How many times have you heard someone say, "I know what my problem is, I know what I need to do for myself, I just don't do it? For those of us who have said this, it would be helpful to know that human beings need to learn about eating. We need to learn how to sustain our bodies properly, manage our energy, cultivate positive habits and allow food to nourish rather than punish us.
Unlike animals who feed, humans eat. Food for us is largely cultural and psychological rather than instinctual. Every eater has a theory about what eating is and what should be eaten. By learning about the body, humans are able to alter our own biology. We all have the capacity to transform the body and the mind and yet, we often use this ability of the mind to disable the body and create needless emotional turmoil around food. It is beneficial to place nutrition in the larger contexts of spiritual psychological development by focusing on living and thinking correctly as the vehicle for eating correctly. It maneuvers us out of the maze of nutritional shoulds and shouldn'ts into a realm where the body is met on its own terms. Each of us have our own lifestyle, set of beliefs and range of biochemical requirements. It would help us to discover the dynamic and changing nature of the body and reveal how our relationship to food can teach us about our relationship to life.
The ultimate goal of any dietary philosophy is to take us fully into the body and beyond the body. That is taking us fully into the body of our dietary system must enable us to experience the maximum physical benefits of food - good health, the delight of eating and the fulfillment of nutrient needs.
Eating is life. Each time we eat, the soul continues its earthly journey. With every morsel of food swallowed a voice within us says ,"I choose life. I choose to eat, for I yearn for something more."
Nutrition not only keeps the body healthy and attractive, it maintains it as a vehicle in the service of the Divine. By nourishing the body and the reverence, we nourish the spark of life within the body. The deeper nourishment that sustains heart and soul is ultimately what matters most. It is important to explore the best foods for one's soul and the nutritional philosophies that seem most suited for one's way of thinking but without a spiritual foundation, nutritional knowledge can only go so far.
As adults we nourish ourselves, but to avoid pain, loneliness and depression. We miss the experience of joyous eating in the present moment. We eat with the mind rather than with our body and being.
Let's ask ourselves some questions in the search for nutritional enlightenment:
Who am I?
Why and I here?
What is the nature of life?
What do I aspire to?
What is the ultimate purpose of feeding my body?
How can I best nourish myself?
Is there more to food than just nutrients?
Can I learn to value my body and find joy in eating?
How does my relationship to food reveal how I relate to food?
How can food serve as a reminder of your spiritual nature?
If you were reborn tomorrow, what advice would you give yourself about your relationship with food and nourishment?
How can you use that advice now?
Each time you eat, know that you are feeding more than just a body. You are feeding a soul longing for life, it's timeless desire to learn the lessons of existence, love, hate, pleasure, pain, fear, faith, illusion and truth, through the vehicle of food. Ultimately, the most important aspect of nutrition is not what to eat but how our relationship to food can teach us who we are and how we can sustain ourselves at the deepest level of being.
~Information taken from Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David
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