Conscious Eating

Throughout my life I've never really watched what I eat nor committed to a specific exercise routine. I would always get hyped up to the idea of a new activity or diet and slowly lose interest as my mind gets distracted to day-to-day events like looking at Robert Pattinson's wallpaper on my monitor :P But I believe now is the right time for me to break away from old habits, focusing in what nourishes my body and where it comes from. Our body is our vehicle to do good on this earth. From years and years of knowing this, only now do I really want to take the step in being more conscious about my body. Better late than never :)

There is this scene in the movie 'City of Angels' when Seth asks Maggie to describe what a pear taste like:

Seth: What's that like? What's it taste like? Describe it like Hemingway.
Maggie Rice: Well, it tastes like a pear. You don't know what a pear tastes like?
Seth: I don't know what a pear tastes like to you.
Maggie Rice: Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like a sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth. How's that?
Seth: It's perfect.

When I remembered this scene, I immediately thought about conscious eating. Savouring the food, knowing it's texture, it's taste, it's whole existence. It's funny how I can't remember names, current events and anything else but I tend to remember specific scenes in movies... need more oxygen in my brain cells!!! LOL

Anyway, everyone has their own path towards enlightenment and I believe there is goodness in every religion and teachings. Primarily for me, I study it through the teachings of Islam and combine it with other beliefs and concepts that are positive and beneficial to my well-being... (there is still so much to learn on my road of spirituality and consciousness). In islam there is the term "Halal", which refers to food that is clean, pure and safe. It doesn't only apply to the content and preparation of the food, but it also refers to the method the food was acquired. It really puts us in a position to ask ourselves, what are we putting inside us? Where did this food come from? What kind of energy is being passed on by this food? Was this food stolen, or bought by corruption? If we eat meat, how was the animal killed? If food is a fuel of energy for our body, shouldn't we be more careful in what kind of energy we absorb?

Thich Nhat Hanh, the buddhist monk that I am currently obsessed about shares his words about mindful eating:

"Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates. This is a deep practice. Each morsel of food is an ambassador from the cosmos...

When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple.

After breathing, we smile. Sitting at the table with other people, we have a chance to offer an authentic smile of friendship and understanding. It is very easy, but not many people do it. To me, this is the most important practice. We look at each person and smile at him or her. Breathing and smiling together are very important practices. If the people in a family cannot smile at each other, the situation is a very dangerous one.

After breathing and smiling, we look down at the food in a way that allows the food to become real. This food reveals our connection with the earth. Each bite contains the life of the sun and the earth. The extent to which our food reveals itself depends on us. We can see and taste the whole universe in a piece of bread! Contemplating our food for a few seconds before eating, and eating in mindfulness, can bring us much happiness.

Having the opportunity to sit with our family and friends and enjoy wonderful food is something precious, something not everyone has. Many people in the world are hungry. When I hold a bowl of rice or a piece of bread, I know that I am fortunate, and I feel compassion for all those who have no food to eat and are without friends or family. This is a very deep practice. We do not need to go to a temple or a church in order to practise this. We can practise it right at our dinner table. Mindful eating can cultivate seeds of compassion and understanding that will strengthen us to do something to help hungry and lonely people be nourished."

For dinner today I attempted to savour my very first conscious meal. My parents, my sister and I ate at a local asian restaurant. I ordered the rice penang prawn with tofu and mushrooms and for the first time again after a very long time I started my dinner with a prayer and the feeling of gratitude (I am blessed to be able to eat this nutritious food, have the power of choice in what I eat, and to be able to eat with my family together). I really looked at the food completely while waiting for it to cool down, parts of this food that I eat will turn into energy, into the nourishment for my movements and thoughts, into a few more beautiful moments in life. I also tried to be conscious of every taste and texture, feeling every bit of the burning sensation in my mouth because it was way too spicy... Eating consciously made me become more grateful about where I am today. I am grateful for my loving family, the roof over my head, my wonderful friends, a great job & employer, and the infinite choices of food I can put on my plate. Looking forward to the next meal :)

Other interesting references:

Tips for Conscious Eating kripalu.org

Articles by Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindful Eating chetday.com

Eating for Peace healthyat100.org

Eating Together plumvillage.org

Tea Meditation plumvillage.org

Here's an interesting article about being a vegetarian muslim: crescentlife.com

In the article there's a quote from the Prophet, peace be upon him:
"You should use cows' milk, because it is good for health, and cows' ghee is good for health, but beef is bad for health." Actually, the literal meaning of the words the Prophet used is much stronger than that. He said that milk is "healing," ghee is "medicine," and beef is "disease."

More about Islam and food: www.islamicmedicine.org

Here are some versus in the Qur'an that relates to the food we eat.
[2:168] O people, eat from the earth's products all that is lawful and good
[2:172] O you who believe, eat from the good things we provided for you, and be thankful to GOD
[5:96] All fish of the sea are made lawful for you to eat.
[5:4] Forbidden to you is the flesh of an animal which dies of itself, and blood and the flesh of swine; and that on which is invoked the name of one other than GOD; and that which has been strangled; and that beaten to death; and that killed by a fall; and that which has been gored to death; and that of which a wild animal has eaten, except that which you have properly slaughtered; and that which has been slaughtered at an altar. If one is forced by hunger, without being malicious or deliberate, he incurs no sin. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

In Judaism the term "Kosher" is used. The guidelines to the food we eat it is more detailed so you can read about it at wikipedia. Here's an introduction: Reasons for food being non-kosher include the presence of ingredients derived from non-kosher animals or from kosher animals that were not properly slaughtered, a mixture of meat and milk, wine or grape juice (or their derivatives) produced without supervision, the use of produce from Israel that has not been tithed, or even the use of cooking utensils and machinery which had previously been used for non-kosher food.

Food in the bible: more info
[Leviticus 11:2,3,9,21,46,47] - Under the law God forbade eating unclean animals, yet He expressly authorized the eating of many clean animals: mammals, fish, birds, and insects. [Deut. 14:4,6,9,11,20]
[Genesis 1:29-30] And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.