Using Octavia's Wisdom: Reflections on the Workbook
/
By Nikolas Coukouma - This is the first time this version of the photo has been released by Nikolas Coukouma., CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=602976
“All that you touch you change
All that you change changes you
The only lasting truth is change
God is Change. ”
In my twenties, I read a lot of Octavia Butler. I recently heard a podcast about her because she is having a resurgence. I wrote down the above quote because her words seem to apply to me right now. The process of writing a book changed me. Now, the inner 3rd grader in me, who could study ten words for 3 hours and the next day did not know how to spell any of them, is curious that she’s now an author. Apparently, I needed to write a book to know deeply that I am OK as a slow reader and a poor speller.
Also - Natasha and I wrote the workbook to offer a possible pathway to change to those who read it. We wanted to provide hope. Our goal is to empower people to have more energy and mental, and less fatigue, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Additionally, understanding how to do small experiments to feel better so the reader can focus on achieving their life goals. With these tools, hope and change can become the constant in their lives.
The loop of change has quickly come back to me and Natasha: the conversations about the workbook are clarifying and changing how we think about people, health, and hope.
I want to share some of the questions we have received and how I respond to them:
"I have been doing a keto/intermitting fasting diet for three years, and it has helped with my anxiety. Eating every 3-4 hours, with carbohydrates at every meal would be horrible. I would just eat sugar all the time."
Kristen: Congratulations on finding a way of eating that works for you! Three years is time enough to know that it supports your health and the community and family structure that you live in. It must also be working for your internal-self. However, not everyone can be successful on a keto/intermittent fasting meal plan for lots of reasons.
In Fuel Your Brain, Not Your Anxiety, the tools are there for people who are still struggling with anxiety and fatigue. Some individual's bodies can't adapt to keto or intermittent fasting. This is more common for women. Some people's emotional attunement flattens with ketones as the primary fuel for their brain. Their job or family context requires that their brains have glucose for fuel in order for them to emotionally attended to children, aging parents, or clients. Also, some people have childhoods filled with trauma and deprivation. To be limited on what they can eat and when they can eat causes a lot of internal resentment. Resentment is far more destructive for some people than sugar, body shape, or even diabetes. I have found that adding protein and including carbs is more helpful for many people than eliminating or limiting a food group. When people have the tools to dialog with their body and brain, they develop food, movement, and sleep plans that are best for their body, brain, circumstances, and age over time.
A friend of my parents read the book and said, "I am still not clear what an 80-year woman should eat." I replied, "I think the question is: What should I, Raquel, who is 80 years old, still works, and swims three times a week, be eating to have plenty of energy and mental clarity."
After this conversation, I have reflected that this is the core of what I hope to offer. The question is not “should everyone be keto/vegan/weight watchers/ whole 30 or whatever diet?” The question is, “how can we each eat differently for each moment or phase of our lives?” There is no "right" way for everyone. I do think that it is valuable to ask, "Is what I am eating supporting my energy and mental clarity, and - if not - what experiment can I do to improve my energy and mental clarity?"
Another conversation we have been having around who is the workbook is for?
Here are some types of people who are most likely to experience positive change from reading the book:
• if you haven’t yet found a meal plan that gives you stable energy and mental clarity throughout the day
• if you have anxiety, panic attacks, depression, mood swings, insomnia, and/or fatigue
• if you like learning about how the brain and body work together
• if you have a history of trauma, mental health challenges, and/or addictions
• if you have a busy life and can only make small changes to improve energy and mental clarity
• if you haven’t yet found a movement program that works for you
I agree with Octavia: change is what is happening right now. Her dystopian books show us that by embracing change, we find paths to hope. By having a goal, direction, or intention for that change, we can start to influence what is happening in our lives. Information, tools, stories of overcoming obstacles, and experiencing small successes help us move along our unique paths. Lastly, we do tend to do better and go farther if we are not alone on our paths.
Publishing the workbook has shown me and Natasha that we’re not alone. We have a growing community of people looking for tools for themselves and the people they are connected with. We’re excited to be part of the change and to be changed by what comes next.
Share with us what you’re discovering and what questions you have.
Thanks for being part of our community and part of our paths.