…and I’ll tell you who you are!
The food we ingest is essential to maintain a good health as it should provide our body with all the materials necessary to generate energy and support life. Hence food is a very important component of Yoga but let’s be a bit more precise here and rather talk about nutrition also called… “nourishment”, a word that is a little bit more self explanatory! Before going any further with that topic, let me make one thing clear: I am not going to try convincing you to eat Goji berries instead of a chocolate bar or trade your daily cafe latte for a soy Chai, no… although… you may want to give it a try ;-) The nutrition we adopt is a process and a relationship with ourself and the world through the medium of food, an appropriate diet helps us cultivate a clear mind and refine our intention, our intention towards ourselves and our intention towards the external world, the people and the environment. Are you being honest with yourself and the ideas that you support through the food that you choose to eat? Does your diet as it is serves you, your values and your goals? Food itself is not the only consideration but changing our attitude towards it is already a step closer to a purer and more respectful approach. How about starting this weekend??? I personally LOVE Farmers Markets and we are lucky in Australia as there are all around! I am going to the Veg Out Market in St Kilda tomorrow morning, find yours here: www.farmersmarkets.org.au/markets. Farmers Markets are always of great inspiration to me, the atmosphere is fantastic, the products look real and authentic and they help me find different ideas of what to cook next. Yes they tend to be a little more expensive and it is easy to get carried away but it is worth going for the experience itself, I highly recommend!
A few simple suggestions to start improving your diet…
* Eat what is in season
* Minimise processed food and refined ingredients, fresh food is so much tastier!
* Increase your intake of vegetables, legumes and fruits
* Buy local, at least from your country of residence if not from your region or state
* Privilege organic, biodynamic food
* Be careful to labels, they truly are misleading!
* Avoid excessive packaging
* Make eating a ritual, take the time to prepare your meals with love and eat slowly, appreciate every mouthful