Inspiration

[groovin]

Has anyone read the book 'Women Food and God''?

The author was on Oprah this week and Oprah's all gaga about the book and says she will never diet again. I'm in the process of reading the reviews on amazon.com. Just wondering if anyone here has read it and what you thought.

Here's the link on amazon if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Women-Food-God-Un ... 1416543074

[dene]

new one from Darrell on the finale of the Biggest Loser just now--"I've just sat back and let things happen." That touched a nerve with me.

[RedRox]

In what way? I don't watch the show so missing on the context. He just sat back and let the weight loss happen? Or that is how he got overweight to begin with? Just a bit on how that provided you inspiration or touched a nerve?

[dene]

sorry for vagueness. They were showing clips of their interviews at the beginning of the contestant's journeys at the Biggest Loser Ranch and Darrell was explaining that he got this big because he just sat back and let it happen. I found this inspirational because it reminds me that I can sit and do nothing and pretend it isn't happening and let the weight pile on or I can do something about it. Beaching It and I were posting back and forth so quickly as the show went on, and when Darrell said that I wanted to get it down before I forgot. Maybe this thought doesn't jab anyone else, but it did me.

[1relay]

I like the quote too, "I just sat back and let it happen". I totally get it. Because I have done precisely that twice in the last 6 years. I have, on two occasions, lost 50 lbs for my youngest two children's weddings, and then afterwards, just sat back and let it happen all over again. I do not have a special occasion for weight loss this time, and will be seriously turning to inspiration.

[dene]

I did the exact same thing. Lost 50 pounds, then let "life" get in the way and gained most of it back. Funny how I knew the danger, yet I "sat back and let it happen."

[groovin]

Yeah, I think Dr. Huezenga was telling him he was the sickest man of the group this season with all his ailments, and he said that about just sitting back and letting it happen. I'm guessing most of us have done that. Somehow we get these blinders on and tell ourselves stories along the way and are in just plain denial. It's so hard to be honest with ourselves about what makes us do it. I don't think we really know sometimes, it just feels good in the moment.

By the way, I got the book I posted about above (Women Food and God) and found it to be so inspirational. It's different than anything else I've read about food and eating. I've read it twice and will probably go thru it again with my marker this time. Good stuff. Strongly recommend reading the reviews on amazon if you're contemplating getting it. Also, if you try to get it from the library, the waiting list is a mile long.

[RedRox]

For several personal reasons, I themed my last two classes of the week on the niyama of santosha or practicing the cultivation of contentment. When I read posts here, so many people are unhappy and frustrated with where they are at their current moment that I want to shake them and tell them they only have this moment guaranteed so they need to simply be satisfied with their efforts at this point in time. Everyone who makes a conscious choice to improve themselves is doing something good for themselves in that moment, yet external validation and immediate gratification are still expected and desired. Sometimes we just have to find peace and satisfaction, yes even contentment, in the knowledge that we are on the right path and by choosing to eat foods that sustain and nurture us in a positive manner each day we are doing all we can in that particular moment.

Here are some excerpts from this webpage that I read during my class that I found online by Swami Shraddhananda:

Contentment is a requirement for peace of mind, yet we live in a culture that fosters discontentment. We are bombarded by advertisements that make us feel inadequate and promote a continual grasping for material wealth and sensual experience. We are taught to seek superficial gratification with no regard for future consequences for ourselves or the world. We become attached to things and people to avoid our personal discomfort. We are led to believe that satisfaction of our cravings, as well as our egos, will bring happiness.

<snip>

So, what is contentment, and how do we incorporate it as an "observance" in our lives? Contentment is serenity, but not complacency. It is comfort, but not submission; reconciliation, not apathy; acknowledgment, not aloofness. Contentment is a mental decision, a moral choice, a practiced observance, a step into the reality of the cosmos. Contentment/santosha is the natural state of our humanness and our divinity and allows for our creativity and love to emerge. It is knowing our place in the universe at every moment. It is unity with the largest, most abiding, reality.

<snip>

There are several ways to cultivate contentment. We can practice yoga postures, pranayama (deep breathing) and meditation to keep our energies balanced and our mind serene--qualities that lead toward contentment. We can keep a journal of things for which we are grateful. The deepest contentment comes at those moments when we feel we are in the flow of life, when we are communing with nature, when our energies are positive and when we have no desires. By being conscious of these moments, we can strengthen, expand and sustain the feeling of contentment for longer periods of time. Even when we are surrounded by chaos and disharmony, we can return to this feeling and find ourselves back in a place of peace and quietude. The state of contentment becomes a familiar place when we observe it throughout the day. The key is to bring our attention fully to it when it occurs and not hurry on to the next activity. And by affirming our place in the cosmos, our connection to others and our interface with the divine, it is harder to lose our way when disturbances arise.

source/complete article: http://www.yogachicago.com/may04/santosha.shtml

I also liked this page/blog from a yoga instructor in Florida: http://exploringyogawithlaura.blogspot. ... tment.html

Santosha is the practice and cultivation of contentment. It is the ability to be at peace in any circumstances that we find ourselves in. That ability arises out of a knowing that every situation is an opportunity to learn and experience ourselves in ways that foster our growth. Santosha roots itself in knowing that we are always with God and are therefore truly lacking nothing.

Santosha is not synonymous with complacency where we accept or tolerate unhealthy situations. Nor does it mean that we allow our growth to lie dormant. But rather it is practicing patience and making the most of our hardships while striving to better them.

Fully practicing santosha is remaining equanimous even in difficult circumstances that have no semblance of joy. When our joy does not reside in nor depend upon life’s obviously sweeter windfalls, then too are we practicing santosha. Maintaining hopefulness during hard times, finding balance in wonderful times, and being at peace with every stage of our growth is santosha.

Or finally, just because I tend to think in terms of song lyrics quite frequently, Sheryl Crow in "Soak up the Sun" put it this way. (And yes I included it in my playlist for the classes! )

It's not having what you want
It's wanting what you've got

It seems to me we could all do with a little more of wanting what we've already got and a whole lot less of becoming overly absorbed in what we want.

[groovin]

Wow, another awesome post. It bears reading and rereading to get it all in. It's so right on.

I think if people (me included) really really really got this part, it would revolutionize our lives....

knowing that we are always with God and are therefore truly lacking nothing.