A lot of people on the raw food diet like to meditate...

I'm curious to see the roots of it...Is it the hippy/newage aspect? Is it because of living healthily has naturally brought people to meditation?

What you experienced with raw food and meditation?

Very interested to see your replies!

Um, I guess I like it to listen to my higher power within. The light inside me that is the highest love.

hello k)

yeahhhhhh! just simple, quiet time or the more attuned "meditation", is an absolutely

v i t a l

part of the optimal bridge or path from delusional self-poisoning, into self-love and universal compassion...

(you may; be surprised to discover i help guide myself and others in this flowing process and calm discovery...)

k, i wish you well on your questioning journey...

love n liberation

I have found on a raw diet,or even on a better non raw diet,that the continuous stream of background thoughts we all have switches from being mostly negative oriented,to being positive oriented.And the positive oriented stream of thoughts I would like to call meditating.For I see meditating as a state of mind where we can find peace,and resolve issues.

It does feel like this is a natural occurrence.

Brian

I think that a large part of the raw food diet involves understanding your spiritual connection with the universe, otherwise, if you are only doing it for health you can still eat food that has been cooked with health in mind and survive very well on that. When I sit down with REAL food, like fresh fruit straight from the earth, I feel a wonderful joy sweeping through my body that I cannot even describe. Sometimes I cry because it feels so good

Food for me is about staying alive, where for so many people it is about taste. I don't think my green smoothies would taste good to anyone eating SAD food, but every morning I am in bliss as I sip them down knowing what incredible nutrition and love I am putting into my body.

I think what happens with raw food is you have people who really want to grow and become somebody in their life, and diet is one part of that. Eventually it inevitably leads one down a spiritual path, and I would say that's why you have so many people on this diet talking about spirituality at the same time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2008 03:51PM by SurfinBird.

Bird, that's a great reply.

I think that meditation also improves digestion. If you look at the old yoga sutras, they talked a lot about digestion and digestive heat...These yogis ate a pretty crappy diet though, which is good news for us in a way.

Our intestines are chemically very close to our brains. This is why the taoists called the gut the second brain.

You get instinct from your guts, this is a highly intelligent feeling that can't be described. If you quiten your mind, body and metabolism, then you can make out these feelings a lot more coherantly.

The gnostics said that your have your brain which runs at a certain speed and then your heart which is faster and your gut which is faster yet. Along with relaxing your body and fixing your eye's, quieting the mind and focussing on your gut instinct I've found to be the most effective way to meditate.

Raw food diet improves digestion and elimination, I imagine this means less pressure on the diaphragm and deeper easier breathing which may give easier access to calm states. Lack of stimulants in the diet & upsetting food combinations may also make meditation easier.

When I feel that my harmonious state of mind is yielding to feelings of frustration or tension I like to call up a file of nature picture that I have stored on my computer that I have named "wallpapers".
As I click through the nature scenes I do a traditional mediation technique of passively focusing on my breathing while clearing my mind of active thoughts. As I click if a scene comes up that causes an emotional response in me I let that happen. For example if after a click a picture of a big beautiful yellow sunflower in sunlight makes me feel like smiling I let myself smile and enjoy the feeling.
I think the raw food lifestyle adds to the connection between the nature scenes and the experience I feel when I view them. I particularly enjoy the scenes of calm lakes and ponds with still waters to give me a feeling of harmony and peace.

some folks find the chopping and prep work of raw foods to be tedious , especially if you are into alot of smoothies and juicy things like i do , but i tend to get meditative when im doing it . just reflecting on things while i sit on a mat onhte floor with my bags of produce .. chop chop chopping away

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I think that when someone chooses raw food, they are consciously moving toward a greater internal peace that inherently cultivates a similar outward expression. Therefor the experience of meditation or focused thought, free of the clutter that is stimulated by the less harmonious foods would be common amoung us. I also think that selecting to practice meditation would be likely at some stage, due to how this lifestyle lends itself toward it so well.

I can relate, Jgunn; I feel like the chopping and blending of foods is a very meditative activity in itself. Unlike cooking, it is not very time sensitive. When I have leisurely prepared my food, I usually find myself in a very serene mood and in a much better capacity to appreciate my food and be more sensitive to how it is nourishing me. I think the key word here is "leisurely" -- kind if like drinking tea -- it's no fun to do it fast!

Sacred Eavesdroping

I,ve tryed a wide varitey of meditative practices from many traditions.
I,ve calmed myself through rhythmic breathing: watched with amusement
as the nonstop procession of images paraded across my mind; visualized
images of deities: cultivated unconditional love: chanted mantras:
and taken rigorous inventories to determine whether the integrity of
actions matches my high ideals. But in the years of study, I,ve never
heard of a form of meditation that would ask me to go to a public
place, take my attention off myself, and observe other people
with compassionate objectivity. Thats why I was forced to invent it.
Hereafter known as Sacred Eavesdropping, This meditation builds one,s
ability to pray in the manner decribed by poet W.H.Auden: The definition
of prayer is paying careful and concentrated attention to something
other than your own constructions."

I like Rob Brezsny,s Sacred Eavesdropping Meditation



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2008 05:24AM by riverhousebill.

hi komabayashii

neat .... your elucidation of the close connection between gut and brain
true

thus
there u go
u answered your own question

peace

neat .... your elucidation of the close connection between gut and brain
true

Your gut brain
You and I have always known that we can think with our bellies.
Gut instinct, we call it. Now scientist have found evidence
confirming our hunch. In the Second Brain: Your Gut Has a
Mind of Its Own, Dr. Michael Gershon documents the evidence for
a literal second brain in our stomachs and intesttines. Here
in a bundle of one hundred billion nerve cells, our gut reactions originate.

yes riverhousebill

true story
very true

in
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