not how but why....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060426/hl_afp/healthobesityus

we are consumers. we buy things to alleviate discomfort. our discomforts come in a variety of guises, from inadequate toast preparation to the need for air conditioning. the consumer need is met in industrial proportions in a feedback arrangement thet goes from consuming to making consumer products to consuming again. we consume and we get paid out of dollars earned by making and selling consumer products.
food, fuel and shelter are the major needs we spend money on. all of these commodities are, at one time or another, are consumed for entertainment. we go places for fun, we decorate our homes lavishly and we eat more than we need for sustenance.
why?
we are trying to feel better.
why do we feel bad in the first place.
we are conditioned by a culture who`s industry is entirely maintained by the sale, manufacture, and delivery of consumer products.
when we feel badly we buy more, therefore it is my thesis that there are those who`s job is to create a pervasive anxiety state in our culture to drive the consumption of large amounts of stuff.
so we eat to feel better and we store the resulting surplus food as fat in our bodies.
the thing that we are all doing to survive is slowly killing us.
this artificially induced discomfort is driving the selling of dangerous drugs that are supposed to make us feel better too......but they don`t.
the only thing that will save us from our own will to consume is working on methods to let the anxiety move out of our system without damage.
yoga.
athletics.
meditation.
loving relationships.
awareness of health issues surrounding food.
reasons to love being alive and heathy.
these activities are either natural to you or can be acquired as skills through training and practice and are vital for physical and mental health.
i treat anxiety in my practice as a ground for all of my behavioural work. without adressing and dealing with the anxiety issues underlying behaviour, all other modification work is temporary.