Freely Flowing Energy

Neuroscience describes thinking as a process of neurons and their dendrites patterning fluid cognition. Thoughts are mental constructions made up of dynamic, subtle mind-energy. In zen-cuisine, we practice becoming aware of this energy. With 'skillful means', we use this energy to intentionally shape our practice with ease and well-being.

Investigate what's inside a thought. Let go of the habitual thought-content, and simply feel the thought as energy. Sense this energy moving through your body, flowing freely from the heart/mind. If you are not caught up in the narrative, you see beyond the story thoughts are telling. Can you glimpse the true nature of experience arising in each moment?

All thoughts generate energy and this energetic flow moves from your mind through your body. It flows in constant motion: impermanent and changing each moment.  If you pause and explore the nature of thought with awareness, you can sense the thought-forming energy dissolve back into its underlying formless substance. You open your heart/mind to boundless inspiration and creativity. 

Before you begin to prepare food, set your intention to be as fully present in your life right now as possible. Take a calming breath; inhale and exhale with gentle appreciation of the life-force flowing in and through you. Move mindfully in the kitchen; bring presence into your activities. Savor the ease and sense of well-being found in practicing zen-cuisine.  Happy cooking!

Visit Juicy Foods -- the blog with delicious, healthy and affordable zen-cuisine recipes.

And if you want more cute puppy pictures, click on Extraordinary Elsie: The Eskie-poo Pup!

Zen-cuisine and the Brain: Part3

I used to get really agitated when preparing one certain recipe. It was something I often made on holidays. Or when company was coming for dinner because the dish is so tasty. It is a wonderful salad with fresh pineapple chunks, oranges, and blueberries, in a delicious spiced parsley dressing. But for some reason, as soon as I took the ingredients from the crisper, my hands would start shaking. My mouth got dry. My heart pounded. I felt like I had to move faster and faster to get the task done. I was dizzy with anxiety. And all I was doing was cutting up oranges! Truly, I was slicing mindlessly, with haste, not enjoying the experience very much.  

I'm not suggesting that slicing oranges has to be a peak event, but it shouldn't be a stressful activity! Thinking about recent neurological research, I realized that I had made this agitated reaction is my default option for neural wiring when preparing this recipe. I know I can rewire my brain. I want to change this habit by creating new neural circuitry for a calm, a less stressful response. I decide to make the salad more often. Then I could use 'neuroplasticity' to enable the new pattern to form more quickly with frequent activation through frequent practice.

I used zen-cuisine's tool of mindfulness to I practice over and over. I varied the salad ingredients from time to time, and came up with some creative new recipes in the process. To help make the transition from feeling agitated to feeling calm when prepping pineapple, I used a zen-cuisine technique called 'mental rehearsal'. Before beginning to make the salad, I take a few minutes to sit quietly in the kitchen. I follow my breath moving gently in and out of my body. I close my eyes and see myself take the pineapple from the fridge.

I breath slowly,evenly. I see myself put the pineapple on the cutting board with a feeling of ease. I twist off the green foliage, and cut the pineapple in half. I easily peel the fruit, and cutout the core with steady hands. Calm surrounds me. Calm and steady energy flows through the body, gently riding on my breath. Slowly, I open my eyes and begin to make the salad, calmly beginning with the pineapple.

Mental rehearsal activates the same neural circuitry that real activity triggers. Calmly cubing the pineapple in the mind benefits our practice, and actually enhances the circuitry that produces calm feelings when we are preparing fruit 'in real time'. The more I practice 'mental rehearsal' in my mind before cooking the stronger new neural circuitry becomes. This stronger circuitry benefits my cooking experience.

 

Over time, with repeated practice opportunities, the new habit becomes more natural than the old. It's now the default mode in my brain. I make pineapple salad, prepping the fruit with good-hearted ease. Now I sometimes cut up pineapple just for the sense of calm it brings  me! Happy Cooking!   

Visit Juicy Foods for great zen-cuisine recipes!

Zen-cuisine and the Brain: Part 2

Our exploration of zen-cuisine is enhanced by recent advances in neuroscience. Current research on connectivity can record neural circuitry at the single-cell level. We now know the brain continually reshapes itself according to the on-going flow of experience. How does this impact our daily lives, especially in the kitchen?As we broaden our understanding the tools zen-cuisine uses to open to this new knowledge,our awareness grows.

If we are practicing a new technique, or making a first-time recipe, the circuitry we use will attract new neurons, and be strengthened. The second time we perform the new skill or make the new dish, it will be easier. If we approach tasks with this knowledge, we are more relaxed, more likely to enjoy our experience. We are mindful and at ease in the kitchen.

If we’re changing a habit, like substituting a more wholesome ingredient for a less healthy one in a favorite recipe, we understand new connections are being made. Zen-cuisine suggests we take a breath, ground ourselves in awareness of this process. We are mindful; approaching each task in the kitchen with care. We know new neural circuitry is forming. It will continue to grow as we practice again and again. 

If we usually cook on ‘automatic pilot’,  we often find ourselves rushing through the task without awareness. Our this tendency is to lean into the future, to get quickly to the next thing to do. This haste to move through the present moment to the future is another habit. We need to be mindful. This habitual pattern is a reaction we no longer want to have. But in the kitchen we may have rushed through making meals countless times. The neural circuitry of this pattern is well-established.

We realize through past practice of a ‘negative’ behavior a thick circuitry numerous neural connections has built up. Neuroscience provides insight into how we dissolve these pathways through non-use, and by creating new patterns. We use our understanding of meditation and neuroscience to teach our brains a new skill. Our time in the kitchen is a wonderful opportunity to practice.

First, we establish our intention to be mindful. We think deeply about the change we want to make. Being very practical, we take on one specific behavior at a time. After we get a sense of how this ‘energy pattern’ feels in our body, we take a moment to commit to this new way of being and acting. We generate enthusiasm for achieving the change. In doing so we are mobilizing the power of motivation located in the left prefrontal areas of our brain. 

We take a moment to see ourselves in our mind’s eye, practicing the new action with ease.  Remember, the brain begins to hard-wire a new habit the very first time we practice it. The more practice, the more neural connectivity. This gentle step by step approach will enliven the practice of zen-cuisine, and add to enjoyment in the kitchen. Happy Cooking!

 

 “We envision our dream: to live this fresh pattern, making it part of our lives and what we dream unfolds into being” Mei-Kyo. “Zen Gate, Kitchen Door”

For zen-cuisine cooking, visit Juicy Foods

Zen-cuisine and the Brain

 The brain was once thought of in very different ways than it is today. When I was in school, my science teacher taught that we were born with a finite number of brain cells. There was a definite limit to how long we could expect to learn new things because as we age, our brain cells are gradually used up! Our science texts book cautioned that the deterioration of this fixed number of brain cells could be accelerated by unhealthy living. Our brain cells would die off and not be replaced. And if damaged, the brain could not repair itself. This didn’t seem like such good news.

Nowadays this outdated thinking is labeled ‘neuromythology’. As Dr. Daniel Goleman, author of “The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: An Update” points out, recent discoveries in past decades have greatly expanded the science of the brain, positively altering our understanding of brain cells, their numbers, their functions and their life-span. We have learned that the human brain is highly adaptive and can repair, and reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. This ability is called ‘neuroplasticity’.

Neuroplasticity is the concept of a flexible or ‘plastic’ brain that continually reshapes itself, rewiring connections in our neural circuitry according to need. Using sophisticated brain imaging technology and state-of-the-art computer software, exciting new information is emerging. Neuroscience now tells us that rather than being a fixed closed system, incapable of change, our brains are highly adaptive. Yes, the brain can change itself. These changes take place through our experiences as we open to new information and sensory stimulation within our environment.

 Students in school  are no longer taught about a brain hard-wired from birth. Instead they explore how the brain is altered by ‘neurogenisis’ as new neurons are generated from neural stem and progentitor cells. Here’s a brief overview of the process. Each day the brain generates 10,000 new stem cells. Each of these cells splits into two new cells. One of these cells becomes part of what is called ‘the daughter line’: cells whose function is to make more stem cells. The other new cell in each pair moves to a different area of the brain as needed. In their new location, over the course of the next few months, these cells generate 10,000 new connections in the neural circuitry. Most often, these connections are forged in areas of the brain where new learning is taking place. 

Zen-cuisine celebrates this new knowledge, and endeavors to use these insights to enhance our experience of gaining new skills in the kitchen. The once-familiar adage that you can’t teach an old chef to make new recipes is now exposed as a myth. As long as you are able to spend time preparing food, the mindful cook can practice zen-cuisine, and enjoy new learning and creativity in the kitchen. Happy cooking! 

Find recipes for mindful cooking with a visit to Juicy Foods

Desire: A SpringThing

A Simple Kitchen Contemplation

Spring is here! Dainty wild violets bloom in the newly-greening grass. Daffodils along the river’s edge raise their yellow heads to the sun, and in city flower beds tulips burst in an amazing array of colours. Fresh spring spinach, tender greens and other early delicacies come from the fields to local market gardens.  Zen-cuisine invites us to celebrate these new beginnings with this simple kitchen contemplation.  What is our deepest desire in the kitchen this spring? Can we make a commitment to choose, purchase and prepare food to enhance our health and well-being? 

Our desire to benefit others as well as the planet is reflected in our cooking. As we prepare food, we nurture inner peace. It is our desire to live fully, enjoying the present moment and shaping a healthy, positive future. Zen-cuisine encourages us to touch the center of our being and investigate the kind of energy we bring into our meal preparation.  We can empower ourselves through this simple contemplation: what is our intention in the kitchen? What do we desire?  

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh says ‘desire’ is a kind of food that can nourish and give us energy. Knowing what we truly desire is a life-sustaining practice. It enhances clear thinking and awareness. We feed ourselves with wholesome desires such as our wish to promote healthy living or to protect our well-being. We may want to sustain local agriculture or care for the environment. The mindful investigation of zen-cuisine enables us to identify and change thoughts and actions.

We can create conditions that bring about the inner peace and joyful, abundant living we so desire for ourselves and others. Spring is a wonderful time for a deep, mindful look at what we truly wish to do in the kitchen. If we sit for a moment in stillness, listening to the life-sustaining rhythm of our breath, we touch the interdependent nature of this flow of experience we call living. We choose to live a simple, balanced lifestyle, caring for and cherishing ourselves and our loved ones. 

We know what things are the ingredients in a recipe for well-being.  As we embrace these good-hearted qualities, our desires bring us happiness and contentment in our life, and especially in the kitchen. Happy cooking! Visit Juicy Foods!

Shifting Our Way of Being

 As we embrace zen-cuisine, we notice many subtle changes in our way of being. The longer we practice, the more often our time in the kitchen is a source of joy and inspiration. Cooking becomes a calming and balancing experience. These happy interludes may be brief at first, but gradually we notice they last longer and longer. Instead of seeing meal preparation as a task or a problem, we begin to enjoy the little challenges that present themselves to us in the kitchen. We don’t worry or stress over things the same way we used to. If we come across an unexpected circumstance, we don’t become agitated. We're not so desperate to ‘fix’ things that are out of the ordinary. Zen-cuisine does show us how to ‘go with the flow’. 

Practicing zen-cuisine, we can enjoy looking at a fruit salad that has turned bright neon purple because we added so many frozen blueberries when we discovered the fresh strawberries were all gone.  We can enjoy the vibrancy of the rice that has turned a dazzling sunshine-yellow because a little more turmeric than we normally use tumbled out of the spice jar and fell into the pot. We are happy to munch on cookies whose texture turned crispy after we left them in the oven just a little longer than the recipe indicated.  In fact, we are at ease with whatever happens in the kitchen because we’ve stopped judging things. We’ve stopped telling ourselves the same old stories about how things are ‘supposed’ to be. Zen-cuisine enables us to keep our minds open to fresh new possibilities. We're cooking, mindful of what's arising now.

Being in the present moment, with ease of acceptance and without judgment, is what zen-cuisine is all about. But, for most of us to reach this place, it does take practice…meal after meal of practice. Slowly we move away from experiencing things in our usual reactive fashion. A gentle shift occurs as we learn to respond with the skillful techniques of zen-cuisine. Circumstances and situations we once would have seen as difficulties are now opportunities to  respond in a new way with acceptance and positive energy. Also as we practice zen-cuisine, we cook with appreciation and a sense of humour. Meal preparation no longer revolves around narrow, out-dated judgments and opinions. We silence the inner voice that’s always criticizing.

Once we give up struggling with ‘what is’, we free ourselves from negative thoughts and subsequent emotions. We aren’t overwhelmed by what happens unexpectedly in the kitchen. We don’t react negatively to bright blueberry juice, nor get upset by a pinch too much turmeric in a recipe. We move away from being purely reactive, embracing mindfulness in the kitchen, delighting in our awareness. Crispy cookies make us smile as we enjoy their delicious crunch. This ease of well-being becomes a new way of cooking. As we respond to the unfolding flow of experience in the present moment, we touch the creative and life-giving energy of zen-cuisine. In each second of simple awareness, joy is ours -- right here, right now, in our own kitchen. Happy cooking!

For delicious zen-cuisine recipes, visit Juicy Foods a blog about incredible edibles.

Aspiration in the Kitchen: Just To Be. Part II

Aspiration invites us to experience things in a way that is different from what we are used when expectation shapes our world. Embracing our aspiration to just to be in the present moment, we enter into the flow of experience with an intimate connection to life in its fullness. As our zen-cuisine practice matures, we open to the wonder of being content with what’s happening ‘right here, right now’. Free of preconceived beliefs about how to achieve an illusory goal, we prepare good food with mindfulness. 

Practicing zen-cuisine, spontaneous creativity becomes an expression of our awareness. We no longer expect (or demand) that things ‘turn out’ according to some external criteria. Each moment, just as it is, is a true expression of our creative potential. We rejoice in this simple yet profound pleasure meal preparation affords us. Without predetermining the outcome, expectations transform into positive intentions, independent of the end result.

Aspiration enables us to stay in the present, knowing with both heart and mind, that this moment is the only moment we have.When expectation beckons, our mind soon wanders off. If we embrace our aspiration, we gently return to the present, without agitation or distress. Gradually we are grounded in a natural stillness. From this centered place, our understanding of aspiration increases in depth and clarity. As our awareness increases, it strengthens our practice, transforming our way of being. Manifesting our aspiration in the present moment is realized through our practice of zen-cuisine. We deliberately and skillfully cultivate the qualities of our heart and mind that enable this process. 

 The art of cooking brings us happiness and a sense of contentment. We enjoy our time in the kitchen as we recall our  aspiration to just be. Energized and empowered, we find the task of meal preparation becomes more fulfilling and fun. No matter what the outcome, we don't judge ourselves but accept our experience. Our true nature realizes and expresses itself through our activity in the present moment. Let’s generate joy in the kitchen. Happy cooking!  

 For recipes. visit Juicy Foods: a blog of recipes for mindful cooking!