Here are a few of our favorite Big Ideas + Other Cool Stuff from Week 4 of John & Ocean Robbins' 4-week course Living the Food Revolution.
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The Context
Find out the truth about genetically modified foods, and the real effect of the food you eat on your health and on our world. Then learn how to put that knowledge into actionable and delicious practice in your life.
Best selling author, John Robbins, joins forces with his son, Ocean Robbins, to give you practical, step-by-step support to bring your food choices into alignment with what you truly value.
Living the Food Revolution will extend your life, increase your vitality, and help you take a stand for a more compassionate and sustainable world.
Here are a few of our favorite Big Ideas from Week 3 - Being a Food Revolutionary:
Big Idea #1: How to Have the Conversation
How do you engage with people about what you've learned? How do you share all of this with people you care about?
First off: save your breath for those who are interested. :)
Ask them, "would you like to know?" If their answer is "no," then don’t go on.
You can also ask, "Are you available to hear the reasons I have and the things I’ve learned about food and health, the environment, the way animals are treated, or about world hunger and our diets?"
Ask what the other person knows about food. You want a dialogue!
The worst thing is lecturing or preaching—when the other person tunes out and you don’t even notice.
We want a connection and a rapport that allows for learning, mutual curiosity and growth!
The tendency to talk down to people is something we also need to be on the look out for. As Martin Luther King, Jr. shared: "You have no moral authority with those who can feel your underlying contempt."
Let's march forward as a revolutionary, expressing ourselves with respect for others and ourselves!
Big Idea #2: Focus on Connection
Ocean shared a heartwarming and touching story of learning to connect with his autistic son, of meeting his son on his level.
If we want to move and inspire people, we need to connect with them. We make contact, we connect, and then we keep going.
Asking “Are you interested?” gives others the opportunity to know more. If they ask why you eat that way, you have no idea if they are genuinely curious or if they are being critical.
Ask them where they are in their journey: what do they like or don’t? What frustrates them? What is their suffering (if they’re open to sharing it)? What are they learning?
To truly change someone's mind, connect with his or her greatness and potential first! :)
Big Idea #3: Watch the Body Language
How do you know if the conversation you're having is going nowhere? Check out your own body language!
Does your body feel tight? Is your breathing shutting down? If so, you’re tuning into them turning out. There’s a collapse and contraction; the energy is compressing rather than expanding.
We always want to be in a conversation where that inquiry is expanding. If there’s resistance to what you're sharing, acknowledge it; don’t fight it, and perhaps suggest that you pick this talk up “another time.” :)
Be mindful of the other person as well: are they making eye contact with you? are they asking questions? are you talking by yourself for too long?
Following this course of action can lead to more positive conversations and interactions!
Other Cool Stuff:
Here's an inspiring quote Ocean shared that motivates him in his work:
This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
~George Bernard Shaw
Your relationship to food, no matter how conflicted, can be a doorway to freedom.
Join Geneen Roth on this journey with her "Women Food and God" Self-Guided Online-Retreat. It's, quite simply, a guide for a beautiful life.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in more scientific data on a plant-based diet's impact on health, check out The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell!
Ocean and John also recommend the book (here) and the movie, Forks Over Knives. Here's the trailer:
For mail-order GMO-free foods anywhere in the United States, check out
Green Polka Dot Box!
For more information about soy (which was raised in our first class), and many other good resources, check out John Robbins’ new book:
No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Food Revolution.
And here's an article about soy on the johnrobbins.info site!
If you were left with any questions at the conclusion of this course, please post them on John and Ocean's Facebook Page, and they will do their best to answer them there.
If you would like to share any feedback on the course, including suggestion for improvement or testimonials that they might use in inspiring future participants, please share them on their Facebook page or write Ocean directly.
Want to connect with other inspiring and cool peeps? Head over to the en*theos community!
Hope you enjoyed this course and we look forward to sharing more wisdom with you in the future!
-The en*theos Team
