Sarah Wilson

David lynch on meditation: water the root

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There’s a saying that goes along with the vedic style of meditation that I do:

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water the root, enjoy the fruit.

Which is to say, put focus and care into your core every day and then the rest of life will simply flourish and express itself. Can I just say? It works.

I’ve been meditating in the vedic style for two years and I’ve gradually, and exponentially, become a sturdier tree with better fruit. It’s really working for me at the moment as I write. What’s coming out isn’t so nervous and false and flimsy. It’s grounded. I hope!!

Below is a montage of highlights from the Change Begins Within benefit gala held in December by the producer David Lynch who’s been meditating twice a day for 37 years. Lynch, who adheres to the transcendental style (very similar to the vedic style) teamed up with Martin Scorcese, Clint Eastwood, Katy Perry and Russell Brand to talk about meditation for this fund-raiser which raised $$ to teach 10,000 war veterans to meditate. Lynch raises $$ to expand the technique to disadvantaged kids and veterans and homeless people. The David Lynch Foundation is committed to teach 1 million kids to do meditation. Lynch  talks about watering the root…

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sunday life: what am i good at?

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This week I do an IQ test

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A gnawing feeling that we’re big, fat frauds is common to the human experience, I believe. Mostly we’re just waiting for someone to work out that, actually, we have no idea what we’re doing and that we’re crap at what we do.  Michelle Pfeiffer once said, “I still think people will find out that I’m really not very talented. I’m really not very good.”

Stephen Fry is the pin-up for fraud complex, and confesses in The Fry Chronicles that behind his mask of ease and assurance he is “chronically overmastered by a sense of failure, underachievement and a terrible knowledge that I have betrayed, abused or neglected the talents that nature bestowed upon me”.

I have another theory: those who seem least fraudulent, determined to never reveal their mask, are in fact the biggest frauds and the most crappy at what they do. They just have more at stake in putting on a convincing front.

For the more transparently fallible among us, though, the question, “am I actually doing what I’m meant to be doing?” can plague us our entire lives. Is there anything more despairing than being an accountant for 45 years when you were actually destined to bake novelty birthday cakes? I don’t think so. As an annoying 16-year-old I tried to avert such a calamity by cold-calling people working in professions I thought might suit me and asking them if they liked their job and did they think it would suit a young person such as myself (cringe!). I rang a bunch of lawyers, local MPs and an architect. (Please, if you’re a teenager thinking of doing the same, can I advise command you don’t. It’ll be clear why in about a decade.) I clearly didn’t heed their responses – I set off and studied law and politics.

Thankfully today there are smoother ways to assess your vocational destiny – Aptitude tests.

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Things YOU love to love

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My ‘love what you love’ post a few days ago has been getting great suggestions and ideas for loving what YOU love. I wanted to share some with you. As well as a fun pic of Juliette Lewis playing drums. Because it’s Friday.

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The very amusing Adam Cordner said “I LOVE Comics and the Delorean(car) from Back To The Future! There, I said it. I’m going to find a Delorean and restore it to the film standard, then when I stop at the traffic lights I’ll scream at people “what year is this!”

Mel shared: tanned feet, camping sans luxury under big trees, boogie boarding…the kind u did when u were 10 resulting in lots of sand in the gusset of ur cosies, French romantic comedies, riding fast down hills with the wind in my hair, swishy dresses, second hand everything, dancing by myself, men with soul….

Ella‘s list included “napping with my head at the foot of my bed. Catching the train in the middle of the day, when it’s quiet, through the city and watching the skyscrapers slide past. The apple and peanut butter combination!”

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How my sugar journey is going…your questions answered

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The “I quit sugar” posts have proven rather popular…and controversial. If you’ve been following the comments you might be marveling as to why it’s created such fired-up outrage. As David Gillespie said to me, “I don’t think you would have attracted such resistance if you’d suggested cutting out broccoli”. True.

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Point being, we are addicted to sugar and someone like me puffing up and suggesting (only suggesting!) that it might be good to try not eating it for a while… just to see what happens…can be threatening.

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”  – Arthur
Schopenhauer

Plus, some of the biggest companies in the world have a VERY vested interest in us eating more – not less – sugar. And so spurious “research” and suspect opponents invariably pop up.

But, mostly, I’ve been receiving questions about how I’m going and how I’m coping.  Jo has pulled out a few for me to answer:

Have you lost weight?

Sort of. Maybe a kilo. But I look lighter because I’ve lost a lot of bloating and puffiness. I’ve noticed with myself and Jo and others who’ve quit… our faces look slimmer. My midriff is also much flatter. I’m guessing this is because it’s reduced strain on our livers. Tell-tale liver strain areas are the jawline and around the lower ribs. And because we’re producing less gas in our guts!

What do you eat when you get sweet cravings?

A few things: coconut water, Miessence Berry Radical drink and dairy. A chai tea gives me enough of a sweet hit. It contains lactose, which is a sugar, but one that doesn’t contain fructose. For a full explainer see this video. A chunk of cheese or a few nuts will just nip cravings in the bud. You’ll notice all these things are quite “treaty” foods. I think this is quite important…we do need pick-me-ups. But the things I mention will satisfy the need for a treat…not fuel it.

You might like to read this lo-down by Dr Mark Hyman on why some people get more intense sugar cravings…and some supplements to take.

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International Women’s Day: 5 things to do

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I’ll keep it sweet and short:

1. Call yourself a feminist.

2. Help out here: support 100 women in Asia by making a small loan that will help them set up a business.

3. Watch last night’s Q & A on ABC. Why? Joe Hockey arguing passionately for more women on ASX200 boards (currently only 11% of positions are held by women…the second lowest in the OECD), and across business overall. Kate Ellis agreeing with Joe (!). She also makes some REALLY good points about where things are at. And Gail Kelly is just inspiring and fair and an illustration of what women can truly contribute.

You can catch it here.

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Tuesday Eats: hashed lunches

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Everyone keeps asking me for lunch ideas…here you go.

I love making a hash of my lunch. Hashes are all about efficiency and sustainability and heightened flavour. For me they entail mixing up leftovers – grains, meat, beans, vegetables – from the night before and frying them with some cheese and/or an egg and tossing through some fresh herbs for zing. I also like to squeeze lemon on mine, to cut through any saturated flavours. And invariably I throw in capers. Oh, and some chia seeds! See what you think of these hashtastic ideas:

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Rebecca Woolf’s “Quinuevos Ranchero”

  • Leftover quinoa (for other quinoa ideas, see here and here)
  • Eggs (two per adult, one per child. For a family of four, I cook six eggs.)
  • A spoonful of butter or olive oil
  • An avocado
  • Shredded cheese of your liking
  • Coriander (or something similarly green. Chives may just be equally delicious.)
  • Salsa
  • Seasoning of your preference

Cook your eggs as you usually do. I cook mine in a weird-wackadoo way which consists of cracking the eggs over the pan and letting them sit for a few seconds before kind of mixing the yolks and sort of pushing it around for three minutes before it’s cooked through.

Sprinkle the eggs atop the quinoa [me, I’d personally toss the quinoa through the eggs and the cheese – Sarah] then add a few pinches of shredded cheese, ASAP so it melts from the heat.

Then top with chopped coriander, avocado, salsa and seasoning for taste.

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love what you love

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This is a copy of a letter that Ray Bradbury (author of Fahrenheit 451, whose writing method  inspired the Pomodoro Technique…which so many of you seem to love) sent to friend Stanhope. I saw it on the Happiness Project this week. I like the oddball stationary (the figure has removed its head?). I like the … Read more

Sunday life: how to fix procrastination

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This week I try self-binding

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Apparently, Victor Hugo wrote nude. Which is not a pretty visual.

The writer also used to instruct his butler to hide his clothes so he couldn’t head outside for a wander when he was meant to be writing. Which makes me think, if only I had a butler. This column would’ve emerged in half the time and without ingestion of the following: a packet of wasabi peas, two pots of green tea (requiring a descaling of the kettle first and four visits to the loo), three spoonfuls of cashew spread straight from the jar (requiring seperate trips to the kitchen) and, regrettably, a dozen rounds of Angrybirds.

Writers notoriously struggle with procrastination, which is why there is so much written on the topic. Dailyroutines is a site dedicated to the tortured approaches writers implement to beat the tug of manana. It chronicles a litany of rigid techniques – John Grisham used to get up at 5, at his office writing by 5.30am; Kingsley Amis wouldn’t shower or dress until he’d written a certain wad of words.

In the past few years, though, a ream (?) of academics have taken over the struggle, presumably to find a solution so they can get on with their dissertations. Professor Piers Steel, in his recent book The Procrastination Equation, says 95 per cent of people procrastinate, 20 per cent of us are chronic procrastinators and that this figure has quadrupled in 24 years, largely due to the unbounded distractions of the internet. The New Yorker recently described putting things off as “the quintessentially modern problem”. I think most of us would agree; it plagues us.

The newest research, however, has found procrastination has little to do with a lack of willpower. Which I guess is good news because that makes it sound like it’s not my fault that I’m still toggling to check my blog traffic as I write this. Steele explains when we dither it’s because our two decision making-centres – the prehistoric limbic system (which makes impulsive, delaying choices) and the neo-cortex (which can look ahead to the future consequences of doing so) are having a go-nowhere tug-of-war.

So what’s the solution if it’s not pulling your finger out and trying harder? Judging by the research I’ve been sidetracked with this week, it’s about self-binding.

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how to exercise at home: a video

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Last week I shared how I exercise and mentioned I’ve been going through a big shift via the work I’ve been doing with Aaron at Origin of Energy. I say it plain: it’s  boosted my energy levels and corrected my posture, two things that have suffered horribly from having an autoimmune disease. His technique is … Read more