Many of us struggle with our relationship with food. Most have experienced the feeling of having eaten too much, the sensation of being deprived of the food they really want, or the regret of having broken yet another promise to themselves to avoid that chocolate cake.
Food plays a big role in everyday life. Creston Valley residents spend time growing food, shopping for food and preparing food. They have food at celebrations and at funerals. Here in one of the five remaining agricultural reserves in Canada, our relationship with food should be joyful. And yet, for many this isn't the case.
The morning news confirms this. One speaker argues that if we just eliminate wheat from our diet, we’d all be thin and healthy. The next speaks of the need to improve access to bariatric surgery to combat the epidemic of obesity. There has to be a less extreme way to change our relationship with food.
The Creston zendo is offering a course that will help participants develop a new relationship with food, one based on learning to listen to body signals and then making decision influenced by body cues rather than by a struggle to control diet and appetite and then, all too often, experiencing failure.
The course will be based on the work of Dr. Jan Chosen Bays, Zen master, physician, expert on childhood obesity and author of the book Mindful Eating, which she wrote in response to the emotional distress caused by a struggle with eating. In an eight-week course running from Oct. 15-Dec. 3, Zen monk Kuya Minogue and karate teacher Heather More will guide participants through concepts and exercises and easy-to-master mindfulness practices that are designed to transform attitudes to food and to eating.
The course includes an opportunity to apply newly acquired habits by sharing a simple lunch.
For more information, please call 250-428-6500.
— BY HEATHER MORE AND KUYA MINOGUE