Food for Thought
The wisdom of Vedanta, Yoga, and Ayurveda provides a holistic way to live that supports physical/mental health, wellbeing and spiritual practice e.g. meditation. I use these techniques and have tested them extensively – and hopefully applied some common sense to their application. They represent a guide. Each person has to find what works best for them.
In this blog I’m looking at the impact of food on the physical body, but of course it does have a knock on effect on the subtle or energetic body.
A fundamental pillar of spiritual practice is taking responsibility for your life. And this applies here too. Experiment with these suggestions, but more importantly learn to listen to what works best for your body.
Start the day (before practice): prepare a cup of hot water with freshly squeezed lemon juice, fresh peeled ginger (6-8 small pieces), a pinch of turmeric, nutmeg and cinnamon. This is a wonderful way to activate the system and prepare for day.
Before eating, offer thanks to your concept of a higher power: the Divine, Divine Feminine, Mother Nature, God, or specific deity. If the idea of higher powers doesn’t work for you, then thank a relevant person. Gratitude opens us to receive positive energy. Giving thanks need not be an overt ritual or display. Better a simple, silent offering to recognise our connection to the world around us and the need for help. Giving thanks paves the way for the process of digestion, assimilation and deriving pleasure from meals.
Don’t drink lots of water (or other beverages of any kind) with your meal – only the minimum necessary as you eat. It’s better to hydrate before and after meals. This way you will not dilute the acids in your stomach that are fundamental to digestion and assimilation of nutrients.
I have found the Ayurvedic guideline of three meals a day very helpful. And not eating/snacking in-between these times. This leaves at least three hours between each meal to allow for complete digestion. And the cardinal rule is only to eat when you’re hungry. For those people who don’t know their Ayurvedic type it may be useful to add this to your lines of enquiry. I have found this helpful for my practice.
I aim to have eaten my last meal of the day by 7.00pm (earlier if possible). This allows the digestive system time to finish its work before you go to bed and leave a healthy gap before you eat again. I try to have a 14 hour gap between my evening meal and breakfast – break-the-fast – the next day. This rhythm also help overcome any inertia to practice in the morning before breakfast i.e. asana, pranayama and meditation.
Prepare the food yourself or have it prepared by someone who loves you. This will imbue the food with the best energy. If you or they bless the food during preparation then better still.
Use fresh, whole, natural, organic ingredients wherever possible – these have not been denatured and contain the maximum prana (vital life force).
Cook your food gently; do not use a microwave – it destroys the prana present in food. Ayurveda recommends cooked rather than raw. That does not mean no salads or no raw food – just listen to your body and avoid extremes.
Use spices like cumin, coriander, fennel and saffron (and many others) in the cooking process. Turmeric warrants a whole blog unto itself; it is an amazing anti-inflammatory, and has many health benefits and properties. As well as using it liberally in preparation of meals, and adding it afterwards to cooked food like brown/black rice, quinoa, barley. I drink one turmeric-milk a day. My simple recipe is one heaped teaspoon of organic turmeric powder, a hint of white or black pepper to aid assimilation, and oat milk (Oatly is my favourite). I put this in a container that can be shaken vigorously. It goes into my back pack and this is what I drink after practice. Later I will have porridge or something similarly nutritious.
If possible don’t read or watch TV while eating. Focus on the enjoyment of the food and reflect on your connection to the world around you. Give thanks for this miraculous process.
Chew your food thoroughly – very thoroughly – ensuring that it is completely masticated before swallowing. This will improve digestion and assimilation. I mentioned stomach acids in point 3. It’s easy to overlook the fact that once we swallow the only tool we have for digestion is the acids in our stomach. You can do yourself a big favour by chewing and minimising the workload.
Don’t talk while you’re chewing. If there is conversation at the table – chew properly first and then answer. This is also more beautiful for those around you. There’s nothing edifying about seeing food in another person’s mouth (if this sounds like your mother talking, then just take a deep breath and accept. Sometimes the advice we received as children was sound).
Put your cutlery down in between each mouthful. This will help prevent you from being in a hurry and eating too quickly. It will also make it easier to be present to the process/joy of eating.
Mitahara – or moderate diet – is a fundamental yogic principle. Put simply – don’t overeat. I struggle with this sometimes, but it’s worthwhile to bear in mind.
Clean up after the meal. Do the dishes, rest and then go for a walk – even 5-10 minutes will have a positive effect on your digestion.
If you enjoy listening to music during your meal then try to make it soothing rather than raucous i.e. avoid something that’s going to activate adrenal energy. Purists would eat in complete silence - it can be an interesting experiment if your partner is open (but don’t push it).
Of course if you have children you need to communicate. Meals can be a wonderful way of sharing time with the people we love. So as with all these guidelines, please apply common sense.
You’re welcome to share, post comments, give feedback and/or ask questions.
Best wishes, Paul
