The Heart of the Matter

I was raised in the South, where food is part of the culture. Southerners eat at weddings, at funerals, on holidays, for birthdays; and truly we eat because we’re awake. There’s breakfast with bacon, eggs, grits, toast with butter and jam, biscuits with butter and jam, and sometimes even breakfast steak; and it’s not complete without coffee loaded with cream and sugar. Our lunch might include fried chicken, country fried steak, fried catfish, or fried green tomatoes; and of course Coca-Cola or sweet tea. Then there is dinner (or supper) with steak and potatoes, roast beef, and even a few vegetables on occasion like fried okra, brown sugar glazed yams beans cooked with bacon fat, corn bread with butter or dinner rolls with butter, and more and more sweet tea. In the end, it was not very different from the kind of fare seen all over the country, just our own (mostly fried) variations. It’s called the Western diet; as opposed to other fare around the world that consist of more plant-based and whole foods.  I have dabbled in eating healthier foods at times in my life, the smoothies with spinach blended in to drown out the taste, or iceberg based salads with little or no nutritional value; but more or less I have spent much of my life caught up in the convenience of processed and packaged foods without paying very close attention to the amount of fats, oils, sugar and salt present in these easy to make foods.  And once I had a career, eating out became a real convenience; being able to go into a restaurant and have a meal without the effort of preparing it was just too easy to pass up with my emphasis on work and spending time getting ahead in career pursuits. The pinnacle of this convenience was fast foods, and going through a drive-thru for a burger and fries allowed even more time for pursuing other activities, often in a frenetic whirlwind.

This mostly Western diet for over six decades had an effect on me, however. It was a silent effect, even if very obvious. I weighed 50-60 pounds more than was healthy for my height and body frame, and I developed Type 2 Diabetes. Even being diagnosed with diabetes only slowed down my conspicuous consumption of unhealthy foods. All those decades, my body was accumulating cholesterol and impeding the ability of my organs to process the amounts and types of foods I was ingesting, especially my pancreas, which could not regulate the sugars I poured in on a daily basis.  Even more silently, the arteries around my heart were laboring hard to hide the fats, oils and cholesterol in my diet, but it was a losing battle.  At 63 years of age, I had a heart attack.

My right coronary artery was blocked, nearly 100%.  I had just given the message at a Sunday church service, when I felt a bit “under the weather.” I had been feeling fatigued, but I put that off to a stomach virus I had a few days before (on Thanksgiving Day). I began to sweat profusely, and I began to feel a tightness in my chest, as if the muscles in my chest were beginning to spasm. I excused myself to try to relax and “walk it off” but my chest progressively got tighter and tighter, with some pain beginning. Breathing became a bit more difficult, and I went back to the group I had been talking with.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.” 

A church member with a history of heart disease diagnosed the situation, and a member trained as an EMT was called over.  Together they hurried me off to a car and to the nearest hospital emergency room as my thoughts became clouded and unfocused.

Timely response by the people around me that day put the timeline of the unfolding events in my arteries in my favor, and I quickly found myself in a Heart Catheterization Lab where the Cardiologist on call placed 4 stents in my right coronary artery.  In the aftermath of the procedure, I felt better with more energy than I had in months!  Two good friends visited me the next day in the intensive care unit, one of whom had experienced a heart attack a few months earlier.  The other friend, a medical doctor, handed me a book titled “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” by Caldwell B. Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic.  The book explained how a whole foods, plant-based diet with no meats, no dairy, no oils and no fats could reverse heart disease. Esselstyn stated that the diet, including six serving of dark leafy greens daily, could make one “heart attack proof.”  The book was not just conjecture.  Esselstyn had done his research, and had real life case studies that illustrated the power of the diet.

Later that day, my Cardiologist made his rounds, and told me that I had two other arteries that were highly blocked, the left anterior descending (LAD), known as the “widow maker” and the circumflex. He said each of these arteries were blocked at about 70% and he urged me to remain in the hospital to have elective stents placed in those arteries. I devoured Esselstyn’s book and learned that elective stents can be problematic, often causing as many problems as they solve. But in order to decline the Cardiologist’s advice to stent those two arteries, I had to make a full commitment to Esselstyn’s diet.  It was a scary decision, and one I don’t wish on anyone.  The next day, I told the Cardiologist that I would not be doing the elective stents.  The day I left the hospital, I went to the grocery store, shopped in very selective aisles, and began the Esselstyn diet that I continue to follow.

The diet had some quick effects.  I began to notice some improvements in blood sugar readings.  I began to lose weight.  These were not the reasons I started the diet, but merely positive side effects of making the change in my eating habits.  I cut out all meat and dairy, all added fats and oils, along with foods high in fats and oils.  I searched diligently through labels to find foods without added fats or oils, and I ate dark leafy greens such as kale, Swiss chard, arugula, and spinach in salads.  I had to get creative, making my own salad dressings without oil.  One of the most difficult things to adjust to was to cut down dramatically on salt.  I scoured labels to find tomato sauce with no added salt.  I quit adding salt to foods.  This was a dramatic change for me, as I had been a chronic “salt-aholic,” putting salt in every dish and even adding salt after cooking.

After two months, my blood sugars, weight, and blood pressure (with help of medications) had improved a great deal.  But it happened again.  I was at a health expo, marketing my practice, when I began to sweat profusely.  After a few minutes, I knew what was happening; the constellation of symptoms was the same as before, and my chest tightened, my breath shortened.  I began to feel light headed this time, and after a few more minutes (angry minutes, this could not be happening again after all the changes I made) I knew I was about to lose consciousness.  I put my head on our display table and told a colleague next to me, “I’m going to lose consciousness.”  And I did.

I was discouraged, disappointed, and even angry.  How could I have another heart attack?  I was doing everything I knew how to do to reverse my heart disease!  Two more stents were placed in the same artery, the right coronary artery, and I was sent on my way. Though discouraged, I knew what the research showed about Esselstyn’s diet, and I continued to believe that this diet was my best hope to stay alive.  But I really wanted to know if what I had committed to was working. The test was to come just a few weeks after my second heart attack. After the first heart attack, my cardiologist had scheduled me for a cardiac stress test, a chemically induced version of the old treadmill test.  We kept that test scheduled.  About ten days after the stress test, I went to see the cardiologist to get the results. He noted that the “bad news” was that there were signs of damage in the right coronary artery (which had now six stents from two different events), but that he couldn’t tell if this result was from the stents or new damage, but that there was no indication to go in and do anything. But the news about the other two arteries he had wanted me to get elective stents in right after my first heart attack, well, that news just made my whole week!  He indicated that he could still detect reduced flow in those arteries, but this time he told me that there was no indication that we should go in and place stents!  This was what I needed!  Finally, some evidence that the heart disease might be reversing. The diet was working!

Heart disease is a silent killer.  The first indication that I had heart disease was my first heart attack. And the most common first symptom of heart disease is… death.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!  It took a heart attack to wake me up to the dramatic diet changes I needed to make.  But making changes in diet doesn’t have to wait for a life-threatening event, no more than one has to touch a burning stove to avoid getting burned.  Take a look at these resources and decide for yourself how much risk you want to take with your life.

http://www.dresselstyn.com/site/

http://nutritionfacts.org/

https://www.drgreger.org/

http://nutritionstudies.org/

https://www.drmcdougall.com/

http://ornishspectrum.com/

http://www.forksoverknives.com/  (go to NetFlix and watch this documentary)

And join in locally in Northwest Florida:

                http://www.meetup.com/Whole-Foods-Plant-Based-Health-Network-of-NW-Florida/

Retreat: Gaining Perspective to Move Forward

Retreat. What do you think of when you hear the word? I suspect that different people have different images and ideas. Some military minds may have a negative reaction to the concept of retreat, feeling it encompasses the ideas of giving up or conceding. Other military minds may have studied the tactical advantages of retreat as a way of consolidating resources or gaining an advantage at a different time or place. The spiritual minded person may hold the idea of retreat as one of leaving the daily grind of the world for a time in order to go inward to make or grow a sense of spiritual connection and personal growth. And in some businesses, the idea of retreat may mean taking the business team off to a resort for rest and relaxation, but also for morale and team building.

Do these common notions of “retreat” share a mutual theme? In all of these versions of retreat, the
motif seems to be that of stepping away to gain balance, knowledge and growth. The natural cycles of plants and animals exhibit this, retreating in fall and winter only to emerge from their withdrawal in the spring, rejuvenated and full of new energy and growth. We can learn much from these natural cycles, and create times of retreat for ourselves aimed toward new growth, new ideas, and renewed
energy.

Retreat can be anything from an elaborate and structured time away from the cycle or routine of
work and daily life to an hour at the beach to reflect, and anything on the spectrum between these. Retreat provides the opportunity for reflection and perspective. It gives space to creatively consider and reshape how our priorities and goals align with our values and ethics. Paradoxically, retreat can provide the insight and momentum to advance with renewed focus and power.

All of that is a great rationale for taking some time away, and if you simply take a "vacation" to just get away from the daily grind, that can be very useful. But I think you can see that what I'm suggesting here as retreat involves something a bit more than a weekend getaway to the mountains, as appealing as that is! What I'm suggesting is that the spirit of retreat involves something more intentional, in growth of mind, body and/or spirit.

All I can speak to is my own experience. I have taken solitary and intentional retreats at several times in my life, most of which have been, unsurprisingly, at or before major transitions or transformations in my life. What these retreats have had in common is that they allowed me space and time to consider life and my life as a whole, and to notice the context of my life, goals and plans. Meditation has been a key part of this time, being able to notice and explore my own mind, my thoughts and beliefs, and to be able to make choices about the direction of my priorities and goals, and to evaluate how aligned these have been with my values.

An important stance in retreat is that of openness; openness to learning about oneself, and openness to changing those things which are not useful in fulfilling one's own values and goals. One retreat took me on a path to making a career change after over two decades as a successful Software Analyst, Developer, and Project Manager. Another sent me down the path of opening The Bindu Institute as a means to fulfilling my values of service and healing. In practicing retreat, I have learned to listen more carefully and more often to my "inner wisdom."

Motivation and Priorities: I Don't Have Time

"I really need to lose weight and get in shape. I should get some regular exercise in but I don't have time. I should cook more healthy meals, but I don't have time."

Time management and organization can be a real key

Does this sound like you? I get it. Finding time for self-care can be difficult with busy schedules, needing to work and bend to the demands of a job and/or an employer. Even if you're self-employed, the pressure to get things done can feel overwhelming. "I don't have time" is also a rationale that many people will empathize and sympathize with, and it's often the ticket to get a pass from others to
delay or put off self-care without seeming like you're not focused on self-care.

So, why don’t we do the things that we really (believe and say) we need to do to become healthier and happier in body, mind and spirit? We begin exploring this self-sabotaging by looking at the following three issues that impact what we do: Motivation, Priorities, Time Management and Organization.
 

Motivation is the driving force behind doing anything. That driving force can be strong enough to move us to action (e.g., dodging a ball thrown at us) or it can be weak and not compelling enough to make us do something (e.g., not making a dental appointment). Motivators can also be positive, such as anticipating the taste and feeling of eating ice cream; or negative, such as anticipating the feeling of being hit by a car if you don’t get across the street quickly enough. And motivation can come from within (internal motivation) or from outside ourselves (external). Feeling motivated can change over time as our emotions and perceptions change. In fact, our emotions and perceptions are large factors in motivations. When trying to develop, maintain, or enhance motivation, it helps to take an honest look at what is driving or inhibiting you from accomplishing your goal. 

Priorities, simply put, are the things that are important to us. The more important it is to us to reach a goal, the more motivated we are to actually do something about it. If someone asks us what our priorities are, usually most people have little difficulty talking about what’s important to them, and what goals they have. But in reality, our priorities show up more profoundly not in what we say, but in what we actually do. When we say “I don’t have time,” there are two possibilities: we actually do not have the time, or it really isn’t a priority. In either case, there is something we can do. If we are having difficulty finding time for things important to us, then we need to look at how we are managing time and organizing our life. On the other hand, if what we need to do is not a priority, we may need to look at developing and enhancing our motivation to accomplish the goal. 

Time Management & Organization can be a real key for some people to break through and begin accomplishing things they have been wanting and needing to accomplish. When “I don’t have time” really translates to “I don’t manage my time well enough to …” then the first task in accomplishing goals will be to develop and practice new time management and organization skills. The first thing to do is to do a “time audit.” Now, there are many formal ways to do this, including paying someone to help; but my suggestion is to just start being mindful where you are spending time, but unless you have a photographic memory, you will have to keep some type of log to know where you are spending your time. It may also be useful to begin to notice patterns in when you are most efficient throughout the day or week. The information you collect here will help with the next stage of making time management and organization changes. Next, look where you have time available, and what you may want to stop spending your time doing (e.g., activities that don’t promote reaching and fulfilling goals and activities that actually make goals more difficult for you to reach). Then, schedule time for working on your priorities, including self-care and other activities that will increase your ability to reach other important goal. For example, if your goal is to practice meditation, then put your meditation time on your schedule. If your goal is to read, then set aside time that you specifically dedicate to reading.

I think most of us have used the “I don’t have time” rationale for not working on self-care and other goals. Making changes can be difficult and working on new goals takes us into new areas that can be out of our comfort zone. But if the goal is really important, to your mental health, physical health, or spiritual health, then it really may not be that “I don’t have time” for self-care; the truth may be that “I don’t have time” to not do self-care activities!

What Do You Have in Mind?

"What do you have in mind?"  This question could be the beginning of a shift in perspective with the potential to transform your life.  What DO you have in mind?  I mean IN your mind. What thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and self-talk dominates and repeats? And does it even matter what you have "in mind?"

Let's start with why it may make a great deal of difference what you have in mind. Did you know that with every thought, your brain releases brain chemicals? In the article Happy Brain, Happy Life, Susan Reynolds notes that "Your frontal lobe, particularly your PFC [pre-frontal cortex], decides what is important according to the amount of attention you pay to something and how you feel about it. Thus, the more you focus on negativity, the more synapses and neurons your brain will create that support your negative thought process. Of course, it also follows that the more you focus on positive thoughts, the stronger the neural paths to support positive thinking.

The implication is that you have the power to train your brain by choosing what thoughts, ideas, and beliefs you allow to dominate your awareness and attention. The process of training this awareness goes by many names. In many eastern traditions meditation includes the process of training awareness and attention of the mind. Currently in the west, mindfulness is becoming the buzzword for this type of awareness. Why so much focus on awareness of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs? Because in order to change a habit pattern, even the habit of thinking, you must first be aware of the pattern, notice it, before a different choice can be made. It really is possible to become aware of the character of your thoughts and make a conscious decision to change your focus of thought, which in turn can change your brain and set a new (hopefully more useful) pattern of thinking.

I’ll give an example which may initially seem off topic here. Some years ago, while searching for a new vehicle to purchase, I came upon a model that I did not recall seeing many of on the road.  While not the reason for buying that model, it seemed unique to me added to the list of reasons I bought it. Within a few days of driving it, however, I began to see literally dozens of the same make, model, and even color of the vehicle I had assumed was unique. My experience was an example of the Baader-Meinhof effect (also known as the frequency illusion), the phenomenon in which people who just learn or notice something start seeing it everywhere. In fact, the frequency of seeing that particular vehicle make, model and color had not changed from prior to my purchased. What had changed was what my mind was primed to notice. This effect plays a role in the so-called Law of Attraction, which posits that what one focuses one's attention on, one will receive in kind. Being able to train your mind on the positive in present moment experiences that you probably overlooked if you were in the habit of focusing on the negative narrative of experience. Life begins to take on a feel of optimism and positive opportunities are less likely to be missed. It is really about opening up to the full range of experience and possibilities.

It is really about opening up to the full
range of experience and possibilities

So how does this feel in practice? A rose-colored glasses approach where you ignore what you don't like is definitely not what I'm talking about. Ignoring the rattlesnake in your path will not help in any way!  

Your brain is hard-wired to notice threats for a purpose, that is, survival. But in modern times, we have generalized this survival skill into areas that are not always useful, such as road rage, and with the glut of sensationalism in media, advertising and social media permeating our experience, we often notice less of our lives in the present moment, and miss opportunities due to skepticism and a generalized lack of trust.

Changing your thought and attention habits is a process, and will take work, patience and time.  Here are some ways you can begin:

1. Begin with a simple exercise. Pick a time near the end of each day to take 15 minutes to think back over your day. List at least three positive things that happened during the day. Add to the list every evening. This begins the process of showing your mind how to focus on the positive. After this becomes routine, move on to step 2.

2. Notice something positive in someone else and give them kudos for it. This exercise begins to train your attention on the positive in the present moment. After this becomes routine, move on to step 3.

3. Notice bodily sensations and emotions. Setting the intention, and practicing awareness of the senses and emotions can alert and ground you to your present experience. If the sensations and emotions are those of anxiety, or feeling threatened, take a moment to take in some slow, deep breaths and re-evaluate. If the feeling of threat is more imagined than real (much of the time this is the case for me) then remind yourself that you are safe. If the sensations and emotions reflect positive experience, take a few slow, deep breaths and allow the experience to sink in. This exercise enables your mind to redirect from useless states of anxiety, and to revel in the experience of the present moment.

What you allow to stay in mind can have a profound effect on your experience of life. Being mindful of thoughts, emotions, and sensations is the beginning of making positive changes. Being open to the possibilities present in all of our experience in the present moment allows us to evaluate what thoughts are worth keeping in mind, and what thoughts to evict.