfully?

If it seems from the assessment that you eat mindlessly (as so many of us do), never FEAR! The upcoming blogs will give you tips to eat more mindfully.

Until then, I recommend that you simply pay attention. Pay attention to when you eat, how much you eat, and how you feel after you eat. This is a great place to start with a mindful eating practice.

Be well.

What's in a name?

After a lot of agonizing and brainstorming with friends about the name of my blog, I finally decided on "quiver". The name suddenly appeared in my mind after napping in the 90 degree heat and I knew it was the one.

Why the name quiver, you ask? As you may know...a quiver is a container that holds arrows. I consider myself a "warrior" and my mindfulness practice (yoga/meditation/etc.) is the arrow that I use to cut to through the general chaos I find alive in the world.

More importantly to me, quiver is a feeling that I experience frequently. It is the feeling I find in my heart (sometimes, not always) during my lovingkindness/compassion practice and it's the feeling of anxiety I experience daily.

So, as I sit here sweating on this early summer day I decided to post a photo taken last fall of a tree with snow on it. It serves as a reminder to me that nothing is permanent--the snow, the heat, the quiver of anxiety or compassion. It is all fleeting.

During the next couple of weeks I will be posting blogs about mindful (or not so mindful) eating. I've been experimenting with what and how I eat and I look forward to sharing that with you.

Be well.