The Science of Happiness?

Forget Survival of the Fittest: It is Kindness That Counts

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=kindness-emotions-psychology&page=2

Eat Something

True Story:

A girl once had inexplicable and irresistible cravings for dirt. Yes dirt. Soil, earth, mud, muck, whatever you want to call it, she wanted to eat it. Realizing full well the sordid strangeness of the situation, she tucked herself away in a corner of her backyard, got down on her paws with a bite-sized shovel and secretly spooned away. Too embarrassed to tell anyone, it was years before she figured out why, when all the other kids wanted snickers bars and donuts, all she could think about was actually eating all those backyard mud pies.

Turns out she had a severe iron deficiency.

It makes me wonder, whenever I have craved something a little unorthodox for the healthy yogini crowd I spin with (miso spread straight on toast, candy corn, french fries dipped in Wendy's frosties, BBQ sauce straight out of the bottle, lumps of butter, or pickle juice), if I usually talk myself out of eating something strange that holds the vits and mins my body really needs. (Okay, okay, I know, candy corn?)

Still with all the plethora of diet and health information that changes its mind every week, overlaps and underpins, proves this and denies that, how are we supposed to really sort out what is good for us or bad for us? Red wine is good for the heart while carbs are bad. Wait, now some carbs are good but no fat. No, no, the fat free craze was in the 90s, now it's all about 30% protein, 30% fat, 60% good carbs. And I need to remember to get my 5-9 servings of whole grains, 2-3 servings of dairy, 1000 miligrams of Calcium, B-12 and Vitamin C, avoid polluted fish, get plenty of Omega fatty acids, try to eat raw as much as possible, chill out on the nuts, skip dairy, eat butter to support my immune system, count calories, snack 3 times a day, eat only two big meals a day and keep an intricate journal of foods that make me feel good and not so good.

Gaw! Unless you're a full time nutritionist, who has the time to get this all sorted out and still maintain the simple pleasure of food?

After years of calorie counting, fad dieting, Jane Fonda step-aerobics and fizzled detox plans, I've come to only one conclusion that really makes sense and that works for me.

Eat something.

Preferably something that makes you feel good.

The closest "diet" I've found that condones this lavishly liberal motto is Ayurveda. While no simpleton science, at the end of the day an Ayurveda practitioner will tell you to listen to your body's signals when determining what to eat, based on what feels right both prior to eating AND two hours later. If it's meat and potatoes, do it. If it's peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, be my guest. If it's raw beet kale juice, keep that juicer roaring all night baby. If it's dirt, find someone to talk to.

The New American Dream

Obama flew in like a pragmatic fairy last fall and rocked our world, challenging the ideas we held about our nation and ourselves. Now the honey moon is over, winter is dripping into spring, and many of us are left wondering, "okay, now what?" There's a momentum for change, a vision for change, and plenty of posterboards and bumper stickers calling out the battle cry. But where exactly do we fit in to all of this "change" business? And what is it that we're trying to change?

America is known for its innovation and fiercely independent free spirit, which has the power to challenge preconceived notions and human boundaries. At times we experience the darker side to that ideal, the side that mistakes independence for selfish individualism. As we begin to emerge from this darker period of history, we are facing some unexpected challenges - economically, environmentally, politically - that have will radically redefine the way we think and live our lives.

There are, however, two pieces of very good news. One: we're already bred for facing challenges to tradition. That's why we jumped aboard the Mayflower, hopped the fence, got on the plane, drove out West, moved across the country to the ports of San Francisco.

Two: it is inevitably in the challenges that we find the opportunity for growth. I see the slumping economy as a nod to mother earth and a step towards stronger community. Less time spending money means more time spending time with our friends and family, sharing our resources with each other, and rediscovering our incredible wealth that can't be measured by dollar bills.

Life is blossoming all around us and within us. As traditional models of living begin to break down around us, I believe we all have the inner courage to find the incredible opportunities that lies within our current challenges. When times are hard, we don't really need a new situation; all we need is a new set of eyes to find possibility where there is loss, to find love where there is fear, and to remember the incredible wholeness of life. Its inevitable ups and downs are, in fact, the same teacher that guide us on our path of growth. Today I'm joining my two palms in Namaste to remind myself of the yoga teachings of equanimity for all aspects of life, which as Abe Lincoln would say, "we can lament in the fact that roses have thorns or rejoice in the fact that thorns have roses." As we each find our roses, we become the voice of the new American dream.

"At Dawn I asked the Lotus
What is the meaning of Life?
Slowly she opened her hand
With nothing in it"

Debra Woolard Bender

Welcome! Our Daily Devotional

The Blossoming Lotuses Blog is a collective of yogis and yoginis who want to share their inspiration for and devotion to living and loving consciously, through the practices and philosophies of yoga, mindful literature and music, community, and of course, laughter and love.

Here you'll find our reflections on yoga philosophy and asanas, inspiring words and links, music and literature that uplifts the soul, and fellow yoga teachers who we just can't get enough of.


An initiating poem on stillness, by Rumi

Expands His Being

All beings
are words of God,
His music, His
art.

Sacred books we are, for the infinite camps
in our
souls.

Every act reveals God and expands His Being.
I know that may be hard
to comprehend.

All creature are doing their best
to help God in His birth
of Himself.

Enough talk for the night.
He is laboring in me;

I need to be silent
for a while,

worlds are forming
in my heart.