Healing Power of Hula

Hula Dancer making Offering to Pele the Volcano Goddess

It's too hot but I need to exercise. What to do? Today I turned up the fan and dug out my old "Hula for Health" DVD. Swaying in harmony with the waves and the clouds just felt right. My arms got tired of making trickling waterfalls and arcing rainbows before the routine was over but this graceful dance form has a spiritual component. In the the photo above the dance is made as an offering to Pele, the Volcano Goddess. I'd like to keep on Pele's good side myself.  

 Hula on Kauai with Kumu Kapu Kinimaka-Alquiza

Middle Way vrs The 1 Grain of Rice a Day Diet

The month August is a crazy busy month on San Juan Island, so much so that Miss S. and I have suspended our walking schedule for the duration. For those of us in the habit of quelling stress with food it’s a minefield. Nonetheless, we did have a small New Moon Mindfulness Eating Fruit Potluck and Whale-Watching meeting at the beach on the last day of July.  I shared the story of the Buddha and the Middle Way because I think it offers a fairly sane perspective for chronic dieters/overeaters. 

 Mural of Fasting Buddha with Girl Giving him Bowl with Milk Rice. 

Tibetan Monastery in Nyingmapa tradition, Bodhgaya, Bihar, India

Before he became the Buddha, the pampered Prince Siddhartha left the protection of his father’s Palace to seek enlightenment. To this end he tried living an ascetic life among forest monks who sought enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, and self-mortification. As the story goes they ate 1 grain of rice per day. Talk about portion control! In the end he nearly starved to death before a girl from a near-by village brought him a bowl of milk and rice. Siddhartha reconsidered his path and took the “Middle Way”.

To be free of suffering he advised avoiding the extremes of both addictive sense-pleasures and self-mortification. The Middle Way, a life lived between the extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence, neither hedonist nor ascetic. The Middle Way, it's the Buddha's first teaching and he came up with it after a healthy hit of carbs and animal fat!

Improving Body Image Key to Weight Loss.

Reclining Nude, Pablo Picasso

A recent study in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity shows that women who feel better about their bodies have an easier time losing weight. 239 overweight women participated in the 12 month study. Half of the women were given general health information regarding health and stress management. The other half attended group sessions where they discussed issues such as excerise, emotional eating, and improving body image. The women in the group sessions improved their body-image and lost considerably more weight than the control group. 

Dr. Teixeira, who led the research said, "Body image problems are very common amongst overweight and obese people, often leading to comfort eating and more rigid patterns," and, "we believe that learning to relate to your body in healthier ways is an important aspect of maintaining weight loss".

Oh wait, no, not Weight Watchers...

Jennifer Hudson Weight Watcher Ad

My walking buddy Miss S. informs me that the local Weight Watchers is starting up a new program. They are going to meet Thursday mornings at 8:30 am at the American Legion. I can't tell you how much I don't want to do that. We are still walking 3 days a week and I can't say I'm totally enjoying the hike but the camaraderie is good and the improvement is encouraging. I do know I need to get a better handle on my food issues. Miss S. is finding some success with the Weight Watchers food points and meetings and I do have to admit that Jennifer Hudson is looking good... but for now, as far as Weight Watchers goes, I think I'll just keep kicking and screaming.

 
Self Compassion Diet by Jean Fain and Eating With Fierce Kindness by Sasha T. Loring
 

I did just get two new books, Eating With Fierce Kindness, by Sasha T. Loring and Fat is a Feminist Issue, by Susie Orbach. Orback was Princess Di's therapist and considers the mega billion dollar diet industry including Weight Watchers to be part of the problem. But, I'm mostly drawn to the self-kindness, mindfulness approach. I already had The Self-Compassion Diet by Jean Fain. If it can save me from having to go to Weight Watchers or Over Earters Anonymous I may have to start my own group. First of all we would only meet once a month. Possibly on the new moon, possibly at the beach. There we would practice loving kindness meditations, breathe with the waves, and eat mangoes in a state of perfect mindful attention.

The Bathers by Paul Cezanne or My Imaginary Mindful Eating Group at the Beach

Satisfaction is Good For You! Go Nuts!

I heard on NPR's All Things Considered today that the reason nuts are associated, perhaps surprisingly, with weight loss, in spite of their high fat content, is because they are so very satisfying. Nuts offer a more lasting satisfaction than say, potatoes. Potatoes, it was shown, (in this recent study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine), are the worst culprit for weight gain. 

Paleo Diet: Please Pass the Mammoth Steaks

Movie Poster, One Million Years B.C. 1966

The "Paleo Diet" way of eating takes its cues from our paleolithic, pre-agricultural past. Modeled on a hunter-gatherer diet, basically it avoids grains, dairy, processed foods, and sugar, focusing on fruit, vegetables and meat. As a failed vegan with a minor degree in anthropology this does appeal to my imagination. "Yeah, Pass the Mammoth Steaks!" In fact a number of my friends have improved their health by avoiding gluten and dairy. The wisdom of avoiding highly processed and sugary foods almost goes without saying.

But its not just a food philosophy. Check out this Paleo style workout. I admit it hurts my ankles just to watch this but I do appreciate the attitude. Walking barefoot in sand or swimming in a forest pond might be a good start.

Link to: Hunt, Gather, Love
Link to: Living Paleo
Link to: Everyday Paleo
Link to: MovNat: Explore Your True Nature

"There is no dogma in the dance" Gabrielle Roth

Today I'm getting in the groove with Gabrielle Roth and the Five Rhythms. This is one of my favorite dance videos because it's so adaptable. It appeals to my spirit even if my body is reluctant. And it always feels good. "Movement is my medicine, my meditation, my metaphor and my method, a living language we can rely upon to tell us the truth about who we are, who we are with and where we are going. There is no dogma in the dance."

One Year Later...

It’s been a whole year since my last entry on this blog. I just had an annual Dr. checkup and since last year at this time I lost one pound. Ohhhhh Kay.... well, at least I didn’t gain weight but basically nothing much has changed. I ran off the rails with the old Mayo Clinic weight-loss plan. That was discouraging. I also was putting more and more time into my Art Blog, Blackfish Art. But now, I’m back.

Getting back to this blog was already on my mind when a friend enlisted me as a fitness buddy. She is in better shape than I am and I’m going to have to work to keep up with her but bless her and her patience. We’ll call her Miss S. Right now we have committed to three walks a week.

 Woman Eating an Apple, Fernando Botero, Oil on canvas 

There are plenty of reasons I want to lose weight, health and vitality being first on the list. But cleaning my closet the other day reminded me that I have some dresses I would very much like to wear…