“Mindfulness helps us understand that our conventional view of ourselves and even what we mean by “self” is incomplete in some very important ways. Mindfulness helps us recognize how and why we mis-take the actuality of things for some story we create, and then make it possible to chart a path toward greater sanity, well-being, and purpose. — Jon Kabat-Zinn
I’ve recently begun experimenting with the Engine 2 Texas Firefighters Diet — you can eat everything except animal products, sugar, white flour, and oils… Eating this way has brought a new level of attention to what I eat, a new appreciation for what I put into my body. After all, what could be more intimate then this act that we so casually call eating.
Before this experiment, I thought of myself as eating fairly healthy, and as paying a good deal of attention to food – buying it, cooking, and eating. Making this change has allowed me to be a good deal more aware (and more honest) about what I am actually eating – no more coffee cake, Starbucks Chai, ice cream, or mango chicken. Thus far, I don’t miss these things at all.
On Sunday morning I walked into an event where fresh, homemade coffee cake was available. Usually I would have happily eaten a piece, along with a cup of coffee (with plenty of milk and sugar.) Instead, I noticed that I didn’t see this piece of cake as food. I was happy to make myself a cup of tea.
I don’t feel that this diet is better or worse than other diets. It’s my experiment. So far I don’t notice any real difference in how I feel; though I have lost a few pounds. I do notice that my level of attention around food, and my level of care and appreciation has increased dramatically.
For me, this is a way to practice mindfulness. By creating some rules and structure for myself, in what I eat, I can see places where I was confined and stuck in my own ideas and limitations. I’m not sure how long I will stay with this diet. This current “restriction” allows me to be free to choose what kind of diet I want, with a sense of more choice, and more freedom.
Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki once said, “Zen is feeling your way along in the dark. You might think it would be better to have more light, to know where you are going, and to get there in a hurry, but Zen is feeling your way along in the dark. Then you are careful and sensitive to what is happening.”
Some scientific findings of practicing mindfulness:
-Decreases anxiety and binge eating
-11% reduction in perceived stress
-Improvement of immune profiles of people with breast or prostate cancer
-Cancer patients showed significant improvement in mood and reduced stress.