What do I mean by that? Why is it a favorite mantra? How does wasabi differ from other hot sauces? First, this is a metaphor for feelings and how we deal with them; or we do not deal with them out of fear.
Most hot sauces or hot food has a tendency to keep being hot on your mouth for a very long time, even after you are done eating. The mouth is a place not only for food but expression. Some people can stand and like heat in their mouths, some can't. For some it is thrilling and exciting, for some it is a dreaded thing, something to be avoided at most any cost. That dread stands in front of any willingness to try something new. Fear of a heat you cannot get rid of.....sigh...
Ever feel like your feelings are going to consume you if you let them breath? Ever had hurt so deep you were afraid to let it out for fear it would take over? Ever think you cannot handle another second of pain? Had your very breath be of nothing but hurt? Do you know of what I speak of? Fear of letting yourself feel for fear it will be too much.
Hot food is like that. But the more I spend time in healing, working with my shaman, and working on myself I am finding everything to be of 'wasabi'.
Wasabi is a hot food item unlike most other hot foods. Its heat and intensity is 5 times that of other hot flavors,IMHO. You think it will consume you and your head is going to literally explode with this sensation that is unlike any other. You really think its going to sting you forever and you get scared...and after a deep breath or two it is gone. The heat, the explosion that was so all consuming to me the minute before, nay..seconds before..is gone! How can this be?
How can what I feared so much be so easy to transcend? Oye! I feared the old fasioned hot. I feared the old way of feeling things. The old agony, the old hurts, the pain I thought I could never outlive-. <---that is my old hot sauce.
Now life is all wasabi. I know it is going to be extreme to jump into. It is going to test my threshold of what I can tolerate. But I know when I take a bite, no matter how big..it has a short life span. It is not going to consume me, take over, or last forever. Diving into myself has never been so hot;) but I like the heat of challenging my old thought patterns, beliefs, and self limiting concepts.
Wasabi rules ;)