Eating with Awareness

Jai Gurudev...

This week I have been busy taking Sri Sri Yoga for the officers of UTCS (Union Territory Civil Services. It was a nice experience. Each Course gives immense joy and increase Gratitude to our Beloved Master...

While taking the Yoga Session, I gave some info on Eating with Awareness and thought to share it with you..

‘Every time we sit down to a meal we have the opportunity to enhance or undermine our health’.
What is our life worth if we are without good health? Our health is so essential to our sense of well-being and happiness, and yet still there are so many of us who know so little about our bodies and who continue to put food into our systems without consciously attending to what is and isn’t of benefit to out system. And yet, as with anything, it often takes losing your health to fully appreciate it. With so many contradictory theories about diet and health and so many different paths and approaches to physical well-being, many of us throw up our arms and say, ‘Why not just eat what I enjoy! Life is too short!’ Consequently, when the confusion arises, many people sacrifice their health for the sake of ignorance. But food is not just something, which fuels the body so that we can stay alive. Food affects not only our physical well-being but also the state of our thoughts and emotions.

There is a saying “The best medicine is proper food!”
Many of us eat without awareness, eating primarily to satisfy the palate, the taste buds. However, we each have different constitutions and within those constitutions, we have different digestive systems. What someone digests easily, another digestive system will take time to digest. Even good food, if not easily digested can create illness.

Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, is more than 5000 years old and is very sophisticated, providing the oldest and most experientially proven set of body types with a well thought out food therapy relative to the different body types.

According to Ayurveda, there are three basic body types Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Each has a different digestive ability. For example, whilst Vatas need help balancing protein metabolism; Pittas need help balancing fat metabolism and Kaphas need help balancing carbohydrate metabolism. Vata’s digestion is impaired when compared to Pitta or Kapha. Pitta has the best and hottest digestive capacity, whilst Kapha has the slowest and possibly the most efficient.

Ayurveda functions on the principle understanding that if we know our own body type, we can know and experience optimal physical, mental and emotional health. In addition, Ayurveda’s dietary approach does not stand-alone. It is integrated with exercise, herbal and meditation therapies and offers a complete approach to life and can easily be applied to modern cultures and societies.

Jai Gurudev...