Randy and I recently had the opportunity to meet Alan Arkin at the Fox Studio in Denver, CO. While riding up the elevator with him, he commented on our Naturally Savvy gift bags. He mentioned that he loves natural and organic products. A man after our own heart, I interviewed Alan and his wife Suzanne, on living a naturally healthy lifestyle.
Enjoy!
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): Alan, in one of our conversations, you mentioned you and Suzanne live a natural lifestyle and eating naturally is the only sane choice. Can you please elaborate on this?
Alan Arkin: I always find it funny when people say “I’m going to the health food store”. What is this supposed to be instead of, going to the “sickness” food store? The implication is that there is a distinction between a health food and non-health food store. However, ideally there shouldn’t be one. All the food available to us should be healthy.
Suzanne Arkin: I feel so much better eating this way. If I am eating natural and organic food, I can do a lot of travelling and when I don’t – I don’t feel well. It is so important to us that if we are on the road, we will travel an hour to an hour and a half to a Whole Foods Market or some place that sells organics just so we can find healthy food.
Alan Arkin: The days of traveling with a backpack are over! We travel with a chest, knives, pots and pans and bring all of our own stuff, especially when traveling by car.
Suzanne Arkin: Some people may think we are fanatic, but for us it’s a sane way of life.
Andrea Donsky: It’s a way of life for me too, so I completely understand where you are coming from. Do you mainly live this lifestyle through what you eat or does it carry through to other areas of your life?
Suzanne Arkin: Yes, it encompasses all aspects of our life.
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): When did you first start living a natural and organic lifestyle?
Suzanne Arkin: Alan got me started. He took me to my first health food store 35 years ago. We had a close friend who knew something about nutrition and gave us literature to read.
Alan Arkin: The information is out there and all you need is for one person to make you aware of it and then you begin to notice it’s everywhere. There is an enormous amount of information on organics if you look, especially when it comes to pesticides. Early on I realized if these pesticides can kill bugs, then there’s a good chance they aren’t good for us either! Many people don’t want to take the time to learn about it [organics] or understand it. The implications of choosing healthier products are huge but many people don’t look at it because they feel it may be too time consuming or expensive.
Suzanne Arkin: Also, people don’t have a lot of time these days. Luckily, we have three markets within ten minutes of each other, wonderful farmer’s markets and one gigantic Whole Foods where we live, so it is easier for us to access it. We live in Santa Fe, so we live in a city where people are enormously aware of their health and the environment.
Alan Arkin: We like to shop at the open farmer’s market. We love the selection of products. There is a whole new movement of shopping locally. We initially didn’t do it because of that, but rather because we liked being there. The food is fresh and the personal investment in the crop creates an energy you can almost taste. Plus it’s great for the local economy.
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): Suzanne, I read you’re a psychotherapist. What are some of the more holistic approaches, if any, that you take when counselling a client?
Suzanne Arkin: My focus is on relationship therapy [couple counselling]. I like to use a technique called “IMAGO Relationship Therapy”. It was developed by Harville Hendrix, PhD and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD. This type of therapy believes we chose our mates based on the premise that we want to heal unresolved issues from our past.
I believe food affects our emotions and the idea of how fresh food contributes to our well being on every level. I also feel that spiritual inner work, exercise, service and the right amount of sleep all are necessary and have a tremendous impact on our overall health and well-being. I relate all of this back to my clients.
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): Can you give any advice to someone who wants to start living a natural lifestyle but doesn’t really know where to begin?
Alan Arkin: My advice would be the following:
- Start with reading product labels.
- Read a couple of books. One of the first books I ever read when it came to living a natural and organic lifestyle was by Dr. Andrew Weil, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health.
- Watch Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock.
- Go into health food stores. Speak to the staff, pick things up off the shelf and look at them.
- Visit a farmer’s markets. Anybody at a farmer’s market can help to educate you. In Santa Fe you can’t go very far without hearing somebody talk about the difference between natural conventional.
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): How do you maintain balance in your life?
Alan Arkin: We meditate a lot.
Suzanne Arkin: If I didn’t do it [meditate], I would be depriving myself of joy, happiness and total fulfilment. We live in the middle of the real thing – surrounded by mountains – and not in a metropolitan area. We are very disciplined people even when we’re traveling.
Alan Arkin: We haven’t watched TV in 12 years! We have a TV set but only use it to watch DVD’s. I recently read a book that listed the properties of addiction and with respect to toxicity TV was at the top of the list. The first time I really thought of giving up TV was when I read Andrew Weil’s book. He felt if we stop listening to the news and stop reading the newspaper, we can keep fear at bay. Anything that helps to keep fear at bay helps us and our planet.
Naturally Savvy Question (Andrea): What is your responsibility to the environment?
Suzanne Arkin: Turning off lights … a lot.
Alan Arkin: Whenever possible: very little packaging and cans, recycling, using our own bags. We don’t need to feel so proud of ourselves because we’re doing something good for the environment. It is a necessity for our own good and survival.
