The Care and Nurturing of the Holistic (Whole) Person
Each today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And each tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this one day,
- Kalidasa
My article on What Makes Olive Oil Virgin, Extra Virgin, Organic Or Not? has now been published on Ezine Articles. You can read the entire article by visiting www.greatarticlesbyMartha.com
But the short answer is that extra virgin olive oil is made with great care - careful picking, careful squeezing so as not to over heat the oil.
This made me think about how much we are like that sensitive oil. Being holistic is about paying attention to your Whole person. Carefully picking and choosing what you eat, what you think about, how you spend your time. Sometimes we need to squeeze ourselves and stimulate ourselves to do better. Sometimes we need to cool off and not get overheated.
Since we know this about ourselves, why would anyone continue to feed themselves food that does not nourish them and in fact can cause harm? Especially when there are so many healthy alternatives now.
Years ago when I started developing the recipes available in “The Holistic Cookie” there were no alternatives available except for what you could make yourself. Now there are huge stores full of prepared food with no preservatives and with high quality nutrition in mind. So why do people keep eating that junk food?
I am seriously asking this question. Please leave your comments. Why do you think that people keep eating that junk food?
January 26th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I think people keep eating junk food because, over time, their taste buds have been ruined by all the fat and additives in food, so that they don’t know what “good” food tastes like.
For instance, a few years ago, raw broccoli became popular to snack on - but people had to dip it in a salad dressing. Broccoli tastes wonderful all by itself - raw or steamed!
Also, a contributor might be our fast-paced lives. Pick up supper at a drive-thru on the way home. Convenience.
Cost. It is more costly to buy the freshest, best fruit/produce, etc. Showing people how to shop “healthy” and keep within their budget is important.
(Marty and I went to school together, and at least once a week would eat lunch at her house, directly across from the high school. Someone would bring canned soup, someone else the crackers, etc. That’s how we grew up - canned soup was IT back then. Ha No wonder Marty chose to find better tasting foods.)
Mary
March 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I think junk food is an addiction.
Junk food makes us feel a certain way - for example when I don’t have coffee in the morning I get a headache and feel sluggish, so I reach for that coffee cup to give me that jolt of energy and quiet the screaming headache from lack of caffeine.
Most of the time we don’t even think through this addiction. We instinctively reach for the candy bar, the bag of chips or the mashed potatoes.
But, I’ve also noticed that once I break the addiction of the sugar, the caffeine, the startch — and go through the withdrawls and replace it with good fresh fruits & vegetables - I really love the way it makes me feel! The energy is smooth and steady instead of spiked and out of control.
The longer a person eats right the less of a struggle it becomes to stay away from the addictive junk food.
Junk food is a legal drug.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:06 am
I believe that the junk food issue is an extension of all of the issues that we as a human race use to numb our emotions. We are taught at a very young age that food is comforting. We know it is necessary for survival…so our bodies have sensate desires for food just to keep us nourished. The junk food becomes a tool or a vice or a crutch, depending on the information that we get about it as a child. It either, nourishes us, placates us, punishes us, or excites us. We can have any array of emotions related to eating food, just as we can have, by being touched by another human being. The human race has become so detached from this emotional guidance system, that they believe that the junk food is fulfilling them. For a split second they feel satisfaction. But of course, the junk food leaves us really feeling empty, poisoned and “needing something more”.
All that being said….when we get back in touch with all the sensate abilities and we can really know what are body response means………….a bite of “lovingly prepared” rice pudding with an orange peel in it, can be orgasmic to the taste buds. “Literally”
As a Hospice Nurse, I know that people lose their desire to eat as they near their time of ascention. The physical needs of the body changes. There is no desire for food because the body understands that it’s physical survival is not the most important thing at this time. This seems to be the only time in life that this occurs. But 99% of people have no issue with honoring it at that time. The 1% that manages to stay disconnected right till the moment of ascention, will actually cause themselves much grief, trying to put food in a body that can’t use it. It makes them very ill, causes a lot of pain and makes them miserable. “much like eating junk food”.
Then we could look at this from the Toltec point of view! No judgment, no idea of right or wrong…..it just is. Our world is a space of confrontation. This is the learning ground for us. We confront an issue, we make a decision based on how it feels to us. We just keep trying till it feels right! When it feels amazing then we know we are on the spiritual path and we are in joy! Perhaps, we are all just learning at a different pace, how to really know what our bodies are telling us. And all of those Hamburger, fries and milkshakes are doing their best to get the information across! hehehehe
Love and Light to all!
My wish for the world today is that everybody have total awareness…..just once today….of how their body really feels and that it plants a seed for exploration to search for the Joy in the Journey!