The Cosmos in a Carrot: A Zen Guide to Eating Well
Author: Carmen Yuen
The Cosmos in a Carrot distills the best of Buddhist wisdom, nutritional information, and health advice and puts it together in a lively guide that challenges conventional thinking. Aimed at a broad audience, the book is divided into three main parts: What Would Buddha Eat, A Mindful Diet, and A Mindful Diet in Action. Author Carmen Yuen offers authoritative discussion of nutritional science, such as calories, antioxidants, and the different types of fats, and gives practical suggestions on consumption strategies, mindful grocery lists, and recipes. In clear, informed prose she helps readers understand their relationship to food, weight, and health by using a "whole systems" approach of mindfulness techniques to break the patterns of unhealthy eating. The Cosmos in a Carrot explains how to integrate foundational Buddhist ideas, such as non-violence and no-self, and practices like the tea ceremony into the reader's everyday experiences with food. Profiles of four "mindful eaters" help personalize the process.
Publishers Weekly
Diet and nutrition books probably number in the thousands, and they all preach more or less the same message: control your portions, don't eat processed foods and drink lots of water. The nutrition message in this book, by a writer with a Buddhist studies background, is similar, but there's a twist to distinguish this guide from its eat-better kin. Looking at eating in a Buddhist light makes it possible to slow down, become aware and make better food choices. The book rests on the mindfulness teachings of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and demonstrates the practical applications of his Buddhist teachings. Much of the material is helpful. Two appendixes summarize core mindfulness teachings, and short portraits of four "mindful eaters" show the book's approach in action. Strategies abound, although some are more realistic than others. For example, asking local farmers for advice seems geographically limited or simply romantic. The author does acknowledge that organic means more expensive. This book will work best for people who are tired of diet books and ready to be more thoughtful about food. For those who constantly struggle with eating, making a connection between eating and the noble Buddhist truth of suffering may be revelatory. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Read also The War for Righteousness or The World Economy
Crossing Divides: A Couple's Story of Cancer, Hope, and Hiking Montana's Continental Divide
Author: Scott Bischk
One in four deaths in the USA is caused by cancer, making cancer the USA's second leading cause of death. According to the American Cancer Society over 1500 Americans die from cancer each day. These sobering figures highlight the fact that few in our society can avoid being touched by cancer, either directly or through a family member or friend. Whether as a patient, spouse, family member, or friend, we have all felt-or will someday feel-the pain and fear of cancer in our lives.
Fortunately, now more than ever hope exists. Almost nine million Americans today live with or have been cured of cancer.
Surviving cancer requires hope. I know because cancer has been an ever-present shadow for my wife, Kate, and me over the past ten years. We discovered Kate's cervical cancer shortly after she turned 30 in 1992. After two surgeries we thought her cancer had been cured, but then 20 months later it recurred. Over a two and a half year period Kate suffered through five surgeries, chemotherapy, and internal and external radiation treatments. Through it all Kate maintained her indomitable spirit. That spirit helped pull her back to health.
Kate also has a passion for the outdoors. Thus it was that three years after her final cancer treatment (in the summer of 1998), we decided to hike the Continental Divide Trail, 800+ miles across the state of Montana. The long-distance backpack trip, which included three months of living in a tent, was our celebration of life and an expression of our love of the outdoors.
Nearing the completion of our hike, Kate and I decided that we would like to share our twin stories with the goal of providing inspiration and hope to others fighting cancer or some other life-threatening disease. The book, Crossing Divides: A Couple's Story of Cancer, Hope, and Hiking Montana's Continental Divide, is the result of that decision.
Crossing Divides intertwines the story of our roller-coaster cancer struggle with the story of our walk across Montana. Numerous themes and parallels weave through the book. Several encounters with grizzly bears, for example, provide an avenue for metaphorical comparisons between my fear of grizzlies and my fear of Kate's cancer. Similarly, Kate's ability to persevere through the toils of a long- distance hike provides a constant parallel to her ability to persevere against cancer. Other themes include the importance of a dogged spirit in battling cancer and the importance of wild country in revitalizing that spirit. Most important is the hope presented by the fact that Kate is able to walk 800+ miles even after suffering (and recovering!) from recurrent cancer.
Crossing Divides is an emotional book; it moves from the abject fear and tears of a "terminal" cancer diagnosis to the elation of a long-distance hike through powerful yet fragile mountains. In places Crossing Divides will make the reader laugh, a happy contrast to some of the difficult cancer struggles.
Crossing Divides tackles cancer from three unique and refreshing angles. First, it provides a spouse's perspective on dealing with his soul mate's cancer. Second, it speaks to the healing power nature can provide over the debilitating force of a life-threatening disease. Finally, by intertwining the story of a present-day hike across Montana with difficulties of a past struggle with cancer, Crossing Divides continuously reinforces a message of hope.
Today, almost seven years after Kate's final cancer treatment, we feel blessed with the gift of life each moment of every day. We hope that Crossing Divides will stir others facing difficult times with the realization that light can exist after the darkness.
author of Love, Medicine, & Miracles - Bernie Siegel
Every life has its mountains to climb. Read on and find the inspiration to reach your summit.
nationally known folk singer and long-distance hiker - Jim Stoltz
Crossing Divides is about the challenges we choose and those forced pon us. Read it for a reminder that our health, like our wild lands, is fragile and endangered, and that we keep both only with determination.
Table of Contents:
Foreword
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