Food ,Dieting and Exercise

The importance of this topic is reflected in the numerous articles in the press and women's magazines and although it is stretching a point to include this in a work of this kind we are as we eat (not only in the corporeal sense ,but esoterically we are as we think, not as we think we are, but" how we think").

There are many pollutants in our food these days,some chemical due to lavish use of pesticides, but also due to radiation from numerous atomic tests and leakages from atomic power stations.This has caused considerable anxiety in some, but the human body is of sturdy design and a positive attitude and a degree of faith in its ability to withstand minor quantities of such contaminants is calculated to boost the immune systems, which are in large measure responsive to the subconscious mind and its ability to reflect positive thought as it is the fearful and negative.

Gurdjieff referred to different categories of food,and pointed out that not only do we depend on that which we consume as food, there is also that which is food for the mind in various ways, such as different experiences, colours and surroundings, and ideas.This is vitally important in infancy and is closely linked to experiencing touch and handling by the mother, without it the development of the child is affected. And so there is mental food which is supplemented with schooling and study throughout life, and which for the student of metaphysics never ends. Furthermore, there is soul food deriving from meditation and yogic activities as dealt with in another chapter. As far as the medical fraternity is concerned, an edaquate calorie intake suitably balanced in the correct ratio of protein, fats and carbohydrates is the basic necessity for health and development, not forgetting the five essential fatty acids and vitamins which in a proper balanced diet are included, and in recent times emphasis has been laid on the desirability of sufficient fibre, and rightly so if only to avoid that complaint which is the most commonly suffered by a very large fraction of the world population, which is constipation.. Half the world is starving or suffering from malnutrition and the other half is worried about getting fat and reducing body weight leading to exercise and various dietary regimes. Hence the passion for jogging and "weight-watching" in order to prevent heart attacks . Unfortunately this has not prevented a number of sudden deaths in fit men in their thirties whilst actually performing their routine daily run. In addition, cases of stress fractures in the tibia and calcaneum have been reported, with some indication of damage to the intervertebral discs of the lumbar and neck regions due to the jarring effect of pounding the concrete. Now it is possible to buy expensive sneakers with craftily designed cushioning in the soles. Strangely, it has been shown that this activity can be very habit forming even to the extent of of producing feelings of anxiety and restlessness if denied, and is associated with the circulating of morphine-like secretions which are produced in exercise beyond a certain level of discomfort.This used to be commonly called "getting one's second wind"and is familiar to all who have been subjected to compulsory cross country runs at school. And so there has developed in society a large number of what appears to be "endorphin addicts", although addicts is too strong a word for what is salutory with moderation and control..

Anorexia Nervosa has been responsible for the deaths of young girls obsessed with the mistaken idea that they are fat.This is basically a psychiatric problem and and is very difficult to manage, and is not helped by the picturisation of the perfect female form as being thin, sometimes looking thin to the point of appearing anorexic in fashion magazines etc. Barbie Dolls are quite grotesque as an example of this deformity and can hardly be said to develop a healthy idea of what is normal in girls.

On the other hand we have the worried and generously proportioned in a perfectly normal variation of the human form seeking methods to reduce their weight and becoming ready prey to all kinds of slimming systems, creating a whole industry for the production and sale of exercise machinery, fitness clubs, specially cushioned jogging shoes, and even surgery to remove unsightly accumulations of fat. Special clinics for the wealthy and self-indulgent will arrange for a periodical "decoke" when health is threatened by obesity and/or alcohol leaving the subject leaner and refreshed after a controlled and expertly managed regime of diet and exercise; and doubtless very expensive but permitting a recurring cycle of overindulgence and correction at yearly or six monthly intervals. More commonly, resort is made to the local doctor who may prescribe one of a number of pharmaceuticals calculated to reduce appetite and which together with an appropriate diet may have the desired effect. Although such an approach will make you lose some weight the tablets used may have an unfortunate way of making you "feel good" and so causing habituation, and moreover their cessation usually leads to a return of weight of more quickly than it took to lose it ! On the whole it has been shown that the overall results of such regimes do not have a lasting effect. One drastic treatment to lose weight is to staple the stomach (a plastic ring around the neck of the stomach is also in use in the U.S.) in order to limit the capacity for food. In effect what really happens is an enforced starvation diet, which inevitably causes the body to draw on its fat reserves, a method not undertaken lightly and is only for selected cases sufficiently severe and refractory. As we get older we tend to eat the same amount of food but exercise less and so "the middle-aged spread", increased girth in males and in different areas characteristically in fermales. A spate of "Crash Diets" became popular for a while for rapid weight loss and merely resulting a temporary reduction in body fluid, useful for jockeys and sometimes reinforced by the use of a diuretic, it is only by reducing the calorie intake enough, and judicious physical activity that weight control is to be effected in the long term..

There is a noticeable increase in vegetarianism (*1)especially in younger people sensitive to the idea of animals being killed for food, and suspecting their slaughter being not always performed in a humane fashion.This has been emphasised by the "mad cow disease" in Britain and has reputedly put many people "off meat " altogether. There is no doubt that meat can be excluded in a healthy diet, but to omit eggs and dairy products as in the "vegan " is inviting serious malnutrition and disease, and to impose it on developing children quite unjustifiable. For those who are intent on developing e.s.p. and psychic faculties there is no doubt that a meatless diet has a salutory effect, and also needless to say, abstaining from alcohol, which is probably why this unworthy person is denied such abilities! Nevertheless, there is evidence that a couple of drinks a day may help to mop up some of the chemical radicals associated with the aging process and is reinforced by certain statistics, and so "Drink a little wine for your health's sake",as recommended by St.Paul in his letter to Timothy, if you like, and has often been an excuse for more than a little I suspect, in those familiar with this advice.

I feel strongly that the "Cholesterol Bogey" has been greatly exaggerated by the medical profession. It is well known that fatty deposits are laid down in the arteries in the early years and proved by post-mortems of healthy young men who have met a violent death, and so I cannot see the point of cholesterol reducing diets in the aged. Firstly, it is difficult to train and maintain such restraint, and the possible reduction of ten percent is of dubious value.The intake of such pharmaceuticals to encourage the excretion of cholesterol often have side effects and also eliminate certain vitamins, requiring supplements to the daily diet. There are four"cholesterols", only two of which are responsible for arterial deposits and when blood estimations are taken no distinction is made as to the ratio, at least it was so until recently. If stress is so significant in heart disease , how much is the stress and anxiety of the cholesterol control negating its value?

All this has little relevance to the metaphysical, but more pertinently the food we eat is essentially a vehicle for an element of prana, just as in the air we breathe. Food prepared by a cook feeling angry and resentful may well be altering the pranic content in a negative way.The Master Aetherius gave a little formula to to correct this when "eating out".(*2 )All direct contact transmits a minor degree of personal prana , and so when you are fingering the ripeness and desirability of fruit and vegetables in the supermarket you are actually leaving a bit of your self there! For enhancing the intake of prana there is nothing to surpass the regular practice of Yoga Breathing Exrecises.

*No mention of the need for a meatless diet is to be found in the reported sayings of Jesus.The only reference, indirectly, is in Matt.15.v.11"What enters the mouth doth not pollute a man, but that which it issues forth".