Eating and traveling: whether days away or out in a new place…safety is with you

So many of us have had the thought “I have no idea what to eat!” or “I need to make sure food will be where I’m going that I can eat!”

We feel lost, confused, full of analysis.

We have to read about “the plan” or understand “the diet” and have someone tell us what to avoid, what to add, what to never eat, what to always eat. Maybe we take books and calculations with us everywhere, so we can look up whether something is “allowed” or not.

Then we plan and manage food, and take food with us on trips when we travel, even if there’s plenty of food where we’re going.

Not that there’s anything wrong with finding structure and balance that’s peaceful and supportive. Education is sometimes amazing for this. Asking questions is also helpful, when you have them.

(I’ve worked with many people who follow a food plan for awhile in order to learn normal portions, comfortable ways of eating, balanced amounts and types of foods).

But what if you had a built-in compass that could support you in a balanced way with what you eat?

Well, you do.

It’s not in the mind.

Which is tricky, because the mind gets so loud and brash, it appears to override our experiences and take over everything….including (it seems) our contact with the wisdom in our own bodies.

Yet, the mind never kills off our access to the body.

In the body has an inner compass or refined measuring mechanism that is through the felt senses. We feel “enough” or we feel “too much” when it comes to eating and foods.

How do you find connection with this built-in compass you already have, since the day you were born?

Slow Down.

We don’t follow the impulses of the mind or emotion so quickly. We question “I need to eat that immediately” or “I need to eat x to be happy” or “I need to NOT eat x to be happy”.

Who would you be without your story about what’s going on around you?

What if it wasn’t frightening to be without a thought or story about what’s going on with food, eating or your weight?

What if it was peaceful, relaxed, and natural instead?

If you’d like to come experience what it’s like to question your thoughts, in a loving, kind, supportive environment so you tap into what’s happening in the mind, what’s happening in your emotions, what’s happening in your body….

….then join me at Eating Peace Retreat 2019. We begin Weds evening 7 pm on January 9th and end Monday morning 11:00 am on January 14th.

You may experience the relief of discovering your inner compass that you thought didn’t exist anymore. The one that you can hear again that says “enough” or “done” and the one that says “let’s eat” with joy and freedom!

When we pay attention to the body, we’re attuned with the natural flow of What Is, not grabbing for concepts about foods and eating and bodies that really are not true–or are only ideas in the mind.

If you are not able to come to retreat to experience the joy of questioning stressful thoughts and eating in peace, then enjoy this guided meal meditation right here.

You can do this. If you’re wondering whether or not you can, remember it’s a process, a practice. You can question that you don’t have what it takes.

Is it true? No.

You can find trust, balance and joy in the flow of eating where no kind of food is evil, poisonous and frightening, and you get to notice what works for you and what doesn’t, without shame, fear or control.

You were born this way. You can return to it.

If I can, so can you.

“The most peace I have ever felt in my life with food was at the Eating Peace Retreat.” ~ participant

Much love,

Grace

 

Are you waiting for better thoughts?

Argggh. Isn’t this plane going to take off soon?

Late, late. This sucks. I’m so tired. That’s all I needed was another hour added to this already-long flight. So annoying.

What kinds of thoughts enter your mind if you’re waiting?

Yes, ANY kind of waiting. Waiting for a phone call. Waiting to hear about the job. Waiting in line. Waiting for morning. Waiting for the holiday. Waiting for the results of the test. Waiting to eat. Waiting to become enlightened.

What does it feel like to wait?

Irritating. Worrisome. Infuriating. Heart-wrenching. Sad. Frightening. Uncomfortable. Boring.

Who would you be without this story of waiting?

What an astonishing question!

Who would I be without the belief that I am actually waiting?

What is waiting anyway? A feeling like we’re not there yet, or don’t have something yet, or right now is unfinished or not quite all of it.

Who would I be without that belief, in this moment while sitting on an airplane noticing we are not moving, hearing the anxious voice of a passenger many rows behind me ask when we’re taking off?

Peaceful. Noticing slow and fast, anticipating and willing to also be here, no demand something change now, for my personal benefit.

Ready to see where this goes (this day, this moment, this empty space).

Maybe even very excited. Full of wonder about this mysterious unknown moment, with unknown things in it, and an unknown future.

Turning it around: I am not waiting. In this moment, there is nothing missing, nothing anticipated, nothing impending, nothing to worry about.

No lack of knowledge, no such thing as “late”, no lack of bliss or absent enlightenment or awareness. Nothing happening before it’s time, or too soon.

Could this be just as true?

What’s OK, or even wonderful, about this moment sitting in a quiet plane that isn’t moving?

I relax with eyes closed. I feel the chair beneath me. I hear sounds. I picture needing to spend the night in an airport somewhere because of a missed connecting flight, and realize it doesn’t matter if I do–that would be an interesting adventure.

I hear the voices in my head that call for inquiry, and notice I have nothing else more interesting to do right now than The Work. I get out my laptop and begin to write. No need to turn my phone back on.

My four major projects I hope to work on during this trip seem suddenly possible, fun, and not so overwhelming. I have time. I love time.

Who am I without my belief that the plane should be moving, when it isn’t…that I’m waiting right now (as the plane begins to move) or that the flight itself is a waiting zone?

Without the belief in waiting, I’m very clear, just doing what’s next, one thing at a time. Feeling love for anything that flashes in my inner vision. Watching the backs of peoples’ adorable heads when I look up, all the glorious shapes and sizes and colors and hair.

Resting.

Even with that old outdated repetitive thought about enlightenment being somewhere else, or in other people who aren’t me….

….I’m simply being. Here.

You Reading This, Be Ready

Starting here, what do you want to remember?

How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?

What scent of old wood hovers, what softened 

sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world

than the breathing respect that you carry

wherever you go right now?

Are you waiting

for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this

new glimpse that you found; carry into evening

all that you want from this day.

This interval you spent

reading or hearing this, keep it for life–

What can anyone give you greater than now,

starting here, right in this room,

when you turn around?

~ William Stafford

 

Without the stressful story of waiting, I’m here.

I may not have chosen it, I can’t say I prefer it to something else….

….but this is all a mystery, I’m not in charge.

I respect what’s appeared.

Seeing, smelling, hearing, being this one that I apparently am right now, connected to the world, breathing this gift.

Much love,

Grace