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We all
accept the fact that the lighter the backpack, the easier and quicker
the climb to the top of the mountain. We all understand that the lighter
the load on an airplane, the higher and faster it can fly. We pay extra
for high octane fuel so our car will operate more efficiently. Then why
don’t we apply the same wisdom to our bodies and our dreams?
The Need for Speed
We know
that the cleaner the gasoline we feed our car, the faster, further and
longer our car will run—and with less wear and tear. Gee, what would our
Earth adventure be like if we tried this same approach with our personal
lives?
Clean, Lean Energy Machine
When we
feed our bodies and goals with clean, lean fuel, we have the strength
and stamina to create our dreams with ease, speed and longevity—and look
good doing it to boot!
Shamanize Your Life
A
shaman eats to live, rather than living to eat. A shamaness uses food to
fuel her dream, rather than to be her dream. A shaman knows that the
true purpose of food is to give us the energy to express our unique
spirit fully and gracefully.
Food is Not Only Physical
I’m not
talking only about the eating of physical food. Everything we take into
our energy field is food—for our body and for our soul. Every thought,
conversation and activity either gives us energy, or takes energy away
from us.
Self-loving people only eat—take in—those interactions and pursuits that
nourish them and increase their level of aliveness. When a relationship,
job or belief leaves you drained, tired or confused, that fuel is not
nurturing. But when you have a friend who inspires, encourages and
validates you, you prosper by hanging out with that person. When you go
to a livelihood each day that allows you to fully express your true
spirit, you’re enriched by that calling. When you have a conviction that
bears beauty and bounty in your life, you’re served well by that point
of view.
Eat What is Most Digestible
Take in
those foods, people and endeavors that you most easily digest,
assimilate and integrate. The less energy it takes to absorb a certain
fare, personality or enterprise, the more energy you are ultimately
going to get out of it. This is the good judgment of choosing “low
maintenance” lovers and friends versus the “high maintenance” of
demanding, discontented partners.
Eat Only What’s Necessary
Take in
only the amount of worldly nourishment, resources and social exchange
that is ideal for peak performance. When Jesus advises us to “fast from
the world,” he’s not suggesting we refrain from eating altogether, or
cease interacting with the world totally. The savvy sage uses the word
“fast” to mean “fast from excess.” Eat only the amount of physical fuel
you need for optimal efficiency of your body. Interact with the
turbulence of social affairs only to the degree necessary to accomplish
your goals. Lean and clean.
This is
the strategy shamans refer to as “touching the world lightly.” Be
involved with cultural conventions only to the degree necessary to
function socially. Overeating physical food can cause sluggishness,
nausea and constipation. Over-absorption with the limitations and
contradictions of cultural mores can cause you to get confused, drained,
overwhelmed, emotionally backed up—and, consequently, very ineffective
and unhappy. Be in the world, but not “of it.”
Go to Bed Empty
Go to
sleep with an empty stomach, clear mind, and peaceful heart, so that
your body and being have the greatest opportunity to rest and recharge.
When the body has to spend the night digesting a stomach full of food,
then it doesn’t have the time or energy to heal and balance. When we go
to bed with a troubled mind or heart, we have a shallow, unrestful sleep
with many fitful dreams or nightmares. And our spirit has no time to
connect with its highest self and intuit creative solutions to our
worldly challenges.
Eat Only from True Hunger
Our
physical body has biological needs that food can satisfy. Our emotional
and spiritual bodies have emotional and spiritual needs that food can
never gratify. When choosing what to eat, it’s helpful to be able to
distinguish the difference between true hunger (physical need) and
“false” hunger (emotional and spiritual need).
When
you learn to discern emotional and spiritual hunger (emptiness) from
physical hunger, you can then adopt the attitude and actions to attract
the right people and activities that will truly fill the hole of soul
emptiness.
Chew Life Well before Swallowing
An
astute Eastern adage suggests: “Chew your liquid and drink your food.”
The guidance is to chew your beverages so that your liquids mix well
with saliva and, therefore, are predigested by digestive enzymes in your
saliva before you swallow. In the same manner, chew your solid food
until it breaks down into a consistency that it can be drunk as a
liquid. This chewing mixes your food with the same helpful saliva
pre-digestive juices—and saves your stomach the chore of breaking down
chunks of food.
Chewing
your liquid and food well leads to good digestion by making your body’s
job easier. The less energy the body needs to expend to digest, absorb
and utilize your food and liquids, the more energy you have available to
create, play and enjoy life!
In the
same manner, the recommendation is to chew or contemplate well any
experience or information before you swallow or believe it—that is, take
it in as part of you. With this approach you’re intuitively prescreening
ideas, interactions and events before you allow them to become
part of your belief system—and, therefore, part of your personal
reality!
Yummy in Your Tummy
Only
eat foods and hang with people and pursuits that excite you!
The
insightful Japanese observe, “Digestion begins with the eyes.” When a
meal is attractively presented in a way that makes us excited to eat it,
the energy activated by the excitement will actually help the body to
digest the meal more efficiently. In the same respect, when you choose
the kinds of foods that excite you, you’ll digest and absorb these foods
more easily. Yummy looking and tasting meals yield a net increase of
energy for you.
The
same principle applies to your choice of people, career and life
ventures. The more exhilarating your friends and endeavors, the more
flowing and full-filling your relationships and pursuits will be. Joy
in, joy out!
It’s Your Party!
You may
not be experiencing life as a party. Perhaps because you’re not living
your own life in your own way, according to your unique nature and
spirit.
Whether you’re aware of this truth or not, life
is your show. It’s your body and your dream—to do with as you choose.
You have a right to manage who, what, where and how your energy field is
entered and affected. Steer clear of any person or philosophy that does
not honor that right. You’ll be the healthier and happier for it.
If you
don’t steward your energy well, what will you have available to share
with others?
Drink
in the nourishment of each moment! It’s your party! |
