Eating Spiritually Part I
For some people reading this, the title of this post will seem like a no-brainer. For others, it might prompt the question, “what’s the connection here?'“. Wherever you fall, I’d love for you to read through and drop what you think in the comments if you feel inclined to share! In my perspective, spirituality and eating are essentially two fibers of the same thread- they directly impact and connect to one another. Still with me? Amazing :), let’s dive deeper.
Think about when you feel your absolute best. When you are energized, nourished, rested, and joyful. Take a moment and really think about it. What would you have just done, eaten, who would you have connected with, tapped into, etc.? I imagine it’s not after you’ve eaten a really heavy, greasy, overly processed meal, right? While you might make time or a place for that in your life, it’s usually followed by a big nap, a good movie, or a super lazy day. It doesn’t lend itself to moving your body in a way that feels great, engaging in really deep meaningful conversation, or of course, connecting to your highest self and/or spirit guides. On the flip side, what about when you’re really hungry, have missed or intentionally skipped a meal, or are running through your day on coffee alone. Similar to being overly full, you are unable to move in a healthy way for your body, your brain is pulling from reserves rather than allowing it to be present and connect to the moment, and you’re likely the opposite of energized. Again, not enabling you to feel that deeper sense of connection to your third eye or inner voice.
When we fuel our bodies in the best way possible, being fully nourished and not bogged down, we’re setting ourselves up for the deepest possible connection because we’re beginning with the clearest and strongest vessel possible. When we either undernourish or overfeed our physical bodies, we add an extra layer to break through or remove before harnessing that tapped-in power that we’re all capable of accessing. And as mentioned, there may be a time and place that you don’t want to tap in, to connect, or to feed your power. That is absolutely fine and keeps us tied to these human constructs we’ve created. However, when we are looking for guidance, for calm meditation, for answers, or all the above, we need to give ourselves the strongest head-start by leveraging the nourishing food from the earth and give ourselves the permission to feel our best physically in order to access our best spiritually.
Whether you view it as wanting to connect to your highest self or even simply achieve your goals, starting with a healthily nourished physical form is going to set you up for success. What that looks like will vary from person to person and what works for me, might not be prescriptive for you. I am not here to tell you exactly what and how to eat to tap into your connection. Instead, I can offer prompts to help you figure out what that might look like for you. Personally, I can relate to both the overly full feeling AND the undernourished. I’ve gone through cycles of both, even on the same day! So, I encourage you to think about what causes you to feel either or both of those sides.
Do you not wake up hungry and launch right into your day ending up ravenous by lunch or dinner, causing you to eat anything in sight and/or eat copious amounts of ‘healthy’ foods? Same here. Or, do you have trigger foods that just cause you to eat and eat because you never really feel satiated by them? Hello, pizza and pasta. Or maybe you purposefully don’t eat and call it intermittent fasting or something of the sort and that gives you the freedom to binge at other times, never really feeling your best in between. Trust me, I’ve done it all. Sit down for a moment and figure out what your version of this could be, how it makes you feel, and what you could do to improve it. If you wake up not feeling hungry, try starting your day with a green or vegetable juice and shortly after some fruit to kick start your metabolism and signal to your body that it can pull from these nourishing vitamins instead of its reserves. If you have trigger foods that you can just eat, and eat, and eat- I either source heartier recipe versions of them (gluten-free pasta loaded with vegetables, cauliflower crust pizzas, etc.) ensuring you don’t feel deprived and know you’re giving your body this delicious goodness from a more nourishing place OR pair those foods when you want them with a really hearty salad/vegetable course first and indulge in less of the foods that don’t make you feel your best. There are a multitude of solutions, and finding what’s best for you knowing that it’s coming from a place of reaching the highest possible version of yourself/your spirit guides can be extremely empowering and uplifting!
What works for you? Do you see the connection? Would love to know! XOXO