Mental Agitations & Eating

     Eating with less mental agitations creates awareness of the present. According to Ayurveda, the kind of food that you eat has an effect on your mental agitations. So the food that you eat is very important to avoid conflicts of the mind and the intellect. When we eat unhealthy food, immediately there is a conflict in the mind and intellect. The mind wants to eat junk food and the intellect immediately cautions about the unhealthiness. The mind ignores the warnings and tries to justify its acts. "I eat unhealthy food only once in a while." "So many people eat this kind of food and all of them are not sick!"  "There is no scientific proof to show this is bad for health!" Does any of this sound familiar? These are traps that the mind sets in order for us to justify eating food based on its likes and dislikes.

      According to Ayurveda, there are three modes in nature -the thinking mode (Satva), action mode (Rajas) and inertia or laziness or convenience (Tamas).  The three modes are called Trigunas, the three properties of nature. Satvic food is healing because it is based on creating awareness. It is interesting to note that food that we eat contributes to the peace or agitations in our mind. It alsohas an effect on our personality.

 Please click here to read about Food and personality.

Another interesting article on the three food types.  Click here  to read.

Yoga of Eating - Awareness 
 

         Eating food with awareness means having the mind available right at the moment of eating. This has various advantages. One enjoys the food thoroughly. All minute tastes are enjoyed. One can use eating to observe the tastes that the mind enjoys. This brings about awareness. Eating with awareness one gets the full benefit of food because there is body mind co-ordination present. This is Yoga.

Eating is Yoga
The steps of yogic eating are as follows.

• Prepare a clean (as well as peaceful) place to sit and eat.
• Do not eat if you are in a hurry.
• Eat only if you are hungry.
• Eat not only for pleasure but also for healing the body.
• Just before eating, close your eyes and do a prayer as a means of expressing  your gratitude to Nature for the food.
• Mentally thank all the life forms that contributed to the food.
• Appreciate the fact that the food is going to be a part of your body components and eat with love.
• Feel that the food is healing and think while eating that the food is going to heal your disease.
• Don’t talk, don’t listen to music, don’t read, no watching TV, don’t think of any thing else. Have your full attention on the food.
• You are not just eating to give energy to your body, but to maintain it. It  is the food that will keep your body fit.
• Eat in a very happy mood and enjoy the taste, masticate well and feel the process of digestion and the absorption from your stomach to various parts of the body.
• Eat with clean hands avoid using a spoon or fork. For thousands of years, our hands have enjoyed the touch of food. Touch of food is stimulatory to the senses and will help in digestion and good feeling.
• The touch of food also aids in keeping the awareness of the mind in the present.

If food is eaten like this, with ease, you will never experience disease.

 Please click here to read about Food and Personality.

Food Awareness
        

          The weakness of the mind over food can be overcome only by strengthening the intellect. In the very first page we have clearly mentioned Inquiry. Inquiry is the mode of intellect that has to be inculcated. We have to inquire and not enquire. Enquiry is mere information gathering. The modern trend is to eat foods based on reading labels, or their nutritional content and value. We do not say they are wrong, but we need to inquire whether that information will, indeed, benefit us.

          This same approach should always be used while eating food. This inquiry brings awareness. This inquiry helps us to finally gain control of the mind. To achieve results, we should have a particular mind set which, in other words, is called discipline. Good food habits are the means to disciplining the mind.

Healthy approach to gain control over food habits:

          If you have a weakness for a particular food type, e.g. sweets, then do not just avoid eating the sweets. Avoidance makes the mind more restless and craves it more. So, instead of avoiding, give it an alternative. The simplest, best and most healthy  alternatives to sweets are raisins, dates, dried fruits like dried apricots, dried figs etc. Always carry these dry fruits with you and also keep in places like the refrigerator and kitchen cabinet. The good thing about dry fruits is that they do not  spoil at room temperature. When your mind craves for sweet, eat these dry fruits first. After that, if you still feel like eating sweets, go ahead and eat. The advantage is that you tend to eat less sweets than before because you partly satiated that feeling with dry fruits. As days go by, you will naturally eat more of the  healthy dry fruits and your cravings will be reduced. You will need to adopt other mind controlling approaches along with the above method.

       Just providing an alternative food habit will not be sufficient to have control over the willful mind. Other right foods should also be eaten to decrease food cravings. We have found that eating whole foods that are unrefined and unprocessed results in overall control of  food habits and greater control of the mind. In our personal experience, we found that eating whole foods bring a natural satisfaction and reduces the craving to eat more. We feel this is the key to balanced eating.

       It is also amazing to see that water therapy somehow causes less food cravings. By doing all the five steps or Pancha Bhootas, one can gain control over the mind's restlessness. A FIVE MEN ARMY is better than a single soldier!

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Food Control

        Unlike the other four sense organs that are exposed to the outside, the tongue, alone, is positioned inside the body under tight control and security. There are two lips, the upper and lower. Then there are hard shell-like jaws inside where the tongue is placed and guarded by 32 teeth, the security guards. So it is not easy for the tongue to go out of control.

Control Over Food

             Should the tongue be held responsible or the mind? Through the control of the mind can we have control over food? We usually say 'food is tempting'. But if we think about the reality, it is the mind that creates the temptation. 

Putting your finger in an electric socket is not a temptation to most adults. The mind does not entertain such thoughts because it fears the consequences. But with regard to food it has no such fear.

           The reality is that food is not tempting, it is the mind that craves for it. Therefore, the mind has to be taken care of. Unfortunately, the mind cannot be controlled directly; only the intellect can take care of the mind.

          Make intelligent choices over food. Keep away from food that is tempting. Do not just restrict from eating, instead buy foods that are healthy and tasty. Be aware of the food and through this awareness you will be able to exercise control over your mind. It is the mind that needs control.

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