heat & food (original) (raw)

I didn't realize how much colder one gets, when one isn't eating!

During my first 7-day sesshin in October (an intensive, silent retreat with over 10 hours of sitting meditation each day), I grew increasingly cold throughout the week, but I assumed it was because a) I started to get a cold on Day 5 and b) I didn't have many warm clothes with me. Before this November 7-day sesshin, I did travel back to Philadelphia to retrieve all my winter clothes, so I thought I'd be ready... And I was warmer in general, but there were still parts of the day (especially before dinner), when I just felt I couldn't stay warm!

Today was a fast day at the Zen Center, observing Oxfam's day of fasting on the Thursday before Thanksgiving -- and although today was cold (30-degree weather, after a few unseasonably mild days over the weekend), I felt even colder than I'd expect. Then, I realized why I've been feeling so cold in sesshin! Since one is sitting so much in sesshin, the advice given is to eat less than usual; I follow that advice from the first day, but I've also discovered that in the last couple days, I can even more drastically reduce my food intake without feeling hungry.

The good news is that there are soaking baths at the retreat center, so at least for the few hours after I take a bath, my core temperature is warm.

the audience: Rochester Zen Center

the feeling: cold