Steve - you seem to be hitting some realizations I've had while experimenting (30+ day trials) with strict vegetarianism. I went "vegan" for about two months not too long ago. I adopted the "meat is murder" mindset in a way, just to see what it was like. At first, I really felt a boost - I was apart of something. I was better than those dirty meat eaters. People really resisted my change and I became quite isolated. If I went to a favorite restaurant with friends, I was usually reduced to eating some poorly done vegetable dish that tasted like crap. Social aspects are apart of my - I think - more holistic eating plan now. And I've dropped the belief that "meat is murder" and related beliefs such as that. They just didn't turn out to be that effective for me. I felt really unhappy much of the time focusing on that sort of thing. I still don't eat a lot of meat, but I'm just not that harsh about it.
I've done more health minded changes like adopting an "Eat to Live" diet as well (out of the book of that title by Dr. Joel Fuhrman). He calls the diet "the best diet on the planet" or something like that. I agree that nutritionally, it's probably very sound. I agree with the science. But, he has a very traditional doctor's view of health it would seem, and doesn't really seem to take into account the other aspects of health other than food. It reminds me of the scene in the Matrix where they're eating that goop, one guy complains about it, and the other says that it's the best mix of amino acids etc. So it's like yes, but... I'm sure people who've seen the movie will know what I mean!
Another thing that I've experienced myself from your day 20 post:
"Could I have been the one who was putting the energy there in the first place? Was I assigning some quality to that produce as a result of my assumptions and expectations?"
I've gotten to these "dry spots" myself many times. I know exactly how you feel, but I tend to end the experiment right there! There just seem to be too many clues out there that, to me, point to the idea that mindset, attention, focus and intention seem to be more important than food and other behaviors. Look at all the yogis who smoked like chimneys and lived to be nearly 100 years old. I know an American kung fu instructor that smokes and does a lot of Qigong! Diet just seems much less important to me now than it did. I just feel like investing that energy and attention elsewhere.
Brendon
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