Eating Well Is Self-Healing
In ancient times, food was so central to the healing process that the Ayurvedic doctor was also the priest and the cook.
Your relationship with food has the power to heal and transform your life. Food is your daily medicine and can be used for recovery, thriving and healing your body and mind. ⠀Learning how to align with nature and enjoy beautiful, easy and nourishing meals and eating according to Ayurvedic principles will transform your health and your relationship with food.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Eating fresh, nurturing meals in the Ayurvedic way will give you balance and vitality. It is the ultimate form of self-healing. ⠀⠀
In Ayurveda, how you eat is just as important as what you eat. This is a big shift from the Western view of eating and nutrition, so please keep an open mind! The Ayurvedic wisdom teaches us to eat in synch with nature and eat actual food that has been grown as near you as possible, is close to being eaten in its natural form and is as freshly picked as possible.
In contrast, so many Westerners have a diet almost entirely based on food that has been processed to death and does not even resemble the food that it started out as. In short, these are food like substances and not really nutritious food. We have also come to see snacking as normal thing to do, and many people eat on the run, skip meals or eat really late at night. These modern eating habits have evolved with the growing processed food industry and a very fast-paced lifestyle that is characterized by multi-tasking and convenience. All of these habits play a part in contributing to the chronic diseases that the West has generously exported to so many other countries.
Along with the overeating and eating high density food, Westerners also swing the other way, and end up dieting, cutting food down or out or having a really restrictive relationship with food. Many people end up in a pattern of restriction and deprivation alternating with abandoning any restraint at all.
Keep it simple and you will become healthier than ever before while cooking the most delicious food of your life.
The Ayurvedic guidelines will help you to create ease in your meal planning, shopping, preparation and eating. The nurturing and delicious food will give you balance in body and mind.
Ayurveda works best when you develop a free and intuitive approach to eating as opposed to getting hung up on getting it right 100% of the time. So although there are lots of guidelines, I urge you to take your time, test things out and find out what makes you healthy and happy.
When I first started learning about Ayurveda, the guidelines were presented as rules and they seemed over the top and excessively strict. I could not imagine myself following these guidelines and I rebelled against them. It was all a bit too reminiscent of the dieting days with so many rules.
The #1 Ayurvedic guideline is to give up perfectionism and take up intuition
Inspirational Ayurveda
Eventually I met an Ayurvedic teacher who was so healthy, full of vitality, inspiring and strong. Most of all, she had a freedom with food and with life in general. She helped me see that I was free to experiment with all of the guidelines and see what worked for me. I also got to know a whole pile of people who were enthusiastically embracing healthy Ayurvedic guidelines too. Again, I noticed that my new friends had something remarkable, a complete resilience in the face of everything that 2020 threw at us and unshakeable determination to keep evolving their habits. They were also some of the most authentic and loving people I’ve ever met. It wasn’t that they were perfect, it was just that they kept coming back to the Ayurvedic habits again and again, not matter how many detours they made. These people were taking time to digest food, life and everything. Now I’m one of them! I can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed eating as much as I do now.
I’m not perfect, but my habits are improving daily, weekly, monthly and annually. I have not tried to implement everything at once, but I have tried things and if they make me feel healthy then keep doing them. I invite you to experiment too. It’s also worth asking yourself: If I continue on the same habit trajectory that I have been on in my life so far, what will my life and health be like in a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years or 30 years?
If you think you would like to make some changes, here are some suggestions. Here is how to “eat like a yogi”!
Chew your food to liquid before swallowing
Eat slowly
Make your evening meal light and early
Do nothing else but eat or have light pleasant conversation or music when you eat
Leave about 4 to 6 hours between each meal so that you have time to digest
Avoid snacking so that the food that you eat at meal times if fully digested before you eat anything else, this helps to keep your agni (digestive fires) burning steadily
Eat enough, not too much and not too little
Eat at regular meal times, this creates a harmonious digestive system and is great for mental wellbeing
Eat local food, as much as possible
Eat food that is in season
Eat food that is good for your dosha
Stop eating when you’ve had enough, you will have a little burp (yes everyone does it)
Eat your biggest meal at lunch time when the sun is high in the sky and your digestive fires are also at their strongest
Take a little walk after each meal, you don’t have to go far, but it helps with digestion
Drink before meals and in between, but not during or after
Eat warm food that has been cooked
Eat fruit by itself rather than with other foods
Learn to use spices that aid in digestion and help to balance the 6 tastes in food
Avoid leftovers and frozen food
Avoid processed food
Food really is medicine when you follow nature’s cues.
When you begin following the guidelines and learn to eat the right things at the right times, you will thrive. You certainly don’t have to do them all at once, but it is useful to ask yourself if there are any suggestions that you think would help you improve your health. If the answer is yes, then try it out and see how it feels. Contact me to get started.