Rhythm is action. It’s a step above balance, and far beyond moderation. I’ve learned to not even include “moderation” in my lexicon. If I do, it’s a sign telling me to take back control of the situation. Most times when we leave it up to “moderation”, that is saying let someone else decide for you. It is feeling too comfortable to do anything. It is simply letting go of the rope and living a completely monotonous and unchallenging life.
Rhythm is attractive. It is acknowledging the presence of two parallel but opposite forces; it’s a dance. It is the yin and yang.
Nature has its own rhythm, turning from spring to winter. The world rotates365 times a year, constantly revolving around the sun. We are born and we die. Reishi, the queen of mushrooms and medicinal herbs, is born at the beginning stages of a birch forest. Chaga, the king of mushrooms and medicinal herbs, grows at the final decaying phase of the birch trees. Everything seems to be in synchronicity, the hibernation of a bear during winter, or the birds waking with the sunrise. Even the lioness is in rhythm when hunting, performing her dance only once a week. Our circadian rhythm proves that we too are married to this silent heartbeat of the earth; however, when it comes to instinctively aligning with the nature of things, we are deaf to this universal pulse.
We already know fruits are abundant in summer to cool down our bodies and to provide us with energy from their high carbohydrate content. Coconuts populate our beaches in hot climates to recharge us and provide us with natural electrolytes. At the same time, during fall, winter, and spring, we can tune ourselves to the music of Nature to find the proper foods to bring to our table.
As each season begins it sets the tone for what our diet should be. During fall and winter, nuts and grains that dictate a high fat, high protein diet keeps us warm and full for longer periods of time; in spring, there’s an abundance of greens and sprouts, hence low fat, highly bitter foods and a low humidity diet provide us with a time for cleansing; and during summer, fruits supply us with a high carb diet for more energy during the longer sunny days. John Douillard, expert on Ayurveda and Western Medicine, explains in his 3-Season Diet book how each one of these seasonal eating habits are oddly the same trendy diets other medical leaders are trying to encourage upon us; they do so, however, with the blinding concept of doing one “seasonal diet” for the rest of our lives. The disharmony caused by eating as one should in winter all year long triggers our biology to naturally crave carbs, sugars, or whatever food group we are not getting enough of. Furthermore, it will create a state where starvation is signaled by the way of your diet, which suggests the stress of a possible food shortage or famine to your body. By now, you know that this kind of anxiety causes stress in your body, which leads to the your sympathetic nervous system retaining fat, and shutting down digestion in order to prevent starvation and improper use of energy reserves.
Diets don’t work, because they are phases that try to change your life no matter the health circumstances, environmental conditions, or emotional burdens. Common fad diets are oblivious to the rhythm of things; they constantly play a tune that soon becomes an annoying ear-worm, which eventually drives you crazy, i.e., cravings, imbalance, improper digestion, gaining weight back, and lack of energy.
We’ve created a new eating craze. Our society now is populated by chronic-dieting victims, who walk around feeling guilty or inadequate for some 20 or even 40 years of their lives. We often compare ourselves to the guy next door, or to the woman on that magazine cover. We get stuck on one answer. We want nothing but to fix our problems the same way that “everyone” else does – or that we think they do. I don’t believe we are broken, but we have been sidetracked. The need to “fix” things, to fit in, and to stay the same is what harms us the most. There’s no one answer for everyone, because we are diverse individuals, our social interactions are varied, our belief systems are different, our bodies are different, and our energy is recharged by different inspirational sources. In a way, we all have our own spring to winter phases; we all have our own innate rhythm. After looking for the answers outside of ourselves, we need to look within. There’s a time to accept gaining weight andslowing down, a time for reflection being a bit more introverted, and even a time to fall down and stay on the bottom for a bit. Chronic dieters are usually people who refuse to change, or better said, are afraid of change. They need to have predictable lunches and dinners and count calories. Their stability is based on numbers and sizes. Their lives are methodical and fueled by the fear of uncertainty.
The only universal rule that applies to all of us is change. Change may mean we are getting older, or our hips are getting bigger, or our babies are now talking, or our grandparents are slowing down. Change may mean I’m wiser than last year, or quieter, or living in a different house. Change means expansion, it is growth. The rhythm of things, the rhythm of Nature and of our heartbeat invites us to let go and trust the uncertainty and unpredictability life has to offer us.