Nourishing the Body and Soul

Posted on November 14, 2010

One of the basic concepts of natural health is articulated in the common phrase, “You are what you eat.” To a large extent, our diet determines the energy we have to enjoy life.

Over the last 150 years or so, our basic diet has changed drastically. We have gone from fresh, wholesome, unrefined, unsprayed, non-Genetically Modified foods, to processed foods, picked too young, then frozen, canned, or refined. Our food is routinely treated with toxic pesticides, fungicides, and other chemicals, and processed with preservatives and colourings, to prevent it from aging, and make it all appear tasty and delicious! All of this is very normal nowadays, but it’s far from natural.

Mass food production has given us more food, but less nutrition as even the overworked soil is depleted of essential nutrients. As we eat more and more processed food, we are literally starving ourselves, and at the same time, eating disorders have never been as much of an issue as they are now.

Not only is the quality of the diet poor, but our consumption is also as much of a problem. There is a Chinese saying that nine-tenths of the food we eat is for our health while the last one-tenth is for our doctor.

Hippocrates, known as the “Father of Medicine,” was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He believed in the natural healing process of rest, a good diet, fresh air and cleanliness.

The soul has a parallel tale to tell. Our thoughts are food for the soul, and the diet of our thoughts has also drastically changed in recent years.

Whatever we put into our mind (thoughts) determines the quality of our actions. We have moved from a simple, wholesome life, to a sophisticated, complicated one in a matter of a century. In a fast-moving, fast–food, information-overloaded world, we are literally deprived of the nourishment of good, powerful thoughts, as we gorge ourselves on news, gossip, TV, social networking, and fearful, angry and negative thoughts. Such thinking drains our energy, our zest for life, and our hope for the future.

What will truly energize us? What will give us hope? What will return us to a state of spiritual health and wholeness? The answer is to change the diet of our thoughts.

Our over consumption of negative, toxic and contaminated thoughts has robbed us of our spiritual health. Our life sometimes feels like a roller coaster of out-of-control emotions. If we feel emptiness in our heart, confusion, a lack of significance in all that we do, then we can recognize that these are all dis-eases of the over-fed, but undernourished mind.

Mother Theresa once said, “It is easier to feed the hunger of the body than the hunger of the heart.”

To lead a healthy life, we have to make better choices and commit to them. If we are committed to a lifestyle of simplicity and health, then our food choices will reflect and reinforce that. If we detox ourselves of waste thinking, worry and indecisiveness, we become light and free.

Finding pockets of time to reflect and contemplate will enable us to nurture and nourish the quality of our life. Take time throughout the day to observe the quality of thoughts, and let go of the ones which are rotten or poisonous. Only keep the ones that are healthy and beneficial.

To see the correlation between our thoughts and diet, look at the simple act of cooking. Taking time to cook with the right consciousness will affect the energy in our food. Mum’s cooking always tasted best because it was cooked with love and care. A cook with an angry temperament will pass on those negative vibrations to those who eat their food. As such, while preparing and cooking food, ensuring that the thoughts are of the highest quality, will also ensure that the food is charged with positive spiritual nourishment.

It’s time… to create the right awareness and uplift our consciousness, so that our life truly becomes healthy and joyful. Through a diet of powerful, positive and peaceful thoughts, nurture the soul as it reclaims its original strength, and at the same time cultivate a beautiful glow, an aura of health. Today the current fashion is to be health conscious, let it also be a time for us to begin a new trend of becoming soul conscious!

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