Sitting, Day 23 (and Eating Mindfully, Too?)

Seung Sahn would say, "When you eat, just eat. When you read the newspaper, just read the newspaper. Don't do anything other than what you are doing."
One day a student saw him reading the newspaper while he was eating. The student asked if this did not contradict his teaching. Seung Sahn said, "When you eat and read the newspaper, just eat and read the newspaper."~From Essential Zen

On today, the seventeenth of the Tricycle's Big Sit, I find myself steadfastly continuing my streak of "sitting" daily and also occasionally varying the length (15-20 minutes) and position (sitting on a chair, kneeling, cross legged). Some days I get the sense that the time at which I sit (mornings at 5:00 a.m.) does help me establish an open mindset for a positive day, while on other days I seem to lose sight of the "progress" the further I get away from the experience and my choices (diet and action) falls farther from the ideals put forth in the precepts.

One facet of my life I have endeavored to improve upon (by virtue of the fact that I daily vow to do so) is in eating more mindfully.

Truthfully, though, when I get home from work sometimes I find myself overcome with a hunger desire to stuff my face with whatever is on hand, clearly avoiding any thought of being in the moment of what I eat. When the flash passes I am left only with embarrassment and guilt at my failure, which eventually (re)turns to a commitment to "try" again the next day.

In an effort to further reign in my eating habits to benefit both my meditation and running, I have considered once again maintaining a dietary log of what I and when I eat during the course of a day. While the process of doing so can become monotonous and repetitive, it does help me to see more concretely the missteps I am taking and could (I suppose) assist me in correcting my errors. I will maintain this "diary", as I have in the past, for a few days to get a more comprehensive picture and see if I can't make my meals more meaningful in the process.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!