Experiments in Living

So June is here and the vegan challenge is over. It was not really that difficult after the first week or so. In fact, I expected to get a lot more grief off people than I did.

Good points:

1. My weight loss has kick-started again.

2. I have been a lot more creative with my cooking and have discovered some great new flavours. I have got out of the culinary rut that I have been in for a while.

3. I respect myself a lot more. I found my veggie existence problematic in the sense that I had given up meat but I was still sponsoring the dairy industry which I was unhappy about. Now I don’t have that internal conflict any more and it is such a relief!

4. I feel empowered that I am doing something positive for the good of all.

5. Indian food, bring on the bhindi bhaji! Chinese food is also good as long as you dodge the egg.

6. Egg-free mayonnaise!

7. I have been sleeping better and have felt much calmer in general. I don’t feel so tired in the afternoons.

Not so positive experiences:

1. Having people ask “What’s the point?” and then getting all stressed and defensive when I attempt to explain (as concisely as possible). It reminded me of that line from A Few Good Men - “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Indeed.

2. In a similar vein, the usual stupid comments that veggies get all the time. You know, plants feel pain, what about protein, so what DO you eat blah blah yada yada…

3. Having to cross-examine the ingredients list every time I buy packaged food. Although, I’m getting to know the good guys from the bad guys now!

4. Eating out in pubs and finding that it’s baked potato and beans yet again…

I feel confident that this challenge has become part of my daily life, so I will continue, along with replacing cosmetics, clothes and cleaning products with vegan suitable products as and when they need replacing. I am so happy that I took this step as I really feel like I am doing something tangible towards raising my own conciousness and helping others.

On to the challenge for June.

I bought a set of CDs from Space Clearing.com called Meditation: Portal to Inner Worlds. It sounded intriguing, and it is something I’ve been meaning to try again for a while. Several years back, I attempted to meditate and gave up after a couple of weeks, basically because I got bored and frustrated. Every time I tried to empty my head, thoughts would come in. Then I ended up thinking about not thinking rather than meditating.
These CDs are a bit different though. There are two talks and two “practicals”. I liked the fact that you are encouraged to be receptive to the experience rather than “visualise” things. The practices weren’t like the usual guided meditation stuff where you imagine fields of trees and such. Those sorts of meditations are fine, but then when you don’t have the support of the soundtrack, you feel like you are abandoned and don’t know what to do. MPIW basically builds up your skills so that you are prepared to go it alone and sit in silence for an extended period. These CDs are from the Clairvision School and go by the motto “see for yourself, know for yourself” which appeals to me.

The challenge this month is to do a daily meditation for twenty minutes first thing in the morning. As usual, I will update with my experiences.

Tags: 30 challenge, meditation, vegan