So, I have (at least) two theories on stress, contradicting of course, unless you unite them and create yet another theory.

One, stress is bad, avoid stress, meditate etc, or you will die early, and so if I don't look after myself, I will die early too (plus I have very bad short-evity genes on my dad's side).

Two, stress is a normal process during the art of creation, it pushes you to achieve. I always stress out when I can't get a proof, or am not happy with the proof etc, and then I create something brilliant, and start working on something else, and the cycle repeats he he.

And, what about stressing about about the raw food diet? Surely, agonizing forever about it can't be good for my mental health, according to theory one? Or, according to theory two, it will actually do me good in the longer term?

I am interested in theories number three and further.

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

Opinion: There is 'uncomfortable-ness' in inaction and non-acceptance.....and this is stress, indecision and suffering. There is uncomfortable-ness when pursuing one's dreams....and this becomes anticipation, bliss & joy...when fully accepted without judgment.

-Stress one is bad....stress two is fine....heh..heh...

-Just some thoughts.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

davidzanemason Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Opinion: There is 'uncomfortable-ness' in inaction
> and non-acceptance.....and this is stress,
> indecision and suffering. There is
> uncomfortable-ness when pursuing one's
> dreams....and this becomes anticipation, bliss &
> joy...when fully accepted without judgment.
>
> -Stress one is bad....stress two is
> fine....heh..heh...

>
> -Just some thoughts.
>
> -David Z. Mason

Hey Gosia, great thread!

Ha david,
Your post really flagged something up for me.
I have recently been in touch with your thoughts on stress, dealing with some emotional stuff raising its head as i clean up my diet.

I have been struggling with uncomfortable-ness and non acceptance, to the point of resentment, (At least i am aware of this now so can actively choose how to deal with these feelings)
This situation has caused extreme tension and stress!

I am also uncomfortably perusing my dream /goal (wellness).
I feel those moments of bliss and joy on my journey and in times of resentment and or stress try to keep focused on my goal and those inspirational moments of bliss and joy.
I have come to realise that supported by the benefits a RV diet brings ,most of my moments of joy and bliss are when i accept myself and the place where i am without judgement.

Work in progress!

Personally I view stress not as the cause of our health problem but rather as a manifestation of our poor eating and resting habits.

A healthy and balance body can sustain stress and one example of that are animals in the wild eating raw, they are constantly faced with the fear of being eaten alive but they are healthy. We have everything to protect us but we are in very poor health and always under stress.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2007 04:12PM by djachi.

Greetings Gosia,

Thank you for the thread - I will offer a perspective from my experience.

The stress that you are speaking of comes from wanting to be somewhere other than where you are. Where/who you are, spiritually speaking, is the now/awareness itself, but your awareness can be absorbed into the movement of mind (pain or patterns of fear or desire), which causes a "reaching" away from the now and into what we call future or past. Of course future and past exist only as thoughts in your mind.

Stress and excessive mind activity generally get a bad rep because they are the source of tremendous suffering, but it's actually both amazing and essential (in order to know enlightenment) that this happens. To use an analogy, if everything on the Earth is pure consciousness and is represented by a single shade of blue, then you wouldn't and couldn't know anything as blue. You need at least one other point of reference outside of the blue to recognize blue as blue. Similarly, you must know a point that is disconnected from consciousness in order to know consciousness as your true self. Stress and mind activity play this role and it allows us to consciously know ourselves as pure consciousness - a.k.a. enlightenment.

As per your specific questions about raw food. If you are stressing about it, that probably indicates that you are identified with it in some way. So, for example, if someone says, "You're a rawfood genius" and you have a massive response of pride or, alternatively, if someone says "You are a rawfood misfit" and you feel worthless or lousy....then your identity is you = rawfoodist. If, instead, you know yourself as the deeper awareness/now/beingness/consciousness ......you can start to withdraw out of that kind of mind pattern and know only surrendered life flow instead of stress. We are all on our own course and we only deepen as we are ready, of course, but it helps to know that there are masterful teachings out there (such as The Power of Now), that can help when we are ready.

With love,
Paul

Paul makes some Awesome points.

Lorretta: I hear you! Sounds like you are doing some wonderfully aware stuff. Just a couple of thoughts:

-In my experience - a desire for health is not enough. One must have an over-riding life-dream or passion that REQUIRES long-term health....and thus NECESSITATES healthy eating. Just wanting to be healthy and avoid pain is not enough...in my experience. One does not become passionately good by simply avoiding being evil. We usually become what we focus on. The universe doesn't care whether we are 'for' or 'against' it! Ha! ha!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

"There is uncomfortable-ness when pursuing one's dreams....and this becomes anticipation, bliss & joy...when fully accepted without judgment." I like this, David. I wish it was like this for me ha ha! I just had a few agonizing days, thinking all my waking time about how to prove something, agonizing about not knowing how to do it, being totally frustrated etc. No bliss or joy. Then, I got the proof. Great! Then, the cycle repeats lol! So I suppose there is the bliss and joy, at the moment of getting the proof, and then there is agonizing everywhere between. I think what I am talking about is the agony of creating something. I had to really desperately want to create the mathematical result, devote all my brain power to it, to the point of hurting, in order to get the result. So, I am questioning the painful process and the inevitability (or not) of it.

Paul, exactly, "wanting to be somewhere other than where you are", this is how it is for me. I like your color analogy. As far as the raw food, by agonizing about it, I do not mean other people's opinions on me, but rather, me thinking (excessively or not is the question?) about it. I came to the point where I'd rather focus on living than eating. At the same time I do appreciate feeling better on raw. So, I do get contradicting thoughts on the topic.

David, would a passion for living count (it does require a long-term health, doesn't it)? "A desire for health is not enough" - I do feal that I need more motivation than this too. I get bored otherwise.

"accept myself and the place where i am without judgement" - I am working on it Loretta, although I could not say that I have achieved it quite yet. I guess this is why I am still alive?

So it seems that most of you agree that bashing oneself a little is inevitalbe part of the growth process?

And, agreed, djatchi, when I work on something my relaxation techniques are totally out the window, hence the consequence!

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2007 11:23PM by rawgosia.

There is always an element of unknown to every new situation we face. We may succeed or fail and the unknown creates stress. Some strives in those cases, the Evel Knievel of the world. It is actually healthy to faces those challenges, they bring the best out of us, we learn new things, and the real beauty is how we manage the outcome be it success or failure.

Sure passion for living counts! LOL. Just remember that the more we can visualize a goal....and a goal is measurable and specific....with specific time-tables...the better. People will get in far better shape.....and be far more motivated on a daily basis.....by signing up for a 5K race 6 months in the future. They might have NEVER walked/ran a day in their life......but with a voluntary & measurable goal in place...LOOMING in the consciousness....heh..heh......daily motivation becomes automatic....because it is NECESSARY.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I agree with David Mason.

I think that stress in moderation is good for us. Not too much, not too little. I don't think it's either/or.

Too much stress begins to negatively affect our health and our life. Too little stress, and we begin to get lazy and lose creativity.

Maybe that's one more reason to go slow in our dietary transitions, rather than push ourselves too far and too fast (like I know I did).

I agree with djachi that "stress can be a manifestation of the condition of our poor eating and resting habits". But I think it's a 2-way street (like just about everything). I believe that too much stress can also help cause poor eating and resting habits.

Whatever stress feels moderate to us - challenges us without overwhelming us - is probably the optimal level of stress for promoting good health. To a certain extent, with lots of practice, we probably have the ability to control the amount of stress that we let enter our lives. Slowly transforming our diet/exercise/whatever habits can help us do that; and as we get older, we'll get better (hopefully)!

Good luck on the math!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2007 02:52AM by suncloud.

Sure setting achievable goals can and does relieve stress but in reality the issue is more complex.

It is not goal setting, rather it is how we deal with the UNEXPECTED.

What happens to us physically, emotionally and spiritually when the unexpected arrive?, when we loose our job, when death happens suddenly in the family, when a major accident changes everything.

Are we resilient enough at all levels of our being to face the unexpected?

djachi

<<Are we resilient enough at all levels of our being to face the unexpected?>>

i AM ready

for brilliance to enter my life

N
O
W


its happened so many times
i just expect it to happen again

yeah... when awesome things happen
it can be pretty disorienting
but i don't have to take it in all in one moment

i give myself time to seep into my cells, undulate across my spiritual tissue

and take my time at glowing

oh but you were talking about not so happy things

yeah, i know

it is not all roses and violets

and it is seemingly the opposite polarity of good ness

but i cant seem to tell anymore

two friends of mine died this year

i cried an ocean of tears


i also faced a TREMENDOUSLY HUGE crisis that was TOTALLY unexpected and the steps i took in order to turn it around.. in retrospect.. was probably one of the most
rewarding experience that i never imagined was possible

i don't know if i am resilient to face such things over and over again

but we do anyways

whether we are ready or not

things just happen

and if we are alive

there are just two choices ( or maybe three)

1) confront it
2) AVOID IT
3 change lanes ( which may be a part of #2 or it may really mean change lanes)
or get off the freeway and onto another highway ( like changing careers)

so, whether we wish to or not
everything we do when we face a conflict
whether we are ready or not

will fall into one of the three categories


i don't know what is good or bad anymore
strange thing
upside down

worst things seem to reveal a golden gem

best things seem to strangely enough not give me the tools that i need had i not had to struggle

so i don't know

are we ready?

who knows

probably we are never ready for anything

but i don't care

i say i'm ready for brilliance and light anyhow
because i expect it

and i usually get what i expect

no kidding