We walk into a bookstore, and there are a 101 books, with 101 experts, each giving us their expert opinion on what we should or should not eat. To eat carbs or not? To eat meat or not? What foods to eat to lose weight, to gain weight, to increase energy, to feel more relaxed? My biggest pet peeve, sorry, spiritual instruction on eating. To not eat meat or the need to go on a fast. Advice such as this is always general, and with the billions of people on the planet, can never be specific to you. I would go as far as saying, that certain advice can even be reckless when considering the bodies energetic system. Meat is grounding and there are times when it will be necessary for your body to consume. When? When your body craves it, not when you are instructed to, or not instructed to eat it. There are times when lighter fare will be necessary, and the same internal intelligence which is yours, will again dictate this necessity, without instruction. Are Buddhists or Native Tribes from all around the world not spiritual? Because they sure do eat meat. So which expert do we listen to, when one expert contradicts another expert?
How about we begin to listen to ourselves? Is it possible to believe that our bodies are so innately intelligent, that they can dictate to us what should or should not be consumed? Spiritual awakening, is this awakening of our bodies innate intelligence. An awakening which takes over and begins to dictate to us, what is best for us, when our minds have been so overloaded and confused by years and years of instruction; instruction which has mostly failed. Diets do not work, and there is definitely no freedom in them. Spiritual awakening, connection to self, is about trust, and most importantly freedom.
Sugar
The freedom that comes with connecting to our innate intelligence, comes with the freedom from addictive substances that interfere with our bodies ability to listen to itself; any addictive drug, but for the purpose of diet, any addictive food. Sugar, more specifically refined sugar, is the only food that is so addictive, that we will actually experience withdrawal symptoms after stopping the consumption of it. It is vital, across all spectrums of health, to cleanse the body of anything that interferes with it’s pure functioning perfection. Break the addiction from sugar!
Emotional Eating
The vast majority of us are emotional eaters; we eat to feel good, or to subdue anxiety, sadness, and pain. The problem is, the pain does not go away, it just gets pushed down, and covered by the food, and the inevitable extra weight and fat that insulates us from having to feel that which we do not want to feel. Spiritual awakening requires us to deal with these emotions, to feel the burn, as that which no longer serves our higher good is burned off as well. When we listen to our bodies innate intelligence, it will burn away that which it does not require, and this translates into burning off of both the extra weight of fat, as well as emotional content and trauma. Burn everything off that does not serve you!!!
So how do I listen to my innate intelligence?
There has been much said about meditation, and there is a purpose for meditation along the journey, however, what is not understood is that there are multiple forms of meditation! Being still long enough to get in touch with our bodies decision making ability, is one of the greatest forms of meditation, and through diet - because we eat so often, we connect to one of the greatest training exercises for meditative practice.
So what does my body want to eat?
It starts with one simple question: What SPECIFICALLY do I FEEL like eating? Not what I think I want, or think I should eat because my mind has been bombarded by so many rules that I no longer know what is good for myself. When the body is really hungry, it is essentially asking for some type of nutrient, whether that be an amino acid from protein such as fish, meat, or tofu; healthy fat from nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oils; a vitamin or carb found in fruits and/or vegetables; etc.
I have used one simple practice when “hungry.” I ask myself what EXACTLY do I feel like eating? If I don’t know, or if I can’t tell if I want a steak or ice cream, I’ve understood that I’m not really hungry; it’s most likely emotional hunger which is disguising emotion, which needs to be felt and burned off. The moment you allow yourself to FEEL emotion you are essentially releasing it. True hunger reveals itself by an exact identification of what the body is exactly craving and desiring for nutritional content.
So we listen! Imagine that. We listen and if we don’t get an answer, we listen a little more, until the answer comes, and it will come, either through emotion or true hunger, and either way you are connecting to your true self. We then release, or eat, what we are bodies really want to. We have just begun the simplest and one of the most powerful of meditative practices, and with the need to use this practice all day, through diet, one of the greatest exercises and entry point into connection with our inner intelligence. We are what and HOW we eat. Begin the healthy connection with self through a healthy connection with what and HOW you eat.
-Michael Garbe