The Healthiest Diet

(Photo credit)

I like reading about healthy eating and I’ve written several articles on the topic, such as this and this, about vegetarian vs meat eating diet.

Now, if you are interested in eating healthy, you know how confusing the discussions are.

Some people maintain 100% raw vegan diet is the way to go because cooking destroys the precious nutrients. They also imply humans are the only animals who cook, so cooking is unnatural. But then, if we are talking about the original way of human diet, it’s hard to believe they were vegetarian — they certainly ate animals. (Chimpanzees eat small animals like lizards and eggs. Even gorillas, generally considered vegan, actually eat insects along with veggies.)

Some insist killing animals is plane cruel and wrong, and eating animals affects our spiritual health. Then others hit back pointing out the hypocritical nature of vegans.

I am in no position to judge, but I’d like to share what I think. Maybe you can find your takeaway from my thoughts and experiences.

The reality check

In search of the healthiest diet, I set aside my reading on nutritional theories and turned to what has worked in reality.

• Find people who have been in good health for a very long time (not just recovering from disease, not just healthy and beautiful in their youthful years).
• Find out what they have been eating.

The Okinawa centenarians

There are several areas in the world that boast longevity. One is the southern islands of Japan, Okinawa. While some areas of the world still don’t keep reliable third-party data of birth, Japan has been quite meticulous about it since the late 19th century, so I trust the Okinawa records. (You know, just because some old folks say they are 120 years old doesn’t mean they really are . . .)

So how have the Okinawa elders been eating? (Notice my wording — I am not interested in how the Okinawans eat these days. How long an Okinawa man or woman in their teens, 20s, 30… even 50s will live is mystery. They have adopted the westernized diet. I am interested in how the current age 100 or over population in Okinawa have been eating.)

There is an excellent book on the topic called “The Okinawa Program : How the World’s Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health–And How You Can Too”. The authors did extensive interviews and research. And also, I have had several friends from that area who told me their stories.

The Okinawa centenarians are typically not vegans nor vegetarians. They eat fish and even some pork — but not very often. A bit of background info: The Okinawa islands are far off from the mainland Japan and there aren’t much land for farming… especially not for big-scale farming. People are poor (very few industries that bring cash — who wants to build a manufacturing plant on a far off island?)

So they try to survive on foods they can get on their own, not from stores. They grow their own vegetables and they forage. (They are in semi tropical area, so vegetation is good.) They fish, and younger men dive to catch fish. They raise pigs with food scraps. (Pigs don’t require large pasture like cows.)

They eat brown rice (refinement is waste) and lots of Japanese sweet potatoes. (They are right in the course of typhoons, so crops that grow on the ground, like rice, is always at the risk of getting hit before harvest. In the old days, sweet potato was the main stay of their diet.)

Tofu is a critical protein source. My friend told me her mother made tofu at home with the homegrown soys and natural nigari from the ocean. (Nigari is sea water minus water and sodium chloride. In other words, it’s a byproduct of sea salt production.)

Sweet potatoes, brown rice, wild greens, vegetables, sea vegetables, tofu and occasional fish and pork. Local and, even though the regulation of organic produce was not set back then, practically all produce was organic. Mostly plant-based, but not exclusive of animal products. Minimal refinement.

And remember the whole lot of manual labors involved to get and prepare the foods. Many Okinawa elders remain active, working in the field.

My thoughts on eating animals

The Okinawans don’t see killing their pigs as sinful. They raise their own pigs, take good care of them daily, and when the time comes, they gather, offer a prayer, and slaughter it. Then they divide the meat among friends and family. They eat “everything but the hoof” so that no part would be wasted. That is how they show their respect for the animal that made the ultimate sacrifice to sustain their lives.

I don’t have the guts to do the bloody work to put down an animal, but I understand their sentiment. I think many vegans are a bit discriminative, as if they can stay in their clean holy land if they don’t consume animals.

The truth is life circulates in this world. On the physical level, nutrients circulates. Even if you only eat vegetables, those vegetables need nitrogen, which is typically fed with animal products like chicken manure. (And you don’t think those chickens are kept solely for the poop, right? They are kept for eggs or meat.)

Accepting this truth and showing respect to ALL lives, plants and animals, is very spiritual.

By the way, this may sound bizarre to you, but when I die, I’d like my cremation to be scattered on the Pacific Ocean. In my life, I’ve eaten quite a lot of fish, and it comforts me to think that my little remains feed the fish, thus completing the circle of nutrition.

And yet I stay away from meat…

Having said this, I’d like to stay away from eating meat. Because whenever I try eating meat, even organically raised chicken, I feel the pain and discomfort of the dead animal. I feel so sensitive.

It’s not about moral. It’s about my personal energetic comfort.

I do eat some eggs. I guess I am still experimenting on the quantity and quality of protein that best feeds me. So far, I just don’t feel stable when I go too long on vegan diet.

My thoughts on raw food diet

Even though some nutrients are destroyed with the heat, I think eating some cooked foods is good for me. For one, it balances the yin and yang. If I were living like the original humans, in the sunny African continent and spending the majority of my time hunting or foraging (physical activities), then supplementing yang with cooking heat may be unnecessary. But I don’t live like that. Cooking may be one way humans have adopted to live in the northern climate.

Being attached to 100% raw also has something to do with another aspect of food discrimination. This podcast by long-time raw food advocate Dhrumil is very indicative of this. (The linked podcast is long, but it’s worth it.)

And as they wisely point out, not all “cooked” foods are created equal. I believe the Okinawans cook very simply. (They don’t waste fuel.)

In addition, I found out that many raw food enthusiasts were eating very badly before, like a donut and coffee for breakfast, hamburger and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner. So when they turn to raw foods and their health improves, is it the power of raw? Or is it the power of taking more fresh vegetables and less toxins such as refined carbs, sugar, and overheated fat (not to mentioned the various additives and synthetic flavorings)?

Further, another point Dhrumil makes, just because someone says they eat 100% raw doesn’t mean they do. Especially online. And those who do don’t tell the whole story — how much struggle they go through with that way of eating. Here is a rare piece that explains it. Matt Monarch’s book, “Raw Spirit” also tells his interesting story of food cravings after he turned raw.

Raw food is great. I think Okinawans have been eating a lot of raw greens. But I don’t think I need to be 100% raw. I like my germinated and cooked lentils, brown rice, and quinoa.

Diet is only part of the deal

To conclude, I want to emphasize diet is only part of the deal for health and longevity. Other factors include:

• Physical activities
• Environment
• Stress level and its management
• Rest, especially the quality and quantity of sleep
• Sexuality
• Family and social life
• Sense of worth and meaning
• Spirituality

The healthiest diet is also personal. Because you are a unique combination of these (and more) factors. So when you read about healthy eating, experiment, listen to your body, and take what works for YOU.

More on Okinawa…

Because they live in the tiny islands, Okinawans have tight connection with their extended family and neighbors. The elders are far from forgotten — many middle age population seek employment in the mainlands, leaving their kids to the care of their parents. Okinawa elders work hard at home and in the field. I am sure they are proud to be such a reliable part of the society.

They produce their own entertainment. Many are excellent musicians, playing sanshin (three string instrument). They knew how essential joy is in life — even when their houses were burnt down in WWII, they ran away carrying their sanshins.

I think Okinawans exhibit the case where so-called negativity like poverty and small, closed society can work positively. Although I have no intention to relocate there (a weakling like myself won’t do there . . . I cannot even tolerate much heat), I have a lot of respect for them.

What do you think about healthy diet? How have you been eating? Please share in the comment. Thank you.

Bonus:
Here is a YouTube video clip of Okinawan traditional music (with modern arrangement). You can see the old man playing the sanshin.

Another Okinawan music, this is modern. Enjoy their unique scale of do, mi, fa, so, ti (no re, no la)

Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha

“Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha” is a Sanskrit mantra to remove life’s obstacles. The link takes you to the Amazon’s page for Deva Premal’s CD “Mantras For Precarious Times” and you can check the sound sample to hear how it is pronounced. The mantra is repeated for the magic number of 108 times.

I have been receiving questions that basically says, “Okay, so I have been doing some spiritual work and I think I have had some breakthroughs in my spiritual growth. For a while, I felt great. But then such and such happened, and life feels just as hard as it was (or worse). Why is this so? Why do I still struggle in the old negative patterns?”

In fact, I’ve felt the same, too. After I had my own Ascension soul shift in January 2009, life was super for several months. Then, in my case, my old sugar addiction came back.

For others, it may be relationship or career or money situation that presents the obstacle.

I had a good long talk with my spirit guides, and here is what I gather. A lot of things are repetitions of what I’ve already written here, but I guess it is worth writing again because we (me included) haven’t quite “got it” yet.

As long as you judge, you isolate part of you

For a long time in our human history, life has been about survival. In the survival mode, the ability to make judgments quickly according to past experiences and common sense is helpful.

The thing is, we are moving on to the next phase, where it’s not about survival but love. In the love mode, judgements are the seeds of unhappiness.

This is because, whenever you judge someone or something, you are judging a certain part of yourself, whether you are aware or not. There is absolutely no room for double standards in the spiritual plane.

If I judge sickness and overweight is no good, then I am judging the part of me that is less than perfect health. I become less than whole. And the judged and isolated part of me, which some call “the negative part of me”, will yell at me for attention.

“But I MUST have this…”

You would experience the difficulty in the area you feel you MUST have or be in a certain way, the area you have the strongest judgments and therefore have the strongest need to control.

If you feel you must have a good relationship (to be happy and complete), then you are likely to have this backlash in forming a relationship. If you think you must have or make certain amount of money, then you may be facing financial challenges.

In my personal case, I see relationship as optional. My financial target is pretty flexible, too. So I don’t get the “negativity” in these areas. I might make quite a lot of money in one month and not so much in another, and all in all, I’m in good shape.

But leading a healthy lifestyle, especially eating in a certain way, has been a must for me, so there is my challenge. By focusing on healthy eating, I effectively feed my sugar cravings.

Just so we are on the same page, letting go of judgments and control doesn’t mean I binge on junk foods. If I am tuned in to myself, that just doesn’t happen. There may be times when I eat one cookie, for example, but bingeing like there is no tomorrow simply won’t happen in the natural state — that is a result of judgments and over-control.

Likewise, letting go of your need for relationship doesn’t mean you reject all dates. People will be naturally attracted to you, and when you see someone you like, you can enjoy time together. This may lead to long-term relationship — just don’t go back to your must-have mode of thinking.

Embracing destruction

Letting go of judgments also means accepting, or even welcoming, destruction.

In Hindu, there are thee main deities (or three aspects of one deity): Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the maintainer or preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer or transformer). Although we usually embrace only the creation and maintenance, destruction of the old is a necessary step for the new cycle of creation.

When you judge destruction as bad and hold onto what you have, you get constipated. When you are constipated, you feel sick and lose appetite for the new.

When you judge, you give power to the illusion of duality: good and no good.  The  truth is we are all one and whole.

In other words, this is all about living in the here and now. In the here and now, everything is already complete and whole and wonderful — if you have the eye for it.

How does this work with the Law of Attraction?

So, if we are to live happily in the here and now, without judgments and need to control, does that mean we are stuck in where we are and there is no point in having intentions and aspirations, like the Law of Attraction teaches?

No. Things change on their own. The intrinsic nature of energy is movement.

What it means is we don’t push our ego-produced agenda to the change. This actually accelerates the natural changes. It also means we learn balance in this naturally changing, moving energy, like you do in surfing. Or even riding a bike.

When you are riding a bike, you are heading to a certain direction. Try balancing a bike without moving ahead — it’s really hard. But then, you don’t want to dictate how the course should be like — you want to enjoy the ride while moving to a certain direction, rather than using the ride ( =life) as a means to get somewhere.

The Law of Attraction is really about feeling good about yourself right now and using this power of love to experience even more love. Yes, you want to have intentions, but it’s also true that it works best when you surrender.

Glitch in the life simulation game

Letting go of judgments is baffling. We are so well trained in making judgments that the function is our second nature. The minute we think we let go of judgment, we find it in ourselves again. We find ourselves in the same old pattern and strangely familiar old challenges.

It’s like being in the nick of an old record. (Remember the music records? Before downloads, and before CDs, there were something called records. . .) Something skips, and we are back to the same part of the music again. Over and over.

It’s a glitch in this life simulation game we are in.

How can we fix this glitch? With the damaged record, we picked up the needle and moved it on, but how can we move on to the next part of the “LIFE” game?

I don’t have a complete answer. If you do, please write in the comment. In the meantime, I will keep doing my part of letting go of my judgments and healing the part I have ignored. In other words, I’ll see how I can love my problems and embrace destruction (not about violence, but as in transformation). Maybe I will chant the mantra, too. Deva Premal writes, “”This mantra unifies us within. When there is oneness, there are no obstacles.”
(Photo credit)

How The Law Of Attraction Worked In My Life

Three years ago, in July 2007, I bought the audio CD of The Secret. Back then, I was spending 40 minutes one way to commute, and I thought the inspirational CD is something I could utilize — I didn’t have much time for reading.

That was my introduction to the Law of Attraction. Eventually, I read more on the subject and contemplated on my own. I wrote down my intentions and collected photos that represented my dreams because I read that is the way we use the LoA.

I just found that writing and am seriously impressed. Even though my understanding of the LoA was elementary, most of my intentions have come true, except some that proved unimportant.

I thought it would be fun to share this…

My living environment

Let’s start with the living environment because the intention was most specific with this.

Below is my intention statement, with my note in ( ). The green part are the ones that have materialized.

I am happily living in a nice new townhouse. (I found a nice townhouse to rent last fall. It is not brand new, but new enough and maintained well.) It is 1200 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms with a good-size garage, in a safe and quiet area. (Safe it is — some people don’t even lock the door here! It’s 1000 sq ft — plenty of space for me, and 2 BR 2BA, with a garage.) It is in a gated community on midhill. (At the time of writing, I was thinking of buying a condo. I now realize I don’t like home ownership — too much work! My current resident doesn’t have security gates, but it doesn’t matter because it’s so safe here. It is on midhill that commands a fantastic view!) It’s landscaped beautifully — I see lavenders around the house. (The lavender is a minor but surprising match. The community is very well landscaped and they come for care weekly.) The building wall is stone and the door is maroon.

When I enter the house, I can see the light in the windows. (In addition to regular windows, it has a skylight.) The living room has a mantle and there are my beloved kickknacks. There are artworks on the wall. (I’ve been too lazy to hang up my own artwork.) The kitchen has a granite countertop — smooth and cool. (The counter, which is very large, is tiled.) Also it has track lighting, flattop cooking oven, and real exhaust. (All the lights are recessed — nice enough for me. The cooktop is not the real smoothtop, which is electrical, but it’s a gas burner on a very flat surface that is easy to clean — none of those dish-like stuffs.)

In the bedroom, I see a large, comfy bed, antique tansu chest, and there is a walk-in closet. (I bought a natural bed last Christmas. The mattress is made of organic latex, cotton and wool. The frame is beautiful natural wood. And I myself chose smaller mattress. Also, even though the closet is not walk-in, they are two large closets facing each other, so I made it a dressing area by hanging a light drapery. Close enough for me.)

In the bathroom, I see natural light, clean large vanity, beautiful tub where I can enjoy fragrant bubble bath. (It’s standard bathroom, but I do take the time to bathe a couple times a week these days.) My office room is well organized. (Since I started using a laptop, I don’t need an “office room” any more. I use the extra bedroom as storage.) I feel the joy, peace, and clean energy in the house. I look out and see greens. (Not only I can see lush greens on this hill, I can see the distant mountains among them.) I can walk to the fitness center. (No fitness center, but walking around on the slopes is very good exercise.)

I moved twice since I wrote the intention, first from Tennessee to Portland, Oregon, suburb, and then to Eugene. Neither was planned at the time of writing. My current home is so much like my dream residence it almost scares me. I even got some bonus points that I forgot to write down — such as the large deck, the skylight, and the great view.

The points I missed are insignificant. I don’t really care the door is green, rather than maroon, nor that I don’t own a tansu chest. I think I pushed myself to write up a gorgeous, impressive intention — many Law of Attraction books tell us to do that. So I included some of the things that I THOUGHT I wanted — well, I guess I didn’t want them, really. I feel happy and comfortable the way it turned out.

My work

When I wrote the intentions, I was doing the regular 8 to 5, so my intention in this area was more about my “dream” and lacks specificity.

By 2010, my business is making $150K a year. I do:

• intuitive reading (I offer Akashic Record Reading)
• life coaching (I offer Spirit Guides Coaching)
• blogging
• publish books
• inspirational speeches

People and money come easily to me. (Not sure how to evaluate this point . . . I am not short on money but also not swimming in money. Same with people. I guess I could wish for more, but I am not lonely, either.) My business is thriving with many happy clients. They send me more clients to me. I am excited to get to know people who live with passion and sense of humor. (Referral is a significant source of my clients.)

I have all the time I need because I receive large passive income from my investments. I am happily donating 10% of profit to charities.

(Comes with a photo of a classy woman — nice dress and fancy jewelry watch. She is all silver hair — I probably chose her because she wasn’t the 20-something chirpy type.)

I quit my job in October that year and started my own service, Akashic Record Reading, the following year. Again, it was not planned out at the time of writing the intentions.

I have completed the manuscript of my book on the Akashic Records and Ascension, but have not found the publisher. And I think I might want to rewrite some part of it. So publicity is still not quite at my intention level, nor my income level. At the same time, I am not worried about money. (And this is only midyear of 2010 — some miracles can happen before the end of the year, you know )

The passive income thing is another influence of the books I was reading back then. Many get-rich books teach the benefits of passive income from rental real estates and stock investments. I am not on that path now. However, I have the time and the freedom to use my time as I see fit every day because I work for myself. So I can say I have achieved the “time wealth” I wanted — which, for me, is even more critical than financial wealth.

And I am looking at the photo of the beautiful woman. I don’t have that kind of dress nor the watch but I am okay with that. And I’d love to see my few strands of gray go dark again rather than having gorgeous silver hair, which I think may be possible with good nutrition and healthy lifestyle.

Others

There were other intentions such as traveling to Europe and attending the workshop of the inspirational writer I liked back then. I am now totally uninterested in them. Oh, and I wanted light green Toyota Prius. Well, maybe next time I trade, I will choose that, but for now, my Civic is running just fine and I am happy with it. In this small town of Eugene, I don’t drive so much any way.

Write down your intentions

I think writing down is a very effective way to influence the subconscious. I wasn’t 100% convinced of the Law of Attraction three years ago, but it still worked! So try it for yourself.

When you write your intentions, be as specific as you can. This way, you will clearly know when your intention manifests. And it also helps you to realize what is not really important to you. For example, I can now see “$150K annual income” was not really my dream but something I adopted. If I didn’t put a number on it, however, I may not have noticed how far off the intention was from the way of life I really aspired.

(My current intention for my finance and beyond, in terms of abundance, is that all I need flows to me easily and naturally. I do understand I need to cover my expenses, but I don’t see the point of having a large chunk of money.)

So it’s okay to make this kind of errors. Do write down, stash it somewhere and be pleasantly surprised later! You may even get some nice bonuses.

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