Yogic Food Introduction

Learning to listen to the wisdom inherent in our body is the first step to eating well. Some specific food makes us feel terrible, the message here is that it is not the right food for us. So let go of that addiction to taste, for, the price of that indulgence is between a happy and an unhappy life.

Learning to honor our body, loving ourselves and asking “If I truly love myself, how will I treat myself ?” and then making decisions from there. If you realize that you don’t love yourself as much as you thought you did, just notice that and start with gentleness first  🙂

Sattvic food :

Includes seasonal foods, fruits, milk and yogurt, nuts, seeds, oils, ripe vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and non-meat based proteins.

There is a lot of controversy over dairy products in the modern world, and for good reason due to poor animal treatment. Back in the days in India where the yogic tradition originated there is health recommendations to get good fats from cow milk.  Cows are considered sacred in India due to its religious affiliation and so holy cows are especially treated well and looked upon as divine and provider of abundance in food. They turn the cow milk into yogurt, ghee oil, butter, cream, lassi drinks, paneer cheese, sweet desserts, etc.  Most Hindus used to be vegetarians, and if they do eat meat, they do not eat cow meat for this sacred reason.

So choose wisely. I, for one, am quite skeptical of dairy products in the western world especially the products in the super-markets because of unimaginable mistreatment of animals to maximize profits. I believe that the pain and suffering ( read stress hormones and fears ) the animal has gone through especially in the last moments gets embedded in the cells and are passed down to us. So use your own discernment.  There is no right or wrong answer. Listen to your own body after ingesting food and let the food communicate with you through the change in your mental, emotional and physical well-being.

No need to put shame, guilt and anger into yourself for not loving yourself. It’s counter-productive.  Just accept where you are, and then take baby steps to changing habits. You will be rewarded greatly.

“The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures^{” –  Wikipedia} – The Stanford Study on Instant Gratification

Wish you strength, courage and gentleness to touch your tender spots and heal them. I invite you to your greatest health and well-being.

Much Love

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