Satisfaction

When the year 2000 came along, the radio stations had some lists of the most popular songs of the 20th century.  In the rock and roll category the song that was the most popular song of the 20th century was "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones.  This was a metaphor for my generation.  In many ways my generation was first to experience certain phenomenon.  We were the first to experience TV.  Frozen food, processed food, fast food, super markets, prosperity at unprecidented levels, comfort at unprecidented levels.  Many of these phenomena created a severe imbalance between yin and yang in the general population.  In general, when we came out of high school, we were predominantly excess yang.

I deduce this because of the result that it produced, a rise in the use of drugs and alcohol.  These extreme yin substances were in high demand because of the imbalance that was the result of what we did as children.  In many ways, prosperity leads to excess and when the system is in excess, it does not feel satisfied.  So this dissatisfaction was a critical factor for my generation.

Many of my generation have never found the kind of profound sense of satisfaction that is the result of becomming balanced.

When I was 40, I was a wreck.  I had screwed up my career and my marriage.  I was overweight (185) and I was aggressive, boorish, sluggish, and depressed.  I knew I had to make a change.  I heard about a diet that was supposed to bring balance to the system and I was curious so I got a book about it and read it.  It said that to bring balance you need to eat foods from the middle of the spectrum of foods yin to yang.  It said that for where I lived, medium grain whole grain brown rice was in the middle as well as other whole grains.  It said to combine these grains with vegetables and fruits that were locally grown and in season, chew everything well and enjoy.  I decided to try it.

I had a box of brown rice in the cupboard and I got it out and cooked it.  I added a cup of cooked brown rice to my meal twice each day and did not worry about giving up anything.  After two months, I had lost 25 pounds, my desire for meat had reduced by 90% and my desire for sweets had reduced by 50%.  The most impressive effect, however, was a feeling I had never felt before, which I can only describe as satisfaction.  Suddenly the world looked very different.  A whole array of opportunities opened before me.  People at work noticed the change.  They said I was more peaceful, more approachable.  I was less angry, less moody, more even.  I had more control.

Since then, I have continued to evolve in many ways, but the feeling of satisfaction has never left me and has become the basis to explore higher dimensions of life.

Find satisfaction in your own life.  You will be glad you did.

Thanks for reading.  Blessings.

Here is a balancing smoothie that I made this morning.  One banana (yin), one apple (not as yin), a chunk of green cabbage (less yin), a handful of baby carrots (even less yin), a half cup of cooked brown rice (middle), and some apple juice and water.

It is sweet and creamy and also balancing.  Enjoy!

Thanks for reading.

Refined and Unrefined

Often I am asked what the one thing a person can do to bring balance to the system.  Not everyone is the same but in my experience people can benefit from eating less refined foods.  So what is refinement?  A refined food is a food that has been altered from its natural state to make it easier to eat or easier to cook.  Often key elements of the food may be removed.  For example, when brown rice is refined into white rice the bran and germ are removed which removes about 40% of the food value.

If you look closely at your body, you will see that your body is a machine that is meticulously designed to refine food.  You have teeth and saliva which chew rough foods into a more liquid or paste substance.  Then your stomach breaks the chewed food down even further and sends it to the small intestine which, over a period of time, performs the miracle of absorption and transforms the broken down food into a human being.  This whole process takes about 4 to 6 hours.

Now let's look at what happens to refined food when introduced into the body.  Refined foods have already been broken down into very small particles so in many cases they do not require chewing.  So many of these foods are swallowed directly without mixing with saliva.  This means when the food enters the stomach, it is lacking the enzymes present in saliva which aid in the digestive process.  Even if chewed, the refined food is foreign to the stomach and it does not know how to handle it.  The small particles of refined foods are easily broken down in the stomach and inappropriately are absorbed through the wall of the stomach directly into the blood stream.  This happens much quicker than the absorbtion of unrefined foods.  This absorbed substance raises the blood sugar levels quickly and creates an emergency situation for the body.  The sudden increase in blood sugar must be leveled out.  The body goes into defensive mode and the liver starts transforming sugar into a storage medium, fat.  This lowers the blood sugar levels again and results in the feeling of hunger.  The body does not know how to get the stored sugar out of the fat because it is a form of long term storage, so its only recourse is to call for more input from more food or drink.  This cycle takes about 2 hours and so the body wants some kind of snack within 2 hours of eating.

If you go to any kind of place where there are children engaged in some kind of activity, you will find that most of them need some kind of food or drink every 2 hours.  If they don't get it, they will not be able to function due to their blood sugar dropping.  Adults are also tied up in this cycle.

When unrefined food is eaten, the process of breaking it down and absorbing it provides a very steady blood sugar level throughout the 4 to 6 hours that it takes for the process to complete.  The result is that a person does not get hungry easily.  The body never goes into emergency mode and so it is not stressed.  Emotions are steady and the mind is clear.  It is a beautiful and effective way to live.

Unrefine your diet and take control over your life.

Thanks for reading.