Conscious Eating

Eating isn’t what it used to be for most of us. Most of us eat without thinking. We live busy lives, and eat when we can: on the run, in the car, on the way to a meeting, in front of the TV.

The food we eat is a far cry from the food of our ancestors or even from a generation or two ago. What most of us eat looks nothing like the foods of yesteryear. Grocery stores are an onslaught of harsh lights, colors unknown to nature, and packages labeled ‘natural’ and ‘healthy’ that contain foods that are far from either.

Once people ate foods they grew, or whose neighbors grew. Once we worked long days in the sunshine, the same sun that shone on our crops. Once we carefully watered plants that were lovingly tended and harvested with joy and thanks.

Eat this way once a week or more to enhance your senses, enliven your eating, and avail your body of more of the goodness that surrounds you.

 Benefits Of Conscious Eating

• helps your body take in more nutrients
• improves your digestion
• connects you to your world
• helps you make better eating choices
• slows you down
• helps your body be balanced
• gives you a sense of peace
• inspires you to live gently

Conscious Eating — The How-To

Step One.  Food — Back To The Land.

Eat whole foods – food that you cook or prepare from its natural state. Eat organic if you can — the fewer contaminants like pesticides and hormones that your body has to deal with, the easier it is to assimilate the food it takes in.

Step Two.  Preparation — S-L-O-O-O-W.

Let’s say you have decided to eat a potato. When you take the potato from its bag, imagine the journey it took to get to you:

• the farmer who tended it
• the harvester who pulled it from the earth
• the trucker who carried it to your store
• the grocer who placed it on a shelf

As you wash the potato, think about the soil it rested in, that fed it as it grew.

As you cut the potato, think about the rain that fed it.

As you cook the potato, think about the sun that bathed its leaves in gold.

As you season the potato, imagine the faraway and exotic lands where the spices comes from.

Step Three.  Clear + Beautify.

Make your eating place beautiful. Little touches go a long way. Treat yourself like your own guest at an intimate gathering.

• De-clutter.
• Fresh flowers.
• Nice table ware.
• Special dishes.
• A cloth napkin.
• Convivial company.

Step Four.  Eat + Engage Your Senses.

Time to go wild and have fun.

Sight. How does your food look? See the colors and shapes. Arrange your food beautifully on your plate.

Smell. What does your food smell like? Close your eyes and enjoy the scents of your labors.

Taste. Take a bite. Savor it. What flavors do you detect? Chew slowly. Feel the textures. Let the flavors pop.

Connect. Use your imagination and FEEL your food and your body connecting. Feel your body welcome the gift of sunlight and rain and deliciousness you have offered.

Next Steps

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