I Haven’t Just Changed What I Eat – I’ve Changed How I Eat Too
I have developed some new habits that make me quite happy…but this comes from having to break some habits that definitely needed tweaking! One I am still working on is this: I need to eat more slowly. I wouldn’t classify myself as a “wolfer” or “inhaler.” I have table etiquette I swear. But when you are the first one to finish your meal at every restaurant you visit with friends, well, perhaps it’s time to slow down.
I got a big wake-up call when I was in deep meditation one day and had a vision of my foods compacting in my body due to eating quickly and not chewing enough. It sort of looked like a big, mangled blob in my stomach. When your Higher Self sends you a message, you listen! At this time I was desperately trying to heal my leaky gut which was causing pain and ripples of problems throughout my body and was becoming deeply in tune with what was working in my everyday life and what needed to change. Because I started to look at food as a means to heal, I knew it was vitally important to start paying attention to not only what I ate but to how I ate as well.
My stomach needed as much help as possible to heal and and I started chewing food more thoroughly to make it easier for my body to break it down. My body was literally not retaining any vitamins or nutrients (to not get overly graphic, let’s just say Hashimoto’s had me visiting the bathroom way too many times) and I was willing to try any little tweak to help improve matters. Even doing this, I realized old habits die hard and I was still diving into my food. I had to force myself to slow down, to breathe. I decided to close my eyes and inhale and exhale deeply before starting a meal. Wow, did this ever make an immediate difference! I had to do this several times throughout a dish when I would find myself picking up the pace again. I needed to retrain myself! In public, I would try to put my fork down more often if I caught myself speeding up.
I took my experiment one step further. As food has been the core element of my healing journey, I realized it wasn’t just feeding my body – it was feeding my mind and soul too. I was really grateful that it was helping to fix me. Like I had learned as a kid and then abandoned except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I started to say a silent meditative “thanks” in my head for the food before me and the energy it was providing me. This further helped me slow down. But most importantly, this healthy food that I was consuming was infused with even more positive energy helping to heal me – and I was a more open, conscious being accepting this nourishment.
Here are a couple examples of what I might say in my mind:
Thank you for this food that is nourishing my mind, body and soul. I am grateful for the nutrients strengthening every cell in my body making me healthier every day.
Thank you to all that shared your energy in order for me to have this meal today. Thank you to the earth, plants, animals, farmers and everyone involved in getting this food to my table, and into my body. I am grateful for the energy you have shared with me.
I also started to look at meal time habits that I had been doing on autopilot. I realized I started my day by turning on my computer and typing and absently eating at the same time. Why? Working from home, it’s not like I was in a rush to “get to the office” and had to do two things at once! Why not start the day in a better way that honoured the continuing effort to heal my body?
I admit I don’t do all this every time I eat but it has evolved into an energetic way of being that has become much more than simply trying to eat more slowly. I am still generally the first person to finish a meal but friends have commented that they are impressed that I have slowed down my pace. It’s nice to linger longer over a restaurant meal with friends, really taste all the spices in a dish I have lovingly prepared for myself or eat my breakfast without automatically turning on my computer while chewing. I appreciate really savouring flavours and noticing the texture of my meals and truly honouring the gifts my food gives me. Food does heal in many ways and it’s nice to take the time to appreciate this process – not only on major holidays.
