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just on everyday brain power; our brain needs fuel as much as the rest of our body. If we suffer from debilitating anxiety or worry, then we are literally sucking up energy that should be used for the rest of our body, and this can have the knock-on effect of impairing our health. Conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME), autoimmune problems, diabetes, hormonal disturbances, weight gain and chronic pain can all be linked to episodes of prolonged or chronic stress and depressiveillness. In turn, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and lack of mobility can then result from ill health and we are caught in a vicious cycle. Repetitive mental chatter, anxiety or obsessive thoughts can be enormously distressing and tiring. For some people it is a daily battle and one that is not often recognized nor taken seriously by the medical profession. Rumination is a term that is given to those thoughts that continually churn through the brain; they are often illogical and cause intense misery to those who suffer from them.
    People with anxiety are often told to ‘pull themselves together’ or to ‘get a grip’, but it is a serious psychological condition and needs attention. Often the sufferer has lost the ability to quieten the chatter because the neural pathways in the brain have adapted to the pattern of worry; the mind actually begins to ‘warn’ the person that there is ‘something wrong’ because the anxiety has caused not only a mental change but also physiological changes in response to the emotions generated by the worries. So symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, nausea and the need to go to the toilet are often triggered by the thoughts, which then alert the mind to remember this awful and fearful experience – a catch-22 situation. By learning to live in the present using mindfulness techniques, we can not only begin to calm our chaotic minds, but also learn how to accept ourselves and our conditions and move into the future without fear. Recent studies into mindfulness as a method of helping with anxiety, depression and other mental and neurological disorders are showing very positive results.
    By learning to embrace the moment, you will learn which things are important and which can be released. By no means does mindfulness allow you to shirk your responsibilities or evade your fears; instead, it teaches you to be aware of what is real and important, helping release you from your shackles to the past and your fears for the future. Every day lived in a mindful way creates more time for you to experience the ‘now’ and focus on being inspired for your next moment. If you no longer live in the past, nor try and anticipate what is to come, then you are truly a master of your own destiny, and each day becomes an amazing experience of discovery and inspiration.
How to be mindful
    As you have now seen, the Zen Diet is far more than just a diet. A perfect way to complement your dietary changes is to use an ancient technique for calming the mind and making every morsel (whether of food or life) count! Following is an exercise you can try to really experience the concept of mindfulness or living in the moment; this meditation was inspired by one devised by Professor Mark Williams in his superb book
Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world
. You can use any item of food to experiment with, especially one with a lot of texture, taste and fragrance. Here, I am using chocolate as the example, not only because it is a favourite of mine, but because it has such a universally deeply satisfying taste, feel and smell:
EXERCISE
    Choose your favourite chocolate (dark is best for taste and for your health) and place it unwrapped in front of you.
    Look at the packaging, see how it enfolds the chocolate; read the blurb, look at the design as if you are seeing it for the first time.
    Slowly unwrap the chocolate, remove the outer wrapper and then take off the foil – what does it feel like, what