Do you love food? Do you eat to live? Are you an emotional eater? Do you sit down and enjoy your meal with friends or family? Or are you one of many who grabs a few bites while catching up on emails?
In Ayurvedic Medicine, there is a strong emphasis on the importance of taking the time to enjoy your food. Observe the meal you are about to eat, delight in the colours and shapes. Smell your food to enjoy the aroma’s that tantalise the salivary glands. And then, relish the taste whilst chewing your food slowly and completely. These three simple things are what instigates the digestive process, it is our senses that sets it all in motion.
Food is a major part of our bodies function. Digestion. The digestive system is intricate and involves many enzymes including bile produced by the gall bladder to help break down the food you have ingested. Our cells take the nutrients from food and use them as building blocks to repair and regenerate.
Food is medicine. Food nourishes the body and the mind. We don’t often take the time to enjoy food as nourishment because we are simply too busy.
Have you ever taken the time to think about how you feel about food? Many of us eat through boredom or stress. Others eat because the clock tells us it is now time, despite whether or not we are actually hungry.
Think about food the way the Italians do. They grow their food with love. They prepare their food with love. They eat their food with love. It is a celebration from the moment they plant the seeds until they sit down to enjoy it. It’s already widely understood that the Mediterranean ‘diet’ is a good one. But it’s not just the food we consume that affects our body. The way we view food is key to a healthy relationship within ourselves.
Food is living energy. The love and care given to all of those processes provides greater nourishment and enjoyment of life. If you ate a meal that was prepared by someone who was angry, you absorb that negative energy and most likely you will not enjoy the meal.
Whatever your relationship with food, it’s important to remember that we are all unique individuals. We respond to circumstances and situations differently. This can have a huge impact on what we choose to put into our bodies and when.
Take a few minutes each day to appreciate your food and use your senses. Be grateful for the abundance of food you can enjoy. Be mindful of where your food is coming from and how it is grown or prepared.
And lastly, enjoy!
Choose wisely. Live vibrantly.
Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
