Enjoy a little

The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much. -William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

Instead of mindless eating

“I like to practice voluntary simplicity… and make sure nourishment comes at a deep level. It involves intentionally doing only one thing at a time and making sure I am here for it.”

– Jon Kabat-Zinn, “Wherever you Go There you Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”

With some major feasting holidays upon us in these year-end months, I’d like to focus on eating. How can we eat well when all around (and even within many of us) there’s such a tendency toward excess? Today I offer a suggestion: avoid mindless eating by eating mindfully.

This month’s wellness focus offers a few “tips” - maybe you’ve heard them before, but possibly hearing again may encourage you to give ‘em a try (or try again) – [And there's more at my blog from last November on “Less can be more” (I’ll refrain from repeating many of those here).]

TO START -

Model your plate of food on these suggested plates. The USDA graphic, or even better, the ‘new’ “healthy eating plate” addresses specific portion and food selection issues. Follow these links to Harvard’s nutrition site that includes tips for eating right, to learn some recipes and tips for stocking a healthy kitchen, read of nutrition in the news (such as "Healthier Diet, Stronger Sperm?"), and more.

From Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab's tipsheet:

Treat yourself – to fewer sweets by putting them farther away and/or out of sight. College secretaries ate twice as many chocolate kisses (9 versus 4) when these kisses were placed on their desk than when they were placed 6 feet away. They were also more likely to lose track of how many they had eaten.

Choose smaller packages or containers. Chicago moviegoers who were given large–size popcorn containers ate 45% more than those given medium–size containers. This even happened when they were given stale, 10 day old popcorn. Big packages encourage us to eat more, even if we don't really like the food.

CONTINUING ON –

Specifically, by location or event, here’s some suggestions - laid out in Brian Wansink's book "Mindless Eating" – that are based on his research:

At Meal times:

- Pre-plate the high-calorie food in the kitchen and leave the leftovers there. Only bring big bowls of veggies and salad to the table.

- Keep dinner classy by using nice dishes, but use smaller plates and taller glasses.

- Manage the pace: slow down so appetites can catch up with what’s been eaten; slow music can help.

- Avoid having too many foods on the table: the more variety there is, the more people will eat.

- Get into the habit of leaving something on the plate.

- Eat fruit for dessert instead of more indulgent choices.

About Snacking:

-Think “back”: put all those foods that aren’t good for you in the back of the cupboard, back of the frig, back of the freezer, or wrap them in foil. Store tempting foods in the basement, or repack them in non-opaque containers.

-Do not “prebuy” snacks for a future occasion.

-If you get a craving, think of a substitute. Buy a colorful variety of vegetables, precut them, and store them on the first or second shelf of the refrigerator.

-Chewing gum can distract you away from the 4 Cs: chips, cookies, ice cream, and candy.

-Only eat at the table – the one in the kitchen or the one in the dining room, rather than wolf things down over the sink or in front of an open frig.

-The only foods that should be out on the counter are the healthy foods: substitute a fruit dish for a cookie jar.

-Never eat directly from a package: always portion food out into a dish so you must face exactly how much you’ll eat.

For Parties:

-Stay more than an arm’s length away from the buffet tables and snack bowls.

-Put only two items on your plate during any given trip to the food table.

-Use the volume approach to make yourself feel full: chow down on the healthy stuff (veggies) and then see if you have room for the rest.

-When you think you’ll be distracted by an important (or fun) conversation, set the food down and give the conversation your full attention: the more you focus on people (and distractions) the more you’ll tend to eat (therefore, the suggestion to get the food plate out of easy reach).

For Desktop and dashboard diners:

-Brown-bag it: even if you only do this a couple of times a week, you’re ahead of the game because you’re in more control of your food choices.

-Stock your desk or lunchroom refrigerator with yogurt, cheese, nuts, or pop-top cans of tuna fish: protein can take the edge off a snack attack.

-Turn off the computer or pull the car over while you eat. If you focus on what you’re eating, you might even discover that you don’t really like vending-machine or convenience-store food.

-Use food policies and food trade-offs: for example, the first thing you eat at work is fruit; or eating an indulgent snack means taking a walk during your break.

-Chew gum to prevent eating from boredom or stress.

-Replace every other soft drink with water. Offices tend to be dry. We think we’re hungry when instead we’re simply thirsty. Fill up your water bottle a number of times each day.

I must admit, sadly, that too many of these suggestions are ones I do not yet follow (for one thing, I love chocolate and desserts!). But still, we can start today, and start small. Wansink suggests: Focus on one goal at a time, select three small habit changes, form a simple concrete plan and write it down, modify the plan as needed.

And in Eating Mindfully, Susan Albers (follow this link for a Diet and Nutrition Assessment, understanding food as medicine, and how to eat mindfully) recommends starting with one mealtime: breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Choose a specific location to eat, such as your table or the lunchroom at work. Sit quietly. Don't get up, and don't answer the phone. Have all the food you intend to eat on the table in front of you before starting. To be mindful you must give your full attention to your eating. You must focus on the process of eating and enjoying your meal.

We might possibly also look at all that we’re attending to this month: not just with food, but also in outlook. Maybe we can see, that is, ‘take in’ by giving attention to, more of the good around us, and be grateful!

May you realize anew the wholeness that is you, and observe your body (what do I eat, sense, take in?), your mind/soul (why do I give certain things my attention?), and your spirit (where do I find ultimate sustenance?).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” – Jesus, Matthew 4:4

Good writing

"The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way."
- Richard Harding Davis, journalist and author (1864-1916)

I recently read an etymology - and it resonates with me - on the word "religion": the derivation comes from ligare "bind, connect," probably from a prefixed re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or "to reconnect."

I like this idea of religion being about reconnecting. Reconnecting to ourselves and to God can be enhanced through what I read. Good writing both makes me think, and reconnects me to self, world, and spiritual other-worldly. This Richard Rohr writing draws me to think, seems to say an old thing in a new way, and re-connects me with God/wisdom.

"The essential religious experience is that you are being “known through” more than knowing anything in particular yourself...

We call this new way of knowing contemplation, non-dualistic thinking, or “third-eye” seeing. Such prayer, such seeing, takes away your anxiety about figuring it all out fully for yourself, or needing to be right about your formulations.

At this point, God becomes more a verb than a noun, more a process than a conclusion, more an experience than a dogma, more a personal relationship than an idea. There is Someone dancing with you now, and you are not afraid of making mistakes."

Adapted from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, p. 23

Only look, and see

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to the body and soul.” – John Muir

I’ve had lovely opportunities to be outside lately – enjoying the ocean beach, walking some Iowa state park trails during an annual camping trip with friends, strolling at the Arboretum and playing today with grandson Noah and Opa Gregg at the “big park.” I’ve talked about it before (May 6, 2009 blog post), still I’d like to encourage us again to look and see the goodness of "outside" in this October 1^st Wednesday wellness email.

Consider these words --

“The cognitive benefits of nature — even if it’s just a hint of nature like a poster or a potted plant — are many and have been tallied by a number of recent studies. University of Michigan researchers Marc Berman, John Jonides and Stephen Kaplan wanted to quantify the effects of ART. [ART – Attention Restoration Theory – posits that spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature, helps refocus the mind and revive the spirit.] Students were given long tests of sequences of numbers to repeat in reverse then sent on walks — half the study participants on a nature walk and half on a city walk. Upon re-testing, the nature walkers’ scores improved significantly while the city walkers’ did not. The experiment was repeated so that each student walked in nature and in the city, and everyone’s score was better after the nature walk.”

Scores showed short-term memory improving by 20% after an hour interacting with the outside. The researchers also tested the same theory by having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature, memory and attention scores improved by about 20%, but not when viewing the urban pictures.

There is some question around the benefits of seeing “virtual” nature. Researchers from the University of Washington’s Human Interaction With Nature and Technological Systems Lab got mixed results from two studies: One study showed plasma nature windows providing low-level restorative benefits, another study showed them no more restorative than a blank wall. So even though there i

s some ambiguity, consider using a beautiful natural scene as a screen saver: it couldn’t hurt and possibly might help.

Certainly, whenever possible, take a walk outside – for your break, over the lunch hour, in the evening, or whenever you can – especially during these gorgeous fall days.

This month may you see much beauty, may your powers of attentiveness ever increase, may you experience God's glory in

nature, and may you be always well.

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

the duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was

laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we

only look, and see.

– Mary Oliver

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.” –King David, Psalm 19: 1-2 The Message paraphrase

Simplicity

In honor of my dear hubby's birthday - yes, it is today - here's a little piece of wisdom that
- Gregg models in life, and that
- is from one of his 'heroes' of inventiveness and artistic creativity.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
-Leonardo da Vinci,
painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519)

Managing stress

How do you take care of yourself?

In this beginning of another academic year many of us are presented with a different work load and possibly new stressors, and most of us have less me-time. For this first Wednesday wellness email I want to give a nod to self-care, again. In July I spoke of pursuing soothing touch of massage and safe places of loving listening. This month the focus is on caring for self by managing stress.

I’ve been preparing to share a few ideas on caring well for self to a demographic that doesn’t easily think of self first (or much at all? the group: nursing students who are also Christ-followers). My sharing on nurturing self will look at being

1) attentive to body – learning to tune in to signals and short-circuit a stress response;

2) accepting in mind/soul – being intentionally awake, aware, and non-judgmental in the moment; and

3) appreciative in spirit – fostering gratitude and joy.

(If you want to see some self-care activities they’ll eventually be posted on http://naturallyyoursforgood.net – though they’re not presently since its server is down! In the meantime, I'll post them over the next few days on http://deesdirt.blogspot.com with the first one posted just yesterday.)

Certainly caring for ourselves involves – as a key factor – managing stress. The September/October 2011 issue of Scientific America MIND offers a slightly different slant for stress management than the ones I’ve heard before that primarily promote relaxation techniques and thought management. Robert Epstein, as relayed in the article “Fight the Frazzled Mind” found that prevention is by far the most helpful competency when it comes to managing stress; and second most powerful stress-management predictor is source management. You ask (as did I): What do you mean by prevention? Or source management?

Prevention would be such things as planning your day or year, trying to avoid stressors before they can affect you: saying yes to “I keep an up-to-date list of things I’m supposed to do.” “I spend a few minutes each morning planning my day.” “I have a clear picture of how I’d like my life to proceed over the next few years.”

Source management involves practices such as delegating tasks, organizing your space, and scheduling your time well: saying yes to “I have adequate shelf, file, and drawer space to serve my needs.” “I consistently put important tasks ahead of unimportant tasks,” “I try to schedule appointments and meetings so that they won’t overlap.” “I have no trouble keeping my work area organized.”

If you’re curious as to how well you are managing stress, you can go to http://MyStressManagementSkills.com to take a 28-question test.

[I took the test – my total stress-management competency score is 65% (I have no idea how that compares to the general population, so I’m certainly not braggin’). I got higher scores in “manages or reduces sources of stress” (79%) and “practices relaxation techniques” (75%), not-an-awful score for “plans and prevents (67%), and a not-so-good-at-all score for “manages thoughts” (38%). Yep, more therapy for me.]

Epstein’s study shows that 1) people who have training in stress management are better at it than people who have not, and that 2) the greater the number of training hours, the better the skills. “One of the most dramatic results of the new study was a high positive correlation between test scores and the overall level of happiness people reported. To put it another way, the study suggests that nearly 25% of the happiness we experience in life is related to – and perhaps even the result of – our ability to manage stress.”

Here’s a few strategies for fighting stress before it starts, offered in the journal article and suggested by the new study (so sorry, no link provided – I can’t find a reference for this new study, even though I searched Epstein’s most recent cv online – boy, he’s being elusive on this one, but for what it's worth, here's the Scientific American MIND teaser):

1. “Seek and kill – take a few minutes every day to identify stressors in your life and find ways to reduce or eliminate them – cell phone battery dying? Get a new phone.

2. Commit to the positive. In our culture, people often try to cope with stress in self-destructive ways, mainly by drinking, taking drugs, or overeating. Commit to avoiding the self-destructive solutions - for a day, a week, or whatever you can handle – and replace them with positive, healthful ways of managing stress.

3. Be your own personal secretary. People who keep lists of things to do really do more things. So use your smartphone or, in a pinch, a pen and paper (like old-fashioned me!) to keep a list of things you need to do.

4. Immunize yourself. Through exercise, thought management, and the daily practice of relaxation techniques, you will be in a better position to face stressors without feeling stress.

5. Make a little plan. Spend a few minutes every morning planning your day. You will waste less time, get more done, and feel less stressed.

6. And make a big plan. The famous behavioural psychologist B. F. Skinner not only planned his day and year, he even maintained a 10-year planner. Planning your future is a great way of exercising more control over your life. The more control you have, the less stressed you will feel.”

Okay, so I’ve been told, numerous times, that control is an illusion. Hmmm. Maybe an occasional illusion or two helps us a bit? I guess we'll all get to experiment in this area of taking control of our days and handling life’s stressors.

And as we try out various strategies, we can look at the fruit of our choices – does what I do or think (or don’t do or think) help or harm? Does it lead me toward fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23? Does it bring me to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control?

Attentive to body

As a way to care for yourself, try this -

Be attentive to your body – learn to tune into signals and short-circuit a stress response

"We can choose how we respond to stimulation coming into our sensory systems... There are certain limbic system (emotional) mechanisms that can be triggered automatically (such as anger) but “it takes less than 90 seconds for one of these programs to be triggered, surge through our body, and then be completely flushed out of our blood stream…within 90 seconds of the original trigger, the chemical component of my anger has completely dissipated from my blood and my automatic response is over. If, however, I remain angry after those 90 seconds have passed, then it is because I have chosen to let that circuit continue to run. Moment by moment, I make the choice to either hook into my neurocircuitry or move back in to the present moment, allowing that reaction to melt away as fleeting physiology.” - Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight (p 146)

Relaxed breathing: Sit comfortably in your chair, possibly straightening your back and putting both feet on the floor. First, take a normal breath or two. Now, breathe slowly and deeply – in through the nose and out through the mouth – letting your abdomen swell as you breathe in, and fall as you breathe out. Stomach breathing involves primarily the diaphragm and is more efficient.

You might want to close your eyes if it helps. Place your hands gently over your stomach. Imagine you are filling your stomach with air, while you hold your ribcage and collarbone mostly still. With every inhalation let your belly expand, and let it deflate upon exhalation. Take deep, slow abdominal breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowing the breath and breathing in through the nose releases nitric oxide from the storage passages in the nose, which helps bring about decreased heart rate and blood pressure, lessening of muscle tension, and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Lower stress hormones increases antibodies and thus immunity, and helps us response rather than react to our situations, and creates space for a responsing to God.

Your astonishment

One definition of vocation:

"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your astonishment."
- Annie Dillard