Hemingway - Mariel Hemingways Healthy Living from the Inside Out

QUESTION: WHICH OF THESE THINGS HAVE YOU DONE THIS WEEK?

• A. Switched on the TV news within five minutes of waking up.
• B. Eaten lunch while driving.
• C. Taken your cell phone into the bathroom.
• D. Used a strong cup of coffee as a pick-me-up.
• E. Looked in the mirror and had a mean thought about your body.

QUESTION: WHICH OF THESE THINGS HAVENT YOU DONE THIS WEEK?

• A. Laid the table for breakfast.
• B. Noticed what time the sun set.
• C. Driven with the radio and your cell phone switched off.
• D. Exercised.
• E. Looked in the mirror and had a loving thought about your body.

S OMETIMES LIFES MAJOR REVELATIONS come in such quiet moments, you almost miss them. Two years ago I was traveling down a quiet country road in the middle of New Zealands South Island after a long, cold day on the set of an action movie. The gray springtime light was finally fading to darkness, and I was quietly thrilled to be in the cars passenger seat with the heat blasting at my feet, after a morning of shooting water scenes in the frigid ocean and an afternoon of throwing kung fu kicks on dry land. I was thinking about the healthy dinner I planned to cook and how Id use my quiet night alone to rest and recharge when a hesitant voice from the drivers side broke the silence.

Um, Mariel? Can I ask you a question? It was Anna, the foxy nineteen-year-old local whose job as production assistant kept her racing around on my tail from dawn to dusk.

Absolutely, I said.

Well, she hesitated, as if slightly embarrassed, the rest of the crew and I are wondering something. How is it that at the end of the day youre the only person on set who isnt exhausted and cranky, who isnt clutching a coffee cup and eating cookies to keep going, and isnt getting sick? She sneezed, then added in the most diplomatic way she could, Youre so much olderI mean, were twenty years younger than you, at least. And you have three times our energy.

The question surprised me. For most of the two decades that Id worked in the entertainment industry, Id always been something of the kook on setthe health nut with the funny habits. Id get teased for doing Sun Salutations during the long waits for my scenes or for bringing big vats of whey protein powder to the catering table at lunch. (Lovingly teased, I should add, but teased nonetheless.) Or the fact that I meditated daily and would wake up before our early call times to do itthat was doubly weird to most. Although I almost never talk about my practices, little clues to my lifestyle would pop up here and there, always setting me slightly apart. Anything smacking of what I call the yogic attitudecreating calm from the inside out through food and exercise and quiet contemplationwas more or less not cool.

A UTHORS NOTE: CAN MEN DO THIS PROGRAM? Of course! Most of the information in this book applies to everyone. I refer to my own experiences as a woman, wife, and mother throughout because that is what I know, but almost all the concerns and issues I speak of are universal. Men will get as much from this program as women will, so please keep reading!

Yet here I was, after a good twenty years of following these lifestyle practices, suddenly finding that the very people who used to giggle at me were now coming to me with questions. Once Anna broke the ice, more curious inquiries followed. How can I eat in a way that makes me feel better? Why am I so tired even when I get enough sleep? What will help get rid of this awful stomachache I get every time Im anxious? Movie sets have traditionally been far from health conscious. Working long hours under significant amounts of stress and often eating on the fly, people do what they can to stay alert all day and calm under pressure. Caffeine, sugar, cigarettes, and occasional tantrums to let off steam are the standard methods of self-maintenance, and half the time you survive by knowing that if you hang on a bit longer, you can fall apart when the jobs done. In other words, its a microcosm of society at large. So when my down-under colleagues started asking about my simple, preventive methods for keeping my body boosted, my mind calm, and my spirits high, it set me thinking.

If the veteran lighting guys with the Teflon stomachs are inquiring about my cod liver oil and the college-age interns want to know how long I meditate, Ill bet a pretty wide cross section of people are seeking the same thing: to learn how to slow down, take stock of how they feel, and take back some control of their health and of their lives.

I BELIEVE we all have the same problems, they just come in different wrapping paper. And the more I talk to people, not just on movie sets but also to my friends, colleagues, and even my childrens acquaintances, the more its clear that below the surface of our very different appearances, lifestyles, and interests lie some universal concerns. At the start of the twenty-first century, the desire to stay well and find some kind of inner peace is becoming more urgent. The rapid and often relentless pace of life has delivered unprecedented opportunity, but its also brought on exhaustion, and what many of us want most is to redress the imbalance. We want to feel more rested and restored and to reconnect with lives that seem to be getting away from us. Above all, we want to learn how to live in balance: to be less susceptible to stress and sickness and to have health and peace of mind as the norm, not the exception, in our lives.

Almost every part of life now exists in a more accelerated form than ever before: food is faster, travel is quicker, and communication is more or less instant. Our environments are crowded with noise, media, and technology; stuff fills every corner of our homes (much of which, not surprisingly, becomes rapidly obsolete). We confront so many situations in the course of a day that we never get a chance to process everything before the next morning comes. Meanwhile, many of us feel a lingering undertow of frustration that makes it hard to find satisfaction in our present lives. Its as if a perpetual refrain is echoing in the backs of our minds: What else should I be doing? Whats out there that might be better than this?