Kitchen Ch'i

The last time I promised to tell you about a stress reduction technique that everyone has time to do. And I shall; but first I'd like to give you two examples of why stress reduction is important. These both come from new research that has been published in the past eight years. The first is that people who are frequently angry and upset have significantly higher rates of cancer than folks who are pretty much calm and relaxed.

Would you care to put some numbers with that to see just how much it can help to be happy? That comes from bit of research published in 2000. (http://longevity.about.com/od/mentalfitness/p/positive_aging.htm). People who have positive attitudes about aging live 7-1/2 years longer than people who are negative, all other health factors being similar. Seven and one half years! Compare that with studies comparing purely physical factors. A person who has great genetics, normal weight, perfect blood pressure, normal cholesterol, who exercises regularly and eats right can expect to live 3-1/2 years longer than an overweight person who has lousy genetics, hypertension, high cholesterol, and bad habits. That's right, maintaining a positive attitude will increase your life span more than twice as much as being in perfect health.

I believe that combining a positive attitude with good health and good habits has a synergistic effect that will extend a person's lifespan by 15 – 20 years. That's why I expect to still be enjoying myself well into my 90s. No research has confirmed that, but how often have you known me to be wrong? When I started aerobics training in 1969 everyone thought it was part of some suicide pact. When I became a vegetarian in 1972 most people thought I'd die of malnutrition within a few years. When I switched to health foods and whole grains a couple years later many of my friends and relatives gave up on me completely. Now these are all considered essential components of a healthy lifestyle. I wasn't wrong then and I'm not wrong now. Be happy, be healthy. It's that simple.

So what is this magic technique I'm going to teach you so you can reduce stress and stay positive? Meditation. Before you start whining about not having time or whatever excuse du jour you care to use, I'd like to point out that I taught this technique to a single mother who had four small children and a stressful, full time job. She was able to fit it into her schedule and benefit from it, so get off your pity pot and pay attention.

Most people think they don't have time to meditate because they don't understand what it is. They picture ascetic Zen monks sitting cross legged for hours and hours under a bodhi tree hoping for some mystical out-of-body experience that will lead them to enlightenment, or at least the nearest Taco Bell®. While that is one form of meditation, it's not the only kind. There is walking meditation, talking meditation, martial arts meditation, Ch'i Kung meditation, going to the bathroom meditation, and many, many other forms.

If you ask a Buddhist teacher how to meditate, the answer will often be, "When you eat, eat. When you sleep, sleep." That's it. Meditation is nothing more than keeping your mind totally focused on one thing: your breathing, the massage you're getting, the steps you're taking when walking, or for today's lesson the process of unloading the dishwasher.

Unloading the dishwasher is normally considered just one more inconvenient task of daily life. But with a slight change in attitude you can transform it into a relaxing activity that will calm your mind and improve your health. The trick is to stop looking at it as a job to be rushed through and totally immerse yourself in the movements, sounds, smells, and textures involved in the process. Throw in some slow, purposeful abdominal breathing and voila, Hotpoint® nirvana.

Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, back straight, knees slightly bent. Clear your mind for a moment as you smell the refreshing scent of the clean dishes. Breathe in as you slowly bend and reach to grab the first plate. Feel your weight shifting to foot nearest the dishwasher. Feel the slight, relaxing stretch as you reach for the first item. Really feel the sensation as your skin first touches the plate: its smoothness, its coolness, it's crusted piece of stuck on dinaguan (http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9107463) that refused to budge even on pot scrubber mode. Slowly stand up and feel your weight shift and your body stretch to put the plate on the counter. Listen intently to the musical sounds of the flatware as they're put in their drawer.

Continue your purposeful movements and focused abdominal breathing. Immerse yourself entirely in this moment. Your mind will calm, your blood pressure will drop, your immune system will improve, your body will begin to heal itself. What was once an irritating chore has now become a path to a more positive, pleasant life that will help you stick around long enough to attend my 90th birthday party.

Apply this technique to all of your daily activities and see if you don’t detect a change in your outlook on life. It’s simple. When you eat, eat. When you sleep, sleep. When you go to the bathroom…well, you’re on your own there.