thiefI had a super consciousness raising weekend starting on Friday when I attended a macrobiotic conference in Palisades, NY. The opening lecture, Living from the Soul, was given by Tom Monte who connected how we eat with our thought patterns.

You can visit his site and read more about his beliefs, but I wanted to share a phrase he used which struck me the most deeply. He talked about the mind as a Hungry Thief–what he dubbed “The Story of No”–that contradictory force within us that opposes intuition.

In coaching we refer to it as the gremlin or saboteur. Tom Monte filled in that  picture by referring to this phenomon as an archetype (already it sounds much more important!) inside us. The soul is inspired and the mind says, “I cannot do this.” “It won’t happen for me.” “I’m inadequate.” In short, he called it the battle between the ego and the soul.

Why this topic comes up at a macrobiotic conference is that the American diet is in Tom’s words, “the leading anesthetic in the world” numbing us and taking us away from our feelings.

I realize this is a lot to throw out on a Monday morning. What I didn’t mention is that on Saturday I went to see the movie Food, Inc. which further underlined what’s happening to our nourishment sources in this country–in brief, they are being totally industrialized–reinforcing Tom’s message and my commitment to healthy eating.

The way to stave off the hungry thief? Eat well (locally, organically, chewing a lot) and continue to dream, have visions and take action.