BODY/MIND: Infopharmacy Nutrition Makeover Week 20

We ebb and we flow with everything. Moods, weight, feelings, relationships. Physically, my weight has gone up a little in the last month; it has been a hard winter any way you slice it. The news has been grim and the weather cold. But it is ok. The most important thing is what has been happening on the inside, while I was taking a look at the outside.

With our wedding in four short weeks, on the first day of spring, the reality has become much much sharper that a major change is underway. There is some point in your relationship where everything gets a little more serious and a little more real. We just hit that point. It is an amazing feeling when you realize you are opening an entirely new door, unlike any you have opened before.

You can have a wedding for a day or two, but what you are really doing is embarking on a marriage, a lifetime commitment. To be ready for that I had to do a lot of closet cleaning over the past eight weeks and it is tortuous work returning to issues, thoughts and behaviors and scrutinize whether they will make the voyage with you into your new life. (Strawberry milkshakes have made that process easier; it is worth its weight.)

What did I find in that closet that I will leave behind? I am leaving behind attachments to relationships that take away more from me than they return; I am leaving behind bad physical habits and addictions; I am leaving behind my self critic and judgment; I am leaving behind the perpetual insecurity of aloneness; I am leaving behind as much fear as I can.

And what I am taking? I am taking what I hope is an open heart and willingness to be vulnerable; I am taking with me newfound self-confidence in my intellectual and physical selves; I am taking with me good daily habits – like eating well and meditation - that reinforce those positive vibrations; I am taking gratitude and humility that it is a gift to be in love and to be loved.

We recently had the experience of visiting older friends, who are artists and architects, in the beautiful countryside of Connecticut. It was a true pleasure to be around mature love and a pleasure to spend time with people where there is no ulterior agenda. The visit was simply to enjoy each other’s company and eat well. The pleasure of the nutrition makeover is that as you recognize nuance in a controlled setting, like in your body, you are more readily able to recognize it in other situations. And if there is one thing I feel I have learned, it is that love is an incredibly nuanced thing, continually shape shifting. Ebbing and flowing; building and growing. Love is dynamic. And so are we.

MIND: How to have a relationship

I thought this piece, published in this month's Kripalu newsletter, was really sweet. It exulted the work of the relationship as spiritual practice, rather than work to 'make it work'.

loners and lovers: one man’s reflections on relationship

by Jeff Davis

Despite rumors that men and women might originate from different planets, it’s hard to know which of the differences between us are gender-related and what’s unique to a person, a culture, or a given era. With this month’s Valentine’s Day celebration of love, we wanted to hear a man’s views on the elusive mystery of couplehood. In this essay, writer and teacher Jeff Davis shares his personal reflections, honest opinions, and real-life experiences in the world of relationship.

In college, I ogled over a smoky black-and-white photograph of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. In their book-flooded study, Jean-Paul sits at his desk on one end of the room, and on the other side Simone sits at hers. The photo of the French philosophical duo—however pent-up their appearance and however strained their marriage—promised that I could find a partner who would arouse my intellect as well as my body and vice versa. Our tongues would rap about mortality and the human condition, we would make riotous love, and then we would each pursue our respective endeavors.

Ah, youth. I viewed myself a loner doomed to romance. I relished being alone for hours or days on end, immersed in writing and in the woods. But I also savored the idea of being absorbed with and by a beloved—I say the idea of since, truth is, I did not have many, if any, lovers. I wanted it all: time to myself and an adoring and adorable partner. I remain an idealist.

“You are in relationship,” the Indian thinker J. Krishnamurti says. Who you are, in essence, manifests and emerges through how you relate to others. Those words, read several years ago, tore at what I had grown up believing: that I am I, and I am most “I” when alone! A good relationship would be accessory, a tweed vest to a suit otherwise fine on its own but admittedly much richer with the vest. That Thoreau-inspired staunch individualist had numerous rude awakenings in his thirties and is happy to report—after growing up about six times since he was 19 years old through a few relationships and a divorce—that Krishnamurti was spot on.

At 43, I adore my wife. I clean the house; she cooks. We practice yoga together most mornings these days. When she comes home from work, I ask her how her day went. Sheesh, I even like to talk about how our relationship is going.

I am in relationship to my wife, Hillary. I can be moody and curmudgeonly, petty and judgmental, if I do not dose up on spiritual and creative solitude. And as my first wife would tell you, I am far from being a relationship expert. Oh, I could advise men on how to be lovers, not brothers or fathers, in relationships, but I’ll save that for another essay. I would like to say a few things, however, to the various lovers in the world—the immersed lovers and saturated lovers, the aspiring lovers, the broken lovers. My years of experience and hindsight have, I hope, borne a few worthy bits of advice regarding how to negotiate our ideals of love, the need for solitude in relationship, and mutual support for creative passions when we, as psychologist Rollo May wrote, “stand in love.”

On Love and Spirituality
Several years ago, my girlfriend at the time, a yoga teacher, said, “I fear you have expectations of me that I can never live up to.” What expectations? That you’re the perfect goddess? That you complete me and make me whole? Within a few years, that relationship dissolved.

Forget worship. That’s one thing I’ve learned about relationships and idealism. Rather than projecting some unattainable “soul mate” tag on my partner, I try to see my beloved as she is—delights and disgusts, integrity and insecurities, beauty and bafflements—as one complex, and divine, package. When we see our partner not as a singular god or goddess but as a veritable Hindu or Greek pantheon with conflicting passions and complex selves, we might more likely “stand in love” as our partner’s identity inevitably unfolds and changes. Granted, I don’t want Hillary to become a sword-wielding, head-severing Kali every day, but she must be allowed her Kali moments just as I should be allowed my lusty Pan moments.

Other advice? Beware demanding your partner “be spiritual” the way you might deem yourself spiritual. When Hillary and I first dated, she no longer practiced yoga regularly even though she had been certified as an Integral Yoga teacher years earlier. When I asked if she had a spiritual practice, she said, yes, the way she conducted her life. When I asked if she meditated, she said, yes, when she is in the woods sitting and observing plants and light, animals and elements. She respected my yoga and meditation practice, but I had to learn to curb my impulses to urge her to get thee to the mat every day. And yet she never demanded I get thee to the woods. I learned instead to relent and respect. Years later, we each practice yoga and meditate each morning, not always at the same time. And usually once a week, we each spend a day outdoors in our respective sit spots, making notes and maps of our natural surroundings. Her words and ways daily teach me about God.

Demand your man pray more, and he might only damn you under his breath. Insist your woman sit on a zafu cushion beside you, and she might tell you to sit on it. That my wife does deepen my spirituality is a fortunate outcome of a relationship built on mutual respect, adoration, passion, and support. When we establish a relationship on such tangible daily qualities through our words and actions, rather than on abstract ideals, a deepened spiritual partnership can follow.

On Love and Solitude
Nothing so wears down a relationship as feeling crowded and clung to. It helps to have common ideals regarding solitude, but partners with different needs can support one another. A previous girlfriend was my solitude and social opposite. She thrived on new friendships and gatherings in ways I thrived on being alone with my ideas and my writing. We worked it out: I often stayed home writing while she saw friends and attended social events, and she also hosted a few dinner parties. Years later, her butterfly ways have rubbed off. I’ve learned some social graces and can maintain satisfying friendships. And maybe she gained some of my solitary ways.

A few years ago, Hillary agreed to try a silent weekend. No phone. No Internet. And no verbal conversations with each other. We could signal one another in a sort of Charades-like way, but no spoken words. At one point during the weekend, I arose from my desk, found her in the garden, and asked with my fingers if she wished to take a walk. For over an hour, we wandered through a meadow and woods where we had never been, the vibration of the tall grass, the crows, the wind, and the two of us charged. No words. We took meals together with smiles and gazes. But no words. The experience of being alone together, Hillary agreed, magnified our intimacy.

So, a third thing I’d advise to lovers is to discuss each other’s needs for solitude. And if you do not require as much solitude as your lover, don’t take it personally unless you’re jealous of his or her relationship to God or the woods or art. Whether you two “cling” to one another or whether one or both of you has “too much” solitude, a silent weekend with natural daily activities together interwoven can reestablish trust and create healthy intimacy in ways no conversation can.

On Love, Creative Pursuits, and Sex
Each person pursues a passion, and each person supports the other’s passion. That’s a simple adage drawn from my experiences and observations of what works in a relationship. Each couple can figure out its own ideal. The idea of having a partner in my vicinity engrossed in her own passionate work while I likewise am immersed in mine still stirs many parts of me. It is as if each of our souls and imaginations has a reciprocal and tangible guardian angel somewhere in the not-too-distant background looking out for us. (Told you I’m still an idealist.)

Hillary’s passionate work is more attuned to the earth, gardening, and healing people than to the writing life—a happy separation of creative labor for us both. To be her lover in part means I take direct interest in her passions even though they are not immediately mine. When, while standing next to a vernal stream, she waxes philosophical about how, from a Chinese medicine point of view, streams course through our bodies and are part and parcel of the waters we swim in, I swoon. And what did she ask for for Christmas? A compost thermometer and a special knife to help her cut tough vegetable roots. I love that. On our happiest days, we have breakfast together, and then I retreat to my study and she to her garden. We take breaks for lunch and conversation and, yes, sometimes on-the-fly lovemaking indoors or outdoors.

Which brings me to the last and perhaps most essential topic for lovers: sex. When I flow in my creative work and when my lover flows in hers, we are both highly aroused. Through our own creative endeavors, we connect deeply not only to our physical selves but also to our seed selves that swirl with the same basic earth-stuff that shoots shoots in spring.

Granted I could write another essay or book for that matter on sex alone, but perhaps the most salient advice I’d offer guys in love is their groins must have a direct line to their heart. Or else sex is mostly self-gratification and no relation. This morning over breakfast, Hillary talked about how excited she was to plant garlic this autumn. Sunlight hit her soft cheeks, and my eyes saw her face freshly yet again. I wanted to make love to her right there on the farm table. It’s as if a bell in my heart awakens my groins.

At this moment, while I am writing, I can see her outdoors, her hands in the dirt, her heart full.

Jean-Paul and Simone should be so lucky.

Jeff Davis is a writer, national workshop leader, yoga teacher, and author of The Journey from the Center to the Page. On faculty at Western Connecticut State University’s MFA Writing Program, Jeff coaches and teaches writers around the country.

BODY: InfoPharmacy Nutrition Makeover Week 17

Last week I went to pick up my wedding dress. Jeffrey, a sassy Chinese tailor, came to fit the handmade ivory silk satin gown. The torso seemed more snug than I remembered when I selected it back in November. “Four pounds,” he ordered me. “You lose.”

I was mortified. The holidays, it appeared, had truly caught up with me. Sugar is a slippery slope. Before year end, I had managed to take a small lick here and there and continued to lose some weight while making progress with my nutrition. But over the holidays, a candy here led to a cream puff there. Every day. And it was sticking to the ribs; I lost my motivation and I felt sluggy. I stopped writing on this blog. I was backsliding in a major way.

Unsurpisingly sugar’s BFF, caffeine, was also starting to add up: my coffee size went from medium to large. One large cup went to two large cups. My sleep was beginning to suffer.

Recognizing this, I made the conscious decision to get serious again: my wedding is in eight weeks and I not only want to look great in this beautiful gown, but I to reflect externally all the positive work I have made internally.

So I tackled three things: reducing sugar, reducing caffeine and exercising more.

To eliminate sugar I have made sure to bring sweet fruit with me to work – right now Florida pink grapefuit are $0.79/pound and are so satisfying. Also I find, much like nicotine, if you can make it through the first day or two of cravings (herbal tea works well), then the cravings start to go away.

The caffeine is a big one for me: I love my morning coffee. However, I purchased a small thermos to start making and bringing my morning joe to work with me to save money and reduce my caffeine intake. I brew one scoop of coffee with one scoop of Teeccino, an herbal coffee that adds a fruity element to the brew. I add unsweetened soy milk instead of sugary Silk. The added benefit is that I also save $2.07 every morning.

Lastly exercise. The more I do, the more I want to do so this has been relatively easy to jump start. I was going to one or two yoga classes a week, but now I exercising 4-5 times a week. I got the new schedule for my gym and found two classes (spin and pilates fusion) I like, created an arm routine for the strapess dress and bought a membership at my yoga studio to cut costs on classes (so I can go to more). After just two weeks of consistent exercise I feel a big difference and feel stronger.

The beautiful thing about the body is how resilient it is; it's so adaptable and responsive to change. One of the gifts of this program (and also being sober and nicotine free) is that the body as a science lab comes to the fore. I can feel with nuance when food and exercise uplift me or brings me down. For example, I have noticed with beef especially that I can feel quite hungover and depressed the next day after eating some portion (even very high-quality meat). I have become unable to tolerate large quantities of dairy and a double-espresso is something to be used in extreme moderation as a party "drug".

As easy as it was to backslide, it is wonderful to come back and rededicate myself to this process.

BODY: Underground Abortions

This article in the New York Times (Jan. 5, 2009) was so important as it documents several crucial facts about abortion:

a) women will continue to seek termination to unwanted pregnancies regardless of the law (and therefore we need to keep it safe and legal!)

b) privacy is an essential factor is making a decision about how to proceed with an unwanted pregnancy

c) off-label use for drugs is common, as are home remedies.

All of these reasons are so important to keeping abortion safe and legal. Visit Planned Parenthood for more information.

-CN