Saturday 30 June 2012

IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT FOOD, BUT IT SURE HELPS!

3 O'CLOCK. UP AND SLOWLY INTO YOGA FOR THE NEXT HOUR. HAD BEEN UP EARLIER, FOR SIPS OF WATER, BUT ONCE THE PRACTICE WAS OVER, HAD MY USUAL PINT OF ROOM-TEMPERATURE WATER WITH HALF A SQUEEZED LEMON.



WATCHED H.H. DALAI LAMA GIVING TALK ON MEDITATION & HAPPINESS...

BREAKFAST
ONE GRAPEFRUIT & 2 SATSUMAS
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5.3O'ISH OUT FOR CYCLE RIDE IN DIRECTION OF THE SEA-FRONT. SOME TEENAGERS ASK ME IF I CAN DRIVE THEM HOME! THEN, CHAT WITH AIDAN @ HIS PHOENIX BAKERY. HOME @ SIX FOR...
A FEW SOAKED ALMONDS (20?)
(PROTEIN AFTER EXERCISE)
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MADE A POT OF HERBAL TEA, TO SIP WHEN COOL DURING THE MORNING, UNTIL I GOT TO GO OUT - I HAD A MAIL-ORDER DELIVERY...


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7.00....ZAZEN...
25 minutes sitting....i do not have a timer....i do not have a strict schedule....i do not sit on zafu (cushion) since damaging left hip and knee, following directive of..."pain is the taste of zazen." TOOK ABOUT 12 YEARS TO HEAL...
 ...just "suddenly" noticed one day, when i had resumed yoga practice once again. i do sit on zafu - it has such a good postural feeling...but only for "fun", for a few minutes, to remember the MAGIC ...



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LATER IN MORNING, AN HOUR OR SO OF GARDENING IN THE SUNSHINE...ATE FIVE PLUMS... HAD HERBAL TEA, FROM TEA-POT, & WATER, UNTIL MAKING MY WAY TO DORCHESTER - FINALLY GETTING TO LEAVE AT ABOUT 11.00.
OUT FOR 3 HOURS OR SO. CONSUMED...
SMALL PUNNET OF BLUEBERRIES
ONE BANANA
MINERAL WATER, AS DESIRED
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@ 15.00 I WAS DRINKING THIS FROM MY PINT GLASS..


...WHICH I JUICED FROM THESE...

DEEEE-LISH-USSS!
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MY DAD WOULD'VE RECOGNISED THE "MAGIC" IN THE WOODED SCENE I SAW, WHILE CYCLING ALONG THE RODWELL TRAIL, THIS A'NOON...BUT HE NO LONGER ACCEPTED THAT THERE WAS ANY "MAGIC" IN FOOD. AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THE VARIOUS DIETS I ADOPTED OVER THE YEARS. HE WOULD QUIP AT MY SALADS..."IS THAT THE SERVING BOWL?!" HE COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT A MEAL LIKE THIS...


...WAS ANY MORE "MAGICAL" THAN HIS SHEPHERD'S PIE, BOUGHT FROM THE LOCAL SUPERMARKET. AND IT WAS HE WHO REARED US AS VEGETARIAN BABIES IN THE LATE 40'S AND EARLY 50'S. BUT HE DID CONTINUE WITH HIS HATHA YOGA, EVEN WHEN HE HAD LEUKAEMEA. BUT WOULD NOT TRY A GREEN JUICE ON A REGULAR BASIS. BUT. BUT. BUT....WE DID GET VERY CLOSE, AT LAST, AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. AND WE WOULD NATTER FOR AGES IN THE  LATE A'NOONS, WHEN I WOULD BRING HIM FRESH CREAM CAKE AND A CUP OF TEA! IT WAS WHAT HE WANTED. IT WAS WHAT HE LIVED FOR AT 86 YEARS OF AGE. AND IT WAS THE FOOD THAT BROUGHT US TOGETHER MORESO, WHEN HE WAS ILL. IT WAS NOT HEALTH-FOOD...OR WAS IT?!
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LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT FOOD. THERE IS MAGIC IN FOOD - BUT IT CANNOT BE QUANTIFIED.
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2 comments:

  1. food is such a complicated subject for humans! it's not just fuel, it's social, it's comfort, it signifies love, and so many other things I haven't even mentioned I'm sure.

    love the trip through your day by food. looks wonderfully healthy!

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  2. THE BIG SALAD,IN PICTURE,WAS ALL THE USUAL FUN-OF-THE-FAIR, BUT TOPPED WITH A DRESSING MADE FROM A BOUGHT RAW HOMMOSS, WITH ADDED LEMON JUICE, WATER AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR TO THIN IT, SO THAT IT WOULD COAT ALL THE SALAD, WHEN I "TOSSED" IT....OUT THE WINDOW !!!! NO...ONLY JOKING, AS USUAL!! BUT ALL THE FOODS MENTIONED WERE ORGANIC....

    THERE IS A NICE STORY ABOUT AN INDIAN MONK..CANNOT REMEMBER HIS NAME!!!..BUT AS A YOUNG MONK AND BEING HINDU, HE WAS STRICTLY, STRICTLY VEGETARIAN. AT AN IMPORTANT HOLY FESTIVAL THE MONKS LINED-UP TO RECEIVE HOLY FOOD (PRASAAD) FROM THE MASTER. OF COURSE THIS DEVOUT VEGETARIAN, WHEN HE SAW THAT THE FOOD WAS CHUNKS OF MEAT, REFUSED TO OPEN HIS MOUTH WHEN STOOD BEFORE THE MASTER OFFERING IT. THE MASTER GRABBED THIS MONKS NOSE,AND WHEN HE OPENED HIS MOUTH TO BREATHE, THE MASTER PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH AND PUT HIS HAND OVER THE MONKS MOUTH SO THAT HE HAD TO CHEW AND SWALLOW. THE MASTER TOLD HIM THAT PRASAAD COULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BE REFUSED. IT IS ACCEPTING THAT SOME THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY PERSONAL VALUES OR IDEALS. IT WOULD BE LIKE SOMEONE REFUSING A GRANDMOTHERS CAKE THAT SHE HAD MADE GREAT EFFORT TO MAKE. WE ACCEPT CERTAIN THINGS IN LIFE OUT OF LOVE THAT IS FAR BEYOND ANY PRINCIPLE !!!! I SHOULD HEED MY OWN KNOWLEDGE MORESO...LIVE FROM MY HEART....

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