This year I decided to challenge myself to reflect on various Yoga and Buddhist aspects throughout the year. The challenges come from a variety of places including readings in Deborah Adele's Yamas and Niyamas and Thich Nhat Hanh's Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Happiness.
My philosophies and my tastes are often in contradiction. My heart wants me to be vegetarian (well, actually vegan, but that's another story). But, it's a challenge for me sometimes to want to be. In the past I've spent two 1.5 year periods vegetarian. And I've started off many a week with vegetarian ambitions, only to cave to my taste buds in moments of stress.
This week I decided to challenge myself to a week of vegetarianism. This way, if I wanted meat, I could know it was just for a week. I looked forward to this week with excitement and trepidation. I love veggie food, but I love meat too.
I had lots of yummy meals this week. I've re-discovered plenty of simple vegetarian favorites like cheese and veggie sandwiches. And I found that my favorite pizzeria makes a mean 3 Cheese Pizza. I struck a balance between eating in and eating out because I wanted to ensure that I explored options on both sides.
So what about next week? Given the success of this week, I'm feeling motivated to continue eating vegetarian for now, without committing myself to any specific time frame.
