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Now that I am addressing my food issues head on I am seeing how important they are to my spiritual growth. I also see how many people are suffering from obesity. It's not just the length of life but the day to day quality of life that I'm noticing. I feel really energetic and clearer when I'm eating more balanced. It's like a drug addiction. The "bad" foods that make people fat': simple carbohydrates: pasta, rice, breads, they get turned into sugar the same way alcohol does. But in a "bad" way that the fruits and vegetables don't get broken down. ( this is the Zone plan or Barry Sears philosphy, and it's working for me) So it works on the same addictiveness that alcoholics are working on. Plus it masks feelings of unworth or pain basically. And dealing with pain in constructive ways is a spiritual issue if ever there was one.
Also food like alcohol taken in larger than needed qualities seem to work like a depressant. It's a terrible cycle of eating and depression about the eating and eating more. And look around, how many people do you see doing that in your life?
What are your thoughts about weight, food, energy, health? Do you see it as a spiritual issue in your life?
Also food like alcohol taken in larger than needed qualities seem to work like a depressant. It's a terrible cycle of eating and depression about the eating and eating more. And look around, how many people do you see doing that in your life?
What are your thoughts about weight, food, energy, health? Do you see it as a spiritual issue in your life?
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Wed, July 1, 2009 - 1:53 PMI read a very interesting book ["A natural guide to weight loss that lasts", by Nan Lu] which talked about obesity as an energetic issue - from a TCM (traditional chinese medicine) point of view, talking about how energetic imbalance leads to bodily imbalance and weight issues. It also has an easy fairly vanilla qigong set for restoring the balance - not losing the weight - restoring the balance. "Restore the balance and the other issues take care of themselves."
[It also had a bunch of chinese diet theory advice & recipes - all of which I ignored.]
In doing the practices I noticed that my appetite decreased and I noticed more often when I was full, and I stopped eating more often when I felt I was full. I've lost about a pound a month over the past 10 months using it without too much fuss, but you have to do the qigong daily.
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Fri, July 3, 2009 - 6:15 PMyes, for sure! i used to be 200 lbs, and i gained all that weight in rehab, coming off crystal. i was in a spiritually - rotten place but today i feel great and glad to be clean and back in shape! i agree with the food.. it is where we get our energies. we are left with the energies even after the food passes our body. great post! -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 11:16 AMa die hard vegan friend of mine says.. how can you be happy if you kill an animal and eat it.. you will never be happy if your doing that.. hes a raw foodist -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 11:08 PMI can honestly answer your friend, yes. I believe balance in all things, including food, is the key to happiness. I eat all types of food including vegan, vegetarian, raw, carnivorous and so forth. The cycle of life...
Blessings!
Need Advice? Looking for Inspiration? tribes.tribe.net/inspirationsfrombinah
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sun, July 5, 2009 - 2:17 AMnight owl, i can relate, i deal with addiction, being healthyt n treatin myself right bodily is a daily thing i strive for as an amends to myself for trying to destroy it in the past. excersize (especially mind body activities) and good diet are most certainly spiritual issues. I feel that wen i do these things, it is a form of loving myself, a very spiritual thing indeed. -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Mon, July 6, 2009 - 10:27 AMNight Owl and Adam, if you haven't gotten it already, pick up John Gray's "The Mars & Venus Diet & Exercise Solution" either here:
www.marsvenus.com/xcart/product.php
-or at Amazon.com for used copies, or even your local library.
Among many other issues, this book goes into how to break addictions to bad food habits and/or drugs with the right diet and exercise. I've been a holistic therapist since 1995, and I consider this book one of the most practical and essential books for our times.
Best wishes to you in your journey towards ever increasing health and wellness :o) -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Wed, July 8, 2009 - 12:39 AMfat folk are saints. when the predators come, they'll be the first to go. martyrs of evolution, they give their fat asses so the rest may live.
seriously though, i think it's less of a spiritual issue as it is a medical one that can be treated with the right application of exercise, motivation, and diet.
electroshock therapy shows promise...
[~]
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Mon, July 13, 2009 - 10:08 AMMarley,
Great book! thank you for the recommendation. -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Mon, July 13, 2009 - 8:26 PMAlso, material level wise: I have only lost like 6 pounds on the Zone food plan and I feel thinner and sexier than I have in a long time. So that attitude gets broadcast energetically all over the place these days. My clothes fit better, I'm thinking of wearing shorter skirts. It makes a huge difference in the way I move in the world , and that's only 6 pounds.
I'm ready to meet the man of dreams, etc.. -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Tue, July 14, 2009 - 2:03 PM"I'm ready to meet the man of dreams, etc..."
Best wishes,
Paul
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Wed, July 8, 2009 - 7:07 PMoh yeah...big time. pausing in the midst of craving foods to check in....those sugar cravings, for me, are definitely associated with certain emotions and needs. like hmmm i'm feeling a little lonely a little empty..wanting more love and fun. hmmm. i WAnt cookies!!! which seems to satisfy the need in a short little momentary burst of pleasure. convenient...but short term and self-perpetuating. definitely an addiction (especially obvious in little kids bribed to be "good" with sweets. whoa). though i do excuse myself sometimes....a little sweetness when that long path towards healing all the blocks to love and connection and whatnot gets a little rocky.
as for chinese medicine...overthinking and worry depletes the spleen. depleted spleen craves sweet (sweet is good for the spleen--but that's sweet like rice and yams). full on sugar damages the spleen...which leads to the production of dampness and phlegm. phlegm is...well....phlegm (cough cough)...but also this invisible mind fog heavy body stuff...which can clog up your thinking. so in a sort of terrible way....you can numb the pain of overthinking (clog it up if you will) by sustaining a high sugar (and other goop prone stuff like fried food) diet...but at the expense of health and energy and avoiding spiritual growth...in favor of...physical growth. (which in itself can be a sort of...protective layer between you and the world). alcohol is also considered a big producer of phlegm in tcm too. weird stuff.
salty/crunchy seems to be something else for me. something with anger or fear. maybe.
here's a few long charles eisenstein articles which said things pretty well (or so i thought many months ago)
on pain and addiction (in the broadest watch tv eat your ice cream kind of sense):
www.realitysandwich.com/pain_c...tention
and a sort of metaphorical take on the modern illness landscape (like obesity) and how our health problems are symptomatic of certain shortcomings of modern culture...
www.realitysandwich.com/reunit..._health
anyways...was amused to see this thread since i'm noticing a distinct craving for ice cream in the midst of relationship disintegration...so this food stuff has been on my mind... -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sat, July 11, 2009 - 7:24 PMIf "spirit" relates to the non-material.
And the physical body is material...
Then how is obesity a spiritual issue? -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sat, July 11, 2009 - 9:29 PMwell....for me..."spirit" is not strictly "non-material"...nor is the physical body strictly material. all sorts of spiritual and emotional issues manifest as physical issues...especially if they aren't acknowledged for a long time. but the most common stuff i can think of..stress affecting digestion...depression affecting appetite. hmmm. though i could see how someone might not connect stress and depression with spirit...i guess i would see em as a sort of disconnection with spirit/source/love/whatever. lots more stuff in chinese medicine...every organ is associated with a spiritual aspect and an emotion...and all sorts of patterns of symptoms have both physical and emotional components.
but in the end...kind of depends on how you define "spirit"... -
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Re: Obesity is a spiritual issue....
Sun, July 12, 2009 - 4:56 AMI agree Catie. Most of the time it is a disconnection with spirit. Once you reconnect, many of these issues start to float away. If the Mind is All and All is the Mind, then we can work through any physical issue through a both physical and non-physical means. I often time using a combination of both is best.
Blessings!
Need Advice? Looking for Inspiration? tribes.tribe.net/inspirationsfrombinah -
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Food , eating is a spiritual issue
Mon, July 13, 2009 - 9:56 AMOh yeah, spirit manifests as materials all the time. Spirit manifested as our physical bodies I believe. And how we take care of this vessel is how we take care of our spirit too.
I might have mentioned this is the original post but I feel a super surge in energy when I started eating on the Zone food plan. I feel that as spirit coming through me better and clearer than before, which is what I'm working on in general.
Maybe I should rename the post to Food, Eating is a spiritual issue. Obesity is just one manifestation of this principle, -
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Re: Food , eating is a spiritual issue
Mon, July 13, 2009 - 9:07 PMNow that you mention it, Anorexia and Bulimia are just as much an issue as Obesity and tied into our spiritual health. -
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Re: Food , eating is a spiritual issue
Tue, July 14, 2009 - 3:40 AMThey are often different sides of the same coin. We forget about it because for many, it is not as outwardly visible, but it is even more deadly. I've also learned that the problem goes beyond those with extreme issues. Just the mild cases, where you are a few pounds over or under, can cause a lifetime of guilt and shame.
I think the best solution is what we have been talking about here, connecting to source and realizing that no matter what the body looks like, as long as you are taking care of yourself you are beautiful. Acceptance is the key to true happiness... in my humble opinion.
Blessings!
Need Advice? Looking for Inspiration? tribes.tribe.net/inspirationsfrombinah
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Re: Food , eating is a spiritual issue
Tue, July 14, 2009 - 2:16 PM"Acceptance is the key to true happiness... in my humble opinion. "
I agree it is a key component.
Awareness. I realized this very painfully. A person lacking awareness will often be stuck in a self-depreciating cycle until they themselves realize that there is something more. I mistakenly attempted to help someone expand their consciousness and increase their spiritual awareness, though they were open to it, they were not self-motivated and ultimately they went back to what felt "secure" and "comfortable". It was not until he became aware, through the actions of others, how in fact awareness and the application of spiritual principles are wise for a happy, healthy lifestyle.
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Food , eating is a spiritual issue
Tue, July 14, 2009 - 2:26 PMTotally Paul.
I liken it to a rat on his exercise wheel. Until we know there is something else we stay on the wheel doing the same things over and over . This is true for eating and relationships and work . When the pain of too much repitition is onvious then we get off the wheel and starting looking for new ways of being. But it takes awareness to do this.
I now feel that with awareness anything is possible , even easy dare I say. For me there's a long lead up.(Years of repitition and pain sometimes) Then I make a quick change and it sticks if I'm committed to it.
I accept myself and my habits and have a willingness to be different at the same time.
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