Healthy living to access our energy and talents
There are many aspects of our lives and identity that impact how well we can express and develop our talents, including personality and health - mental, physical and spiritual.
In his article Mariel Hemingway: Healthy Living from the Inside Out, Kyle Roderick (for Life Extension magazine) describes how the actor improved her health through diet and supplements, noting that in her youth, “Hemingway lived in fear of falling prey to what she calls ‘the Hemingway legacy of mental illness, addiction, and eating and drinking to excess.’”
Her paternal grandfather, writer Ernest Hemingway, succumbed to alcoholism in his later years and possibly suffered from manic depression. Her sister was Margaux Hemingway, who committed suicide. Both are mental health challenges that impact many creative people.
See related articles on depression and addiction.
The article notes, “Eating a no-fat, low-protein, and carbohydrate-rich diet kept her looking thin for the cameras, but Hemingway, by her own admission, also drank caffeine like a fiend and exercised obsessively.
“I loved the energy I got from coffee and then I would jump rope for hours in my apartment after working out at the gym,” she recalls.
“Because I didn’t drink alcohol or take drugs, I thought I was the healthiest, cleanest-living person in the world, until I got to the point where I had zero energy, my menstrual periods stopped, and tests revealed that in addition to low thyroid function, I was vitamin-deficient.”
The article adds, “Hemingway found her way back to well-being with the help of holistic nutritionists, chiropractors, and other health care professionals.
“In addition to a full arsenal of antioxidant supplements and her beloved green tea, Hemingway is diligent about consuming multivitamins, multiminerals, and brain-specific nutrients such as ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine.”
“Just as there is no magic diet for everyone, each individual has to experiment with the supplements that are right for them,” she says.
“My husband [documentary film director and producer Stephen Crisman] takes different supplements from what I take because his body has different needs.”
Mariel also realizes the importance of mental health.
“Louise Hay was the catalyst to my becoming aware of the importance of being good to me,” she says. “The horribly unkind voice in my head constantly criticized me until I began to understand that I was the power behind my good health and happiness just by the thoughts I think and the words that I speak.”
The film You Can Heal Your Life details the fascinating life story of Louise Hay, founder of Hay House. We are taken on an inner journey of doubt, realization and eventual healing, while also hearing from some of the most renowned leaders in the new thought field today.
Available from Spiritual Cinema Circle
Another form of nutrition considered very healthy by many people is raw foods.
In her Newsweek article In The Raw, Jennifer Barrett Ozols writes, “Boosted by celebrity endorsements, the raw-foods movement is migrating from the margins to the mainstream. Is it really good for you?”
She mentions a number of people, including David Wolfe, the author of “Eating For Beauty” and “The Sunfood Diet Success System,” who “stopped eating anything cooked or processed 11 years ago.
“His diet now consists largely of fruit smoothies, fresh vegetable juices and the occasional handful of pumpkin seeds - and says the benefits of adhering to the diet far outweigh any inconveniences.
“‘Clear skin… clear thinking, improved digestion,’ he says, ticking off the changes he noticed after making the switch.” His company provides many raw food products: Sunfood Nutrition.
> Also see related pages:
Healthy Artist
Mental health
Nutrition
Supplements
Yoga
- Don’t mess with my brain
- Creating without angst
- The science of feeling good
- Depression and creative people
- Oliver Sacks on music and the brain
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November 30th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Great article.
Re: ““Because I didn’t drink alcohol or take drugs, I thought I was the healthiest, cleanest-living person in the world, until I got to the point where I had zero energy, my menstrual periods stopped, and tests revealed that in addition to low thyroid function, I was vitamin-deficient.”
The article adds, “Hemingway found her way back to well-being with the help of holistic nutritionists, chiropractors, and other health care professionals.”
I had the same experience in order to resist taking on addictive family patterns. I turned to health and fitness that I labeled as “good.” However, over the years, desire for constant health and fitness caused me to overlook my innate needs of rest and moderation. It drained my life force and interrupted my body’s natural cycles.
Yes, holistic doctors see the entire picture and can bring us back to wellness, as they did for Mariel and myself. Today, we all really do benefit from some coaching when it comes to our health, especially as our culture teaches us to tune out the inner voice and listen to the outer world. Holistic doctors see our symptoms as intricately tied together. They allow our bodies to speak and be heard. They are like translators! And then when we respond to the message our bodies are giving us, we regain our flow, our life force, our freedom.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Thanks, Jenna. Especially for sensitive people, it is probably crucially important for health and creative vitality to be aware of what choices we make, and substances [like drugs, alcohol] we use, and people in our lives that can drain our life force.
Listen to interview with Jenna at Inner Talent Interviews
http://talentdevelop.com/innertalent/