The body is very wise and it always knows what it needs. It is the mind that gets the body into trouble. For example the mind is the one that says we are too fat, not beautiful enough, not tall enough, not this , not that. The body may still be hungry and the mind can say: “I will get fat” and then not feed the body. Or the opposite can happen: the body is full and the mind can say: “I need more”. Then the body hurts. The body just obeys.
Lets say that you did the exercise in part one. If you did not then just imagine that you have no judgment about your body. When the body is not being judged then what happens is that we can finally listen to it. A switch happens from the place where the body was obeying the commands of the mind to finally us listening to the true needs of the body. When we truly listen a balance starts to happen. We practically don’t need to do anything, except trust the body and take action on what it wants us to give to it. There is nothing to think about. When the body wants vegetables we give it that. When it wants meat of fish, we give it that. When it wants something sweet then let it have it. The body will say when it is full or when it is still hungry.
One of the greatest pleasures is to give to the body exactly what it wants. It responds with the most wonderful sensation of well being. The closest I can describe this sensation is gratitude.
There are many diets out there and manyexperts that are telling us how to eat and what is good for the body and how to lose weight. These guidelines or suggestions are fine, but a thing to always remember is that you are unique and you must write your own diet book. Even the word diet is limiting. It is more like writing your book of life. I think that it is wonderful that there are so many different books and guidelines out there. I also think that they are to be seen as experiences. Trying different ways and foods to eat is a way to give the body different experiences. Then the body can decide if it likes it or not. We get in to trouble when we do something because someone said that this is good for us. Only we can ultimately know and that is by seeing the reaction to our action. The measure for that is: how good does it feel?
If you know that wheat or meat for example slows you down and that does not feel good then yes you would stay away from those foods. Now if you are eating only vegetables and your body is craving meat but you won’t eat it because someone says that meat is bad for you then this is something to observe. Likewise you love meat and it makes you feel good and someone says you have to eat vegetables because they are good for you, but you don’t like them at all, and you force yourself to eat them, then that too is out of balance. Perhaps your body is geared to eating primarily a meat diet. There is nothing wrong with that. Again everyone is different.
As an exercise eat only what you want to eat. Listen to suggestions but you decide if it is something you want to do or not. Go and try many different foods and see the reaction of the body. Let go of anything your mind says about good or bad and just experience. Try this for a week and see what happens. Stay aware if your actions are coming from the body or from something the mind is telling you.
This is like a vacation from having to listen to the mind all the time, so have fun.
On the next article I will talk more specifically about different foods and their qualities.
