Health Addict

  Hi. I'm Shane, and I'm a health addict.

  Wouldn't that be funny to hear someone say in a support group? I don't but then I am one, so... And it really wouldn't surprise me to find out they have such a thing for people like me.

  For the record, I'm in recovery; have been over the past few years. I've grown stronger in every way and my psychological attitude regarding what health means to me has been refined and is much more in harmony with the rest of me.
  For a long time, or a few years at least, I got a little lost once I started heading down the "healthy" road. I had no tour guides, no real guidance period. As with all things, I jumped right in head first. And it hurt. A lot. My obsessive-compulsive tendencies came out full bore and I contribute my sudden acquisition of eczema to my increased stress levels during this time, something I still struggle with from time to time. The eczema, and the stress.

  My question is: what do you eat? It seems everyone has an opinion but not one single person is completely correct. Still, they just can't seem to get on board with each other and I know I'm not the only person it confuses the shit out of. It took me a lot of hard experimentation to find what I knew, or at least understood all along: to eat simply is best.
  Regardless of what "diet" you subscribe to, whether you're vegan, vegetarian, lacto-ovo, paleo, raw.. whatever, I think we can all agree that the best food is the most natural food, and not in the marketing definition of "All-Natural"; it's been proven that such terms mean absolutely nothing, and do not guarantee the purity of the product.
  For some things, we're at the whim of a (hopefully) reputable and trustworthy company who possesses the same values as we do, which is healthy, natural food the way nature intended. Genetically Modified Organisms are real. Preservatives are real. Pink Slime is real. And none of it is good. For us, or the planet.

  I eat meat, always have, always will. My family hunts, and my father harvests, dresses, butchers and processes the deer himself from start to finish; the very definition of clean meat. Yes, it's red but I'll take my chances just by knowing where it comes from and whose hands it passes through. However, no plan is fool-proof and the fact that said deer eat corn from fields whose crops likely come from Monsanto seed that has been Genetically Modified is a hard lesson in futility, but not surrender.
 
  You can't control everything, and despite all our best efforts, our world is polluted. There's better options out there but the one and only way to ensure you're getting the best possible product is to buy the best possible product and make everything else yourself. Yeah, I know. It's the 21st century. People are busy with school and a full-time job and kids and a mortgage so who has time to cook? i really can't answer that, though I wish I could. I know what works for me but you have to find what works for you.

  As for me, I'll continue to search the depths and report back here with my findings.

21st Century Yoga Man

  There's a bit of a stigma attached to being a yogi in this day and age; I guess to be fair, it was that way in all days and ages but especially in this one, only because I'm completely caught up in it. By the way, a great big nod to King Crimson (in the title)..

  The stigma of being a yogi is something I'm not at all uncomfortable with, as I've always walked a different path in my own life, perceived and translated things differently than possibly the norm. So, the social stigma does not concern me so much as the personal stigma I impose on myself.
  You see, I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to things, and am very much an all-or-nothing type of person. I remain a bit cynical of technology (though undoubtedly hopelessly yet willingly bound to it, and recognize its importance, or at the very least, merits, in our modern society) and tend to reject most of what is considered popular opinion in favor of anything "traditional". I'm a bit old-school, in that sense.
  Now, this is really not TOO much of an issue unless you are as neurotic as I am, and insist on tracking down that unicorn of perfection: It simply does not exist and I remain painfully aware of this, further complicating and contradicting matters. So, I have a confession:

  I love beer. Craft beer. I love the culture and the "scene" and everything about it, even the snobby ones who smell grapefruit and buttered toffee in the nose.

  The conundrum is that alcohol is about as un-yogic as it gets. It really does nothing positive for the body or mind or humanity in general, for that matter. But I love it. Ok, at the very least I just highly enjoy it, because I view it from the culinary and alchemical perspective: It's a process to brew it and takes quite a bit of ingenuity, basic knowledge of natural ingredients and definitely an insistence on high quality to make it in this market. There's also a lot of passion in it, and I can speak for myself and many others to say how rewarding it is to track down a long sought-after beer and enjoy it either with good company or good food; preferably both.
  All these things are contra-indicated to the path of the yogi, however, and as I do not like to do anything half-assed, this creates a bit of inner turmoil in me. I generally do not mix the two; I will do my yoga early in the morning or before the last meal of the day, then treat myself to a beer later with said meal, or just abstain altogether, depending on the day. This method generally works but I still feel that nagging in the back of my skull that tells me, "clearly you are not a yogi at all, and don't you dare talk of yourself as one". But here's the thing:

  I AM one, a yogi.

  No one has ever said anything to the contrary or tried to tell me otherwise (mostly because it's not something I broadcast in my daily life) but no one has to because that voice comes out of me, and even if someone else were to, I probably wouldn't hear a word of it anyway.

  The point is, if I have anything resembling one, that the fact remains how we do NOT all live in India, or in caves, or can afford to practice every nuance of a tried and true yoga practice every day, though it is good to read up on your classics to have a fucking clue as to where it all came from and what the original intention behind it is; knowledge is power, after all. (And it's sexy, too..)
  We live in a pretty confused time but I think it's probably always been this way. It's just not practical to give up all our earthly possessions and vices and become strict ascetics. Some do, and succeed and seek what they sought to find but for the rest of us morning, noon, night and weekend warriors, well: It's every bit as important to have a life, too. All considerations taken and put aside, once you start to restrict the things you love, especially that you may only enjoy occasionally, you create more anxiety and resentment within yourself and this can manifest in any number of ways, none of them good.
    Without getting into a long discourse of what a true yogi is and is not, let's just say that it is likely for all peoples' best interests EVERYWHERE, despite belief sets or personal dogma, to take care of their bodies and their minds; this, of course, meaning through intake and output, in all manner of ways. Food, water, air, clothing, expression, emotion, conduct, etc; it's a lot more than just funky postures. No one ever said anything about not being able to enjoy the things you love in life. So, I suppose the age-old maxim "All things in moderation", is really the most practical advice of all (granted common sense is being utilized).


  I'm no closer to an internal settlement with this little personal debate but for now, I will continue to love BOTH beer and yoga, each in their own time and place.