[Fwd: The Macrobiotic Guide - E-Newsletter 21/05/05]

May 21, 2005

this is a great e newsletter u can subscribe to for free. always

interesting discussion about topical mb issues and philosophical and

practical issues.

their website has great interviews, insights and recipes.

this issue has a great article by Pirello on cravings

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The Macrobiotic Guide - E-Newsletter 21/05/05

Date:

Sat, 21 May 2005 02:02:15 -0700 (PDT)

From:

The Macrobiotic Guide

To:

Ilanit Tof

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Questions about Macrobiotic Counsellors

and forming an International Macrobiotic Association

**************************************************************************

We asked Phiya Kushi to share his view to these questions, we welcome

your feedback to this suggestions.

What is a Macrobiotic counsellor?

There is no clear definition and one should be written as part of

a larger formal association that

would create standards and practices as well as provide a collective

body of knowledge where

counselors could share information with each other.

What is the history of giving Macrobiotic

consultations?

Counseling evolved from Sagen Ishizuka medical practice to

Ohsawa's samurai type

counseling to Michio's more academic approach. Now it is moving into

basic nutritional and

dietary counseling with much of the yin/yang and oriental diagnosis

slowly disappearing,

which is both good and bad.

What is the responsibility of the

Macrobiotic counsellor in term of his

/her accountability to the client?

Again standards should be set an association. (see below)

Do you think macrobiotic counsellors need

standard nutritional qualifications

in addition to there macrobiotic qualifications?

Not only nutrtional but also medical and culinary. AND, there is

no set

"macrobiotic qualifications" at this time. It all needs to be

establsihed

and should done so by a professional assocaition.

But personally, in my honest opinion, the real purpose of a

macrobiotic counselors is to

introduce, in the very least, yin/yang principles as a practial tool

for living. That being the

case then the nutritional direction that counselors are going in is not

appropriate. I think

that the nutrtional direction is necessary and, hence, a new name (like

"Chefdoctor") is

appropriate while the profession known as "macrobiotic" counselor would

deal with

something else much larger than only food and cooking styles as means

to combat illness.

How many people have you helped since you

started giving consultations?

I am not a counselor now but will occasionally counsel people when

called upon to do so.

I was 17 when I gave my first consultation to a 60 year old woman who

refused surgery

on a life threatening tumor that her doctors demanded that she do

immediately.

I gave the consulation for free and six months later her tumor went

away.

However, I was a nervous wreck during those six months; worrying about

whether

I did the right thing and if she was still alive. I vowed never to do

that again in that way.

To me it is essential that counselors commit to becoming life-long

friends with those that

they help. The macrobiotic counselor should be commited to finding out

what is life and how

to make one live longer and happier. However, that means also that the

client need to change

their perspective and not view counselors like Doctors.

International Macrobiotic Association

How would you suggest this could happen

practically?

and who would set the standards?

1. Developing an association and standards for

macrobiotic counselors.

They way to do this is very easy. All it takes is, for example:

someone, who is a counselor, begins

by reaching out to another counselor and say,"Hey, let's work together,

and maybe we can get

other counselors to work together too." This is how an association

starts. I know that I am

making this sound rather simple, but there are some issues that prevent

counselors from

doing this simple step:

1. Time, energy and financial concerns.

Most counselors, although they enjoy what

they do, have a hard time making ends meet. So they do not have the

time or resources to

devote to building such an association but are busy with their own

problems.

2. Respect for Michio. Most

counselors got their start after studying with Michio.

There have been attempts by Michio and the Kushi Institute to organize

counselors into

some type of association or structure but they did not work out

because, without going

into details, an association is a "peer-to-peer" structure, while

whatever Michio creates

always, intentionally or not, falls into a teacher-student paradigm.

However, to create

and association without Michio would be disrespectful to most

counselors, so therefore

such an entity does not exist.

3. Philosophical problems. There

is a another issue that is harder to describe, but is

particular to macrobiotic "dogma". It is in statements such as

"Non-credo", "discover for

yourself", "macrobiotics is experiential therefore no one's view is

more right than another."

These notions give a person a false sense of identity and isolation and

is contrary to seeking

common ground andother elements needed to creat an association.

Furthermore, the work

of being a counselor is very judgemental, and when counselors are in a

room together, they

end up judging and assessing each other and intentionally or

unintentionally making each other wrong.

4. Motive - Advantage/disadvantage.

There is no real motive or personal advantage for a

counselor to work with another counselor. The real advantage is on the

client side. As long as

an association does not exist then counselors are not being watched or

scrutinized and it's

"every man for himself." However, this can change if the association

spends much money

promoting counselors in ways that they couldn't do themselves.

5. Egos - Since it has been

"everyman for himself" there is not much comfort for counselor

to subject themselves to the scrutiny of their peers. In the normal

professional world, this type

of peer-to-peer review is expected, however, since it has been absent

far so long in with

macrobiotic counselors, there is little comfort in thinking that all

the years they have spent

doing what they do could, all of a sudden, be wrong. Their egos would

have a hard time

excepting this

These are some of the issues that I see preventing the formation

of a much needed association

that has been long overdue (and, indeed, may be too late). I would

further assert that, as

I mentioned in another post, that macrobiotic counseling will fade out

with this generation

of counselors, that is, of course, unless, they can get together and

build a professional

and transparent association.

"Macrobiotic Guide", being a neutral third party, could serve as a

catalyst for the creation of

this association. It would be a great service to the consumer seeking

quality professional and knowledgable advice.

Phiya Kushi

**************************************************************************

Macrobiotics and You - a Simple

Guide to Balance

By Pirello

**************************************************************************

I have been practicing macrobiotics for 22 years now practice

being the key word.

My own experience has shown me that macrobiotic living is a sensuous

dance we do with nature,

in an attempt to find that ever-illusive state balance.

Many of us, me included, came to the practice of macrobiotics as a

result of a life-threatening illness.

Within that philosophy, the way we chose to eat and live to regain

health was quite monastic and

restrictive, in an attempt to cleanse the body and recreate our

vitality. This extreme dietary approach

can work quite well, especially if practiced for a short period of

time, 2-3 months. The body has a chance

to cleanse and rejuvenate; our blood quality changes; our organs begin

to function normally again;

we can become the people that Mother Nature intended us to be.

And if we choose it, we can heal our bodies and recover from illness.

I have noticed in my years in the macrobiotic community, however,

that there are certain quirks

that have simply gained acceptance and are considered to be a part of

the culture. I have always

questioned them. What are they? Binge eating and wild cravings.

Now certainly, at the start of your practice, your body is

somewhat shocked (depending on how

dramatically you alter your food choices) and cravings can be expected

as the body readjusts to new food.

The body likes routine and habit and upsetting that apple cart, even in

a positive way, can create cravings

for the foods you have chosen to eliminate from your diet. With a

little creativity, you can cook to tame

such cravings as your body heals.

Once you have adjusted, however, binge eating and cravings should

really play a much smaller role in your days.

Sure, we all have those times when we overdo a bit, but, on the whole,

eating well will leave you sated and

contented most of the time, with cravings and binge eating playing a

role at the occasional party

rather than in your daily life.

So how did binge eating and cravings become such a large and

accepted part of the macrobiotic culture?

Simply put it is a lack of understanding of the food we choose to eat.

Macrobiotic eating is a beautifully

balanced symphony of unprocessed, seasonal foods, prepared in a manner

appropriate to your condition

and lifestyle, period. If the food we eat is chosen from the wide

array of choices Mother Nature provides

and prepared deliciously, cravings and binge eating play a minor role

in your life, rather than serve as

the guiding factors in the choices you make.

It all begins with a change in thinking. If you fall into the

trap of trying to substitute a healthier food

for one that is less appropriate for your condition, you set yourself

up for a life of binges and cravings,

in my opinion. In order to successfully transition to whole foods and

balanced eating, we need to

see food in a new light.

So what causes cravings anyway? Our bodies, like Mother Nature

herself, will have balance and cravings

are our bodies, way of telling us that they are missing something,

wanting something, to make them feel

balanced. The more extreme our food choices, the more extreme the

cravings will be. As we change,

if we are eating a wide and varied diet with proper amounts of

carbohydrates, fats, proteins and trace

minerals, cravings will come and go with little fanfare.

Many people come from a history of meat consumption and miss that

density of texture when they are

transitioning to a plant-based way of eating. Bread becomes the

substitute for that dense, satisfying piece

of something to sink your teeth into. And while whole grain breads are

deeply satisfying and delicious and

not detrimental to health, if you are trying to change your body,

bread, if over-eaten, can keep you stuck

where you are in your condition as can soy cheeses and soy yogurts and

other processed healthy versions

of animal foods. Instead, try some fried tempeh or tofu or very spicy

beans with salsa to tame these

cravings, with bread on occasion.

Many people enjoy a diet laden with salty snacks and simple

refined sugars. Cravings for these foods can

send you wild, but the good news is they are easily tamed. Sensible

use of good quality salts and grain

sweeteners can keep these strong cravings at bay while your body

adjusts.

And that is just at the beginning of your practice. As the years

pass, we can fall into the rut of cooking

the same dishes over and over, with little variety and excitement. Or

we fall into the category of trying

to maintain too monastic a diet for too long. Cravings can tell us a

lot in these cases. Are salty chips,

shoyu and sea veggies becoming food groups instead of little additions

to your daily fare? Take a look

at your daily diet! you may be consuming too much grain, too little

salt and too much soft food.

Your palate craves some crunch for stimulation and your blood craves

minerals.

Are you rummaging through the kitchen for a jar of nut butter at

midnight and then eating it by the

spoonful? Take a look at your fat and protein intake, based on your

condition and lifestyle. Simply

sautÃ©ing with more frequency or eating more beans, nuts and tofu can

satisfy your body's primal

need for fat and keep you well-nourished while eating less. Remember

that the large majority of

our nutrients are fat-soluble, meaning that they need fat as the

vehicle to transport them to

your cells as fuel.

Are sweets your downfall? A tough one, but be honest with

yourself did you ever really give

up simple sugar; get it out of your system. If so, then take a look at

your salt intake, how

much you pressure cook and long cook dishes. Sugar and sweet taste

help us to feel relaxed.

If your diet is heavy, salty and restrictive, you will have apple pies

chasing you down the street

in your dreams. Simply lightening up your diet, adding some raw foods

and including some good

quality sweet taste should do the trick.

And then there's tofu. At first, many of us think it's a bad

joke. We hate the texture; it has no

flavor and it's boring. But after some years of long cooking,

contracted, salty foods, too much

grain and not enough light cooking, tofu seems like manna from heaven,

especially for men.

With its cool and relaxing nature, it can feel like the perfect way to

relax tension.

Take care with tofu, boys. You dont want to cool down and relax too

much.

In short, macrobiotic living is a simply beautiful choice, if

practiced in a way that

serves you in your life not in some counselor's notes or a philosophy

book.

Life is not theory; it's practice. So eat make choices see how you

feel and adjust

accordingly. After all, the only expert on you and what you need is

you.

**************************************************************************

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**************************************************************************

One-to-one Macrobiotic Cooking Lessons in

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Teach you fun new recipes and tips on how improve your health and

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e-mail at vwellbeing@...

**************************************************************************

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**************************************************************************

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**************************************************************************

Nexus Magazine.

Publishing articles and views on topics rarely seen in

the mainstream media in

the fields of science, health, politics and the paranormal. Six issues

per year.

For contact information, selected articles, subscription details, back

issues etc

see www.nexusmagazine.com

**************************************************************************

Please mention The Macrobiotic Guide when making

your enquiries. Thank You.

**************************************************************************

WORDS OF WISDOM

**************************************************************************

Giving

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear

you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog

burying bones in the trackless

sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is

unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have -

and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their

gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their

coffer is never empty.

Khalil Gibran

************************************************************************

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