Quotes from Martha N. Beck

your neocortex is the part of your brain that tracks time.

Laughter is the highest form of prayer.

Extreme overeating is basically a warp spasm, a violent tantrum thrown by the deprived or captive Wild Child in our brains. When it hits, rational thinking goes out the window.

He says that you shouldn't be so worried. He says you'll never be hurt as much by being open as you have been hurt by remaining closed.

The good news is that you can step off the battlefield any time. You do this by aligning yourself with the Watcher part of your brain, then observing the conflict from a kind, detached distance. The more time you spend observing the battles, the less energy the war will have, and the sooner it will end. Strange but true: the brain that observes itself, changes itself. A

enlightenment always tastes of freedom.

One woman I knew decided, with her husband, to abort a planned pregnancy when a crucial three-day exam was scheduled near her due date. I don't know whether she even asked if the exam could be rescheduled.

research on meditation does indicate that staying in a compassionate mode toward one's self removes brain activity from zones that trigger flight, fight, and frenzied eating.

Research has shown that focusing on appreciation and gratitude has all kinds of positive health effects, lowering indicators of disease-causing stress and increasing the flow of healthy hormones in our bloodstreams.

people with weight issues often feel judged and attacked, partly because they spend so much time judging and attacking themselves.

The Stream, he said, was the ubiquitous power of God that flowed through every being, sentient and nonsentient. To become a Leaf was to ride the current without struggling, to sense the inclination of a benevolent reality and surrender to it, moment by moment.

we don't just react to the world as it is. We react to the world as we think it is—the

We also believe thoughts like "I'm hungry" or "I need pie" even when they aren't true. We react to these inaccurate statements as though they were scientific fact. As

better person." I'm

Every experience that's part of your best destiny is beautiful to your soul.

HERE'S HOW MY OXFORD DICTIONARY DEFINES IT: "The spasmodic utterance, facial distortion, shaking of the sides, etc., which form the instinctive impression of mirth." To me this sounds like the array of symptoms caused by a lethal virus, but it's actually a description of one of the best things life has to offer: laughter. With certain exceptions, the Joy Diet requires you to do it at least thirty times a day.

It's been said that the entire philosophical foundation of Zen is contained in three small words: "Not always so." If you want to stop emotional eating (which means you'll eat only out of physical hunger, which means you'll eventually be the right weight for your body) you must become willing to apply those three words to your own beliefs. THE

All for all, always.

In this chapter, we'll picture these rule-making and rule-breaking parts of you as humans. Tiny humans. We'll call them the Dictator and the Wild Child.

hold out your right hand, palm up. Imagine a 2-inch-tall version of yourself in a military uniform, with a whip in one hand and a gun in the other, stomping around in your palm, shrieking deeply personal insults and commanding you to lose weight. This is the Dictator.

Now hold up your left palm (you may have to put down this book for a minute) and picture your Wild Child there: 2 inches tall, dressed in skins and bark, covered with scars, waiting for an opportunity to escape or subvert the Dictator's brutal control. Watch until you can see them both clearly in your mind's eye.

Think through the well-meaning motivations of both your Dictator and your Wild Child, until you really understand that within their limited perspectives they're doing their very best. Then offer them both kindness.

the single most important decision any of us will ever have to make is whether or not to believe that the universe is friendly.

instead of clinging to me for support, he was holding me up, embracing me, trying to help me trust that everything around us—the dolphins, the birds, the sun, the sky, the whole vast, blue Atlantic—was there to bring us joy. I think he may be right.