Stress and Food

Many years ago I had an experience which changed my mind about the value of food as a stressor.

The centre where I was teaching had a very bright receptionist. She was a single mum with a four year old boy. She took him to work with her every day. He was a rascal (I'm using a very mild word for a real walking disaster !). He was constantly hyper. I actually thought that he was mentally retarded. It always surprised me that a woman who was so bright could have a child so utterly stupid and wild.

As I left for lunch one day I noticed that the child was having lunch. His diet was cola, crisps, and sweet cakes.

I asked her if she was having difficulty with the child. She informed that he never slept, he broke everything and could not concentrate. I further asked her if his lunch diet was a constant. She replied yes and added that he had a similar fare for breakfast. His dinner consisted of burger and chips.

I suggested that she change his diet to a more wholesome diet, that she eliminate sweet sugary products, that she replace colas, cakes with juices and fruit.

My next contract at her centre was three weeks later. As I entered the reception area I noticed a little boy peacefully drawing at a table in the corner. I asked her how things were with her son, she just smiled and pointed to the boy in the corner. She told me that there had been an amazing turn-around. He was sleeping, he was interested in learning. He was mixing better with his peers. she told me that he was "more loveable" - strong words for a mother!

We may be suffereing like the young boy by eating food that is too acidy. I changed to an alkaline based approach to eating - my energy soared, my sleep pattern bettered itself. I even lost weight ! Check out the alkaline diet

Stress is a pattern

Part of the pattern of stress is that of being very serious. The stressed person sees the source of their stress as a very serious matter which demands that the listener respond in a similar fashion. How can this pattern be broken?
My son, a prison officer, was telling me of a riot he got caught up in and how his friend had been taken hostage. I totally mis-read his emotion as he was re-living the experience. At the same time I realised that he needed to break the intense emotion and begin to look at the situation from a different view-point. He has always considered me to be very bright but somewhat impractical. I used this to break the pattern. In the middle of his intense emotion, I told him how I had gone to put petrol in my moped and how I thought the engine had seized because smoke billowed from it as I tried to run the engine. I told him how I had contacted my mechanic who in turn took the moped away. I told him how the mechanic had called me the next day and informed me that the engine was ok but that I had simply put diesel in it instead of petrol. My son started laughing and confirmed his impression of me with some un-printable words.
I then asked him about the riot. Now the intense emotion was gone, he could speak about it more objectively, from a different view-point. If the intensity returned, I just had to say "moped" to create a pattern break

"Feeding" Peace

"I just can't get it out of mind" is a comment many of my clients offer me on a consistent basis. They continue to "feed" the thought, they continue to give it energy. Most will tell me as I ask them about "peaceful thoughts", that it doesn't feel right.
My clients are mostly recovering addicts who seem to have a very sensitive nature. So, when they tell me that it doesn't feel right or good, I know that the pain which accompanies that statement is a source of stress and unless it is sorted, could ultimately lead to relapse.
Those who have experimented in meditation are the ones who seem to be to overcome this obstacle with greatest ease. As a result they seem to be able to cope with many other stressful situations and become far more pro-active in all areas of life. They become aware that their stress strategy is a learned strategy so they can learn a new strategy. Meditation is the best place to "feed" this strategy for peace