What Are We Feeding Our Bodies AND Minds?

Hey Everyone -

With total mind/body/spirit living being our overriding theme here, I’ve been wanting to expand the blog a bit to include some cool stuff from the peak performance/artistic realm. This might include things like whole-brain thinking, increasing creativity, or anything that stimulates the muse or expands the mind.

To set the tone for what’s to come, I wanted to share another A Season in the Warrior Utopia excerpt that really brings under scrutiny one of the largely unchallenged perils of modern American living; Using our minds like a garbage can! Yes, we know there’s junk food for our bodies and we have a pretty good idea what overindulging can do. But what about “junk food” for our minds? Is there such a thing and, if so, what price do we pay for overindulging in that department?

Read on:

Excerpt from; A Season in the Warrior Utopia by Bobby Rock

Soul Food

Day 41 – 11:55 PM (Guest Quarters)

Sat in on a fascinating social studies lecture today at the university with Dr. Su Malitia Lee.  She made an interesting parallel between the junk food many modern societies take into their bodies and the junk food they take into their minds.  It was a logical premise, but I guess I never quite made the connection this way.  Here’s the overview:

Eating tons of empty calorie junk food weakens the body on two levels:  it’s devoid of the critical nutrients you need to thrive, and its toxic properties have a negative impact on many aspects of your physical well-being.  Likewise, taking in a bunch of “junk food” for your mind – like stupid-ass TV shows, mindless water cooler gossip, celebrity chatter and paparazzi nonsense, brain-melting video games, prolonged exposure to shitty music, annoying commercials and bad films, etc. – weakens your mind in similar ways.  It’s devoid of the critical stimulation that your brain requires to function anywhere near capacity, and its toxic properties have a negative impact on many aspects of your mental well-being.

This point could not have been driven home any harder than by spending a little time in a place like Zentauria.  I mean, think about it: we have 200 trillion connectors firing within the molecular network of our brain, and yet, we seldom bother to memorize the seven digits of a phone number.  We have access to a bottomless reservoir of top quality music, literature, poetry, movies, documentaries, and art, and yet we’re all at home watching “Extreme Makeovers.”  In fact, objectively speaking, some of what we see and hear in pop culture these days is so devoid of anything substantive, that if I were to challenge you to think of anything more brainless, I doubt you could do it.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we completely abandon all of our pop culture goodies, because there can certainly be value in the relaxation/diversion/escapism aspect of mindless entertainment.  [Even the Zentaurians have their version of this, although it’s explored far less often and is far more benign than our version.]

It’s analogous to occasionally enjoying one of the many vegan desserts out there, such as  soy ice cream, vegan chocolate mousse, or peanut butter cookies.  We would not, however, want to do it all the time or in place of real food that provides us with proper nourishment.  Likewise, we want to keep a handle on how often we fall into zombie mode in front of the tube, flipping through the 900-channel abyss of mind-softening schlock that is so rampant there.  It would be like a world-class athlete being relegated to only 15 minutes a day of minimal physical movement.  What’s going to happen to that finely-tuned body with all of that inactivity?  It will atrophy, just as our minds will.

There is real truth to the old cliché “use it or lose it.”  But this applies to both the mind and body.  And I must admit that I have been prone to my version of junk food distraction in both areas at times, especially when I’ve felt frustrated, directionless, or uncertain about things.  This kind of sensory escapism can be a welcomed friend, let me tell you.  But now that I’ve been free from it (largely because it simply isn’t available here!), I must admit that I’ve felt new levels of clarity and mental fitness.  There is more richness to my life.  I feel sharper, clearer.  And I feel as if much of what I’m taking in here is a sort of “soul food.” That is, things that truly feed the soul and strengthen the mind, instead of things that medicate you into a fucking couch potato stupor.

One other interesting parallel that Dr. Lee pointed out was the timeless Zentaurian principle of cultivation and how our junk food choices in one area of the mind/body realm can affect the other.  For example, as someone reaches for that bag of chips for a little binge action, they are cultivating a sense of excessive sensation or escapism through the physical body (via their sense of taste, smell, etc.)  This will often lead to a similar cultivation in the mind, as you sit down to watch some shitty television.  Notice how the two often tie in together?  Fun, mindless, food; fun, mindless TV (or similar distraction).  The overall theme is usually about escaping or medicating, and the cultivation of this theme in one area will often domino its way into another.

This is why many on the higher path are exceedingly careful about going down the “sensory overload” road on any level.  Because once you open the door in one area, you are cultivating an idea that could seek expression in other areas.  Interesting stuff.

How much of all this will I retain and/or practice when and if I return home?  I’m not sure.  A little mindless TV and a bowl of Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zig Zag Soy Ice Cream still sounds enticing to me on a certain level.  So I don’t want to make a hard-nosed case against it.  But to what extent such indulgences will still hold value to me… I’m not sure.

© 2009 Bobby Rock

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The Reverend

Had to chance to catch a lecture by my friend, Rev. Heng Sure, at the Healthy Lifestyle Expo here in LA last weekend.  Reverend Sure is one of the first Buddhist monks born and ordained in the United States, and is now Senior monk of the City of 10,000 Buddhas and the director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery.  This guy is the real deal, and it’s always a pleasure to hear him speak.

Rip Esselstyn (featured here in a 9-20-09 entry), me, and Rev. Sure

Rev. Sure’s lecture was entitled, “Use It Up! Wear It Out! Make It Do! Or Do Without! The Joys and Lessons of Simplicity.”  It was an excellent overview about over-consumerism and our fundamental attachment, as a society, to a materialistic lifestyle that is clearly unsustainable.  This is a timely topic, and I believe there will continue to be more and more books and lectures about simplifying our lifestyles and redefining what truly brings us joy.  In fact, the reverend posted a helpful list of resources on his blog about this subject.  (See list of links below.)

If you get a chance to catch a talk by Rev. Sure, don’t miss it. I really dig his use of different mediums – namely multimedia, music, and humor – and the warmth and ease with which he delivers his message.  He talks about issues that are profoundly serious, but conveys solutions in ways that are easily-digestible by most anyone.

He’s also a singer/songwriter/guitarist who performs “American Buddhist Folk Music.”  Very interesting and authentic stuff.

News From True Cultivators

Also recommended; a great read called News From True Cultivators, which the reverend co-authored.

Back in the 70’s, a very young Heng Sure decided to put his proverbial money where his mouth was and make an unprecedented statement for world peace. Starting off from Los Angeles, Heng Sure embarked on a pilgrimage where he would take three complete steps forward, then go into a full bow; a nose-to-the-ground kneeling prostration. He would then stand up and repeat. Three steps, full bow. Three steps, full bow. He did this for two-and-a-half years, covering a total of 800 miles up the west coast along the winding Highway 101!  He also maintained his vow of silence the entire time (which was part of a six-year vow). Accompanied by a fellow monk named Heng Ch’au who looked after things along the way, the two slept in their car at night, ate wild greens and food that had been donated, and wrote letters to their teacher (Master Hsuan Hua) in the Bay Area, describing the good, bad and ugly that they encountered along the way. This book is a collection of those writings.  Awesome stuff.

Scope it here: http://www.amazon.com/News-True-Cultivators-Letters-Venerable/dp/0881394254

Rev. Sure’s blog: http://paramita.typepad.com (Look for the 10-18-09 entry for above-mentioned resources.) And be sure to subscribe.

Rev Sure’s music: http://www.dharmaradio.org/paramita/index.htm

Peace,

BR

PS. FYI – For those of you who have been checking out excerpts from my upcoming release, A Season in the Warrior Utopia, you might want to scope out the following two excerpts, as they offer deeper insight into our need to live more in consideration of the “macro” as we make more conscious choices.

Dr. Zeus and the Global Reckoning: http://www.bobbyrock.com/day31

Dr. Zeus and the Enviroconomy of Life on Planet Earth: http://www.bobbyrock.com/day48

Breath is the Blessing

Just wanted to pass along a quick thought this evening.

Earlier this week, I attended a Fall Equinox celebration here in LA (where else?) where a group of us gathered for an evening of contemplation, reflection and meditation as we entered into the final season of the year.  The event was facilitated by a well-known spiritual advisor/singer named Mitra, and part of the process involved counting your blessings for the first nine months of the year.

Now I would imagine that most of us were thinking about those “big things” that we’re grateful for: good health, the key friends, family and animals in our life, having a place to live and clothing to wear, having food to eat everyday, being able to be of service when we can, acknowledging whatever creative gifts we may have, enjoying certain material possessions, etc.

But then Mitra had us call attention to our breathing…to our ability to take a breath in each moment, and how, on a most fundamental level, our breath IS the blessing.  This was a compelling reminder for me.

Consider this notion: breathing is the one thing that you absolutely, positively have to keep doing in every moment that you’re here…even when you’re sleeping.  And since it’s such an inherent part of our being on this planet, you will often find that the very act of breathing plays a central role in so many spiritual practices, like meditation, mindfulness, yoga and, of course, the Tantric sexual arts.

Mindful awareness of breath is something that I try to practice throughout the day, because it always pulls me back into the present moment.  But, if we were to consciously integrate the tenet of gratitude into the practice of mindful breathing, then we could have occasion to strengthen our “gratitude muscle,” as well.

Think about it: so much of what we are routinely grateful for is, on some level, transient.  Almost anything we have can potentially be taken from us. Material items can break or be stolen, money can disappear with an unfavorable turn of a market, loved ones can pass on, and even our physical health, mental faculties, and special skills can be jeopardized by the unforeseeable.  But, as long as we are here, we will be breathing…even if it’s a bit labored, or granted to us courtesy of a respiratory machine. So if we can count the blessing of breath with any regularity, we can always experience the higher consciousness quality of gratitude.

I know all of this might sound like some crazy-ass, west coast, crystals-and-incense kind of stuff to some of you.  But seriously, try it.  Randomly throughout the day, as you think about it, take in a deep breath through the nose, then out through the mouth, and silently acknowledge: “Hell yes! I can breathe! And there is joy in this moment.”

In fact, do it NOW.  It’s all about the practice, people…

BR

Take 10

I love technology and think that virtually all modern forms of it can largely be used for a fuller, richer, more productive and efficient life.  And as an iPhone fantatic, I’m even considering doing some occasional posts about some of my favorite apps, as I find them absolutely relevant to all that we talk about around here.

But now the bad news.  With all that technology at your fingertips 24/7 – and all of the different mediums of news, communication, music and other media – I’ve often found myself filling up most every spare few moments of the day with my face in my iPhone, immersed in more data.  And I suspect with all of the voice mail, e-mail, phone call and texting capabilities that most of us have these days, this is a familiar theme for many.  In fact, we all can SEE this going on around us, constantly.

The problem is, when do we have time to just be?  Where is the downtime, the decompression period, the little pockets of creative incubation throughout the day?  When do we allow ourselves a chance to relax into the nothingness of the moment – if only for a few minutes – and practice mindfulness, be grateful, be present to those around us or connect with nature?  If you have any sort of meditation practice, that’s great.  But to truly live mindfully, we have to practice more than just our designated 20 or 30 meditation minutes a day.  It should be something that we tap into throughout the day, everyday.

So here’s what I’ve been practicing more of lately.  Whenever I find myself with a few spare minutes between activities, I pull myself into the present moment, and take 10 full, slow, deep breaths.  In through the nose, out through the mouth, silently counting each one on the exhale.  I stretch each full breath out to take between 15 to 20 seconds.  In public, I’m pretty discreet, so no one would even know I was doing it.  But when alone, I’ll often exaggerate the actions, which includes inhaling more deliberately and exhaling like you’re blowing out a candle.

I think only good thoughts while I do this and try to notice everything and anyone around me…always without judgment of any kind.  When possible, I’ll look at some trees, the sky, an animal, or something other than a computer screen or cell phone interface.  Within those 10 breaths, I’ll fully acknowledge the elasticity of time that’s happening and merge into the present.  Then, and only after I’ve slowly completed these 10 breaths, I’ll return to the endless barrage of voice mails, texts, e-mails, MySpace and Facebook messages, and all other technologies that I’ve yet to be able to fully stay on top of.

A few things to notice as you try this: First, it will probably feel like the longest three minutes of your day, every time you do it.  (And I would try it on two or three separate occasions throughout the day to start.)  Also, notice your fundamental resistance to this practice; notice how the mind starts tripping with nothing to occupy it but counting these breaths, or making simple acknowledgments; notice your potential impatience…how you can’t wait to get to 10…or how your mind will stray even after only 20 or 30 seconds; notice how you’ll start thinking about what you just did (past), or what you have to do next (future)…basically any other thoughts that are not about the present.  If (when!) these things happen, don’t get discouraged.  Just calmly bring yourself back to the present and keep counting those breaths.

It’s pitiful, how undisciplined our minds have become.  But it’s a part of modern life that we have to address if we don’t want to walk around like a bunch of zombies, oblivious to the beauty of every moment.  And just like our bodies require steady conditioning week after week if we want to enjoy physical fitness, the same is true for our minds if we want to enjoy mental fitness.

Try it two or three times a day for a week and watch what happens…

BR

Special Mind/Body Wellness Hot Tip!

Friends -

From the Mind/Body Wellness department, let me share a quick tip that could prevent a lot of stress and anguish in your life:  Back up your hard drive right fucking now!

Seriously…if you haven’t already done this lately, stop reading this blog, pull out your external drive, hook that bitch up, and start saving!

As you may have gathered, this advice is fresh on my mind at the moment as I ponder that age old wisdom of, “It’s not a question of IF your drive will eventually fail, but WHEN it will eventually fail.”

Yes friends, the hard drive on my trusty Powerbook gave out the other night and the jury is still out as to what all the tech-heads will be able to recover from it.  Fortunately, I had just backed up my TWO latest books a day or two prior so, not much was lost there.  However, it had been a hot second since I backed up a number of other things so…let’s just say that I’ve been focusing on NOT focusing on the prospects of loss just yet.  Fingers are crossed…and a big lesson learned.

And yet, we ALL know this movie, don’t we?  If it hasn’t happened to you, it’s happened to someone close to you, right?  Something crashed on someone and something of extreme value was lost forever.  And in this day and age of writings, personal info, contact info, pics, programs, passwords, links, valued correspondence, music, and vids, all taking up residency on a spinning mechanism made by the kajillions in China somewhere…c’mon people!  How stupid are we to roll the dice and think that it won’t eventually happen to us?

So, please, for me – back up your shit!

BR

Mind/Body Power, Pt. 1: Are Your Thoughts Killing You?

Many of our great scientists, doctors and metaphysicians have helped us to understand this irrefutable connection of the mind and body and, in short, how your state of mind directly affects your state of health. For example, we now know that the brain operates much like a highly-sophisticated chemistry set, releasing precision dosages of “drugs” according to our own unconscious instruction. We release toxic amounts of adrenaline when stressed or scared and invigorating dosages of interleukins when exhilarated. This just happens, whether we are aware of it or not. So part of the Rock-Solid approach to Mind/Body wellness is to cultivate simple lifestyle practices where we consciously increase the flow of the “good” chemicals and decrease the flow of the “bad.”

In fact, the “bad” chemicals that are released when we are stressed, angry, depressed, etc., have a derogatory affect on our health in six key areas:

1. General health – Stress is the most prevalent non-nutritional contributor to the dangerously high levels of acidity in the blood stream that most people walk around with. (As mentioned earlier, the high-acid internal environment remains one of the single biggest factors to most any form of ailment, sickness or disease.)

2. Heart rate – Stress or stressful emotions can elevate our heart rate and blood pressure.

3. Digestion problems – The release of these harmful chemicals and the subsequent bodily reactions that they cause impede proper digestion on a number of fronts (including the restriction of blood flow to the digestive organs).

4. Degeneration of soft tissue – They are even finding that these chemicals undermine the health of our soft tissues.

5. Age-related memory loss – Heightened amounts of cortisol are released into the bloodstream when we’re stressed, and this can have toxic effects on the good ol’ hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that processes memory.

6. Body fat – Likewise, these heightened amounts of cortisol have been linked to the storage of body fat, especially the inter-abdominal fat around the belly. (To be clear, unnatural amounts of cortisol zipping through your bloodstream doesn’t make you fat, but it can make the job of losing excess body fat more difficult.)

For these very compelling reasons, our thoughts truly can be toxic. So let’s take a deep breath and look for ways to resolve stressful situations and disempowering emotions. More on that next time.

Real World Tips for Rock-Solid Rest – Pt. 2: Ritual

In part one a few weeks ago, we talked about how darkness played an important role in getting a good night’s rest. Now, let’s look at how key nightly rituals can factor into things.

There are a few things you can do in advance of bedtime each night to promote an optimal night’s sleep. If you approach any combination of these things as a sort of nightly ritual, you have an excellent chance of consistently getting great rest.

1. Aromatherapy: Whether you use incense, scented candles or oils, or even some of that aromatherapy linen spray on your sheets and pillow cases, relaxing aromas are a well-known sleeping aid.

2. Relaxing music: Listening to some light, relaxing music is an excellent way to unwind and decompress before going to sleep. Check out some of the old stand-bys in the classical realm, some light jazz or even some new age type of ambient music.

3. White noise: Whether it’s the hum of a fan or space heater, or the drone of a waterfall or ocean from your bedside sound-soother device, these kind of monotonous sounds can help you sleep more deeply. One reason is because they tend to mask other arbitrary sounds that might otherwise distract you. Another is because some folks are able to reach consistently deeper levels of sleep through these kind of steady soundscapes. However, I would not recommend sleeping to any kind of music, TV or radio, simply because some part of your subconscious will actively be evaluating, discerning, critiquing, etc., and this could affect the depth of your sleep.

4. Lighting: We alluded to the idea of dim or ambient lighting in part one. Think about all the array of options you have with candles, lava lamps, regular lamps, different colored bulbs, etc. Setting up a particular lighting scheme every night before bed will set the stage for a good night’s rest.

5. Brain-Diet: Although I know this can be a tough one to follow logistically speaking, try to refrain from watching any kind of local news, violent movies, or anything else particularly graphic or stimulating prior to bedtime. These images tend to create a tumultuous undercurrent in our heads (even if we’re not fully aware of it), making it more difficult to sink into those deeper, more restful states of sleep.

Real World Tips for Rock-Solid Rest – Pt. 1: Enter the Darkness

In these industrious times that we live in, proper rest is usually the first thing to go. We seldom get enough quality sleep at night and the ageless tradition of the mid-day siesta (or “power nap”) is simply not practical for most people. Granted, as we adhere to a first-rate nutrition and exercise program, we usually find that we require less sleep. But that doesn’t nullify our body’s need for a particular amount, especially if we’re engaged in any kind of rigorous training regimen like weightlifting.

As we rest, the body has a chance to repair and replenish itself, while the mind gets a well-needed break from the daily turbulence that it shoulders. We think more clearly and our bodies function at a higher level when we’re well rested. And as logical as all of this seems, most people are unaware of how to sleep properly.

One of the main prerequisites for proper sleep is darkness, simply because it is one of our brain’s main signals to produce the sleep hormone, melatonin. Being exposed to any kind of light during our sleeping cycle can disrupt this signal and affect the quality of our sleep. With this in mind, consider the following:

• Avoid falling asleep with any kind of light on, including the TV.
• If you have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom, try to do so with minimal lighting so as not to disrupt the cycle.
• Arrange for ultra-dark curtains or shades if you routinely sleep during the morning hours or in the afternoon.
• When possible, hang out in a low lighting situation an hour before you crash. This actually helps your body prepare for the sleep cycle. If this dim lighting arrangement conflicts with anyone else at home, considering wearing sunglasses indoors for this time period. (Sound whacked? Sure. But this recommendation comes directly from Dr. Andrew Weil, a guy who knows a thing or two about holistic health.)

Bottom line? Sleep in the dark as much as possible. You’ll feel the difference. A case in point for me is my LA office/practice room. There are no windows in the place, so all I have to do is hit the lights and it goes pitch black, even in the middle of the afternoon. Sometimes I’ll hang out and work there for days at a time, living off of power naps as needed, and I’ve noticed that I get really good quality sleep there, largely because it’s so dark. Generally speaking, fewer hours of this kind of deep sleep will serve you better than a typical “full night’s rest” where intrusive lighting or sunlight is involved.

Sweet dreams…