Conscious Eating - Your Body Knows Best
MAJA KEFEČEK
Eating and diets have become a fashion trend in the last few years. One year we're paleo, one year we're raw etc. We follow what the new studies tell us, what "experts" tell us, we follow the trends blindly. We often forget that we're all individuals with different bodies and different needs. What is good for someone else doesn't mean it is good for us as well. We have to ask our body what it needs in the current situation.
What if our body is actually intelligent and capable of telling us what it requires, if only we could learn to listen to it? Would that change things for you and your body? Would you be willing to consider beginning to listen to your body? And most importantly: Would you be willing to begin to trust you and your body? Would you be willing to become your own expert? How do you do that? And why?
Let's Start With Why
Everything we know about food is from our parents, books, TV, the internet, commercials, and other people’s advice. What if most of that is just somebody's point of view? Try to let go of what you've heard about healthy food, about dieting, about "good" food and "bad" food. Don’t see that as a hard fact, but just as someone's point of view on it. It doesn't have to be yours, and most likely, it isn't yours.
Every time you feel hungry you can ask yourself: is this truly MY thought? Sometimes we feel emotions that are not ours, but have been put there through years of conditioning. I know it sounds confusing, yet about 98% of the time we feel other people's emotions.
With a little practice you will learn to feel whether an emotion is yours or someone else's.
Just ask yourself: Is this mine? Then feel the energy without thinking hard about it. Sometimes you'll feel that it's not yours. Then ask: who does this belong to? And let go. Feel the energy and see how you feel.
If the hunger IS yours, ask yourself: what does my body want? Try asking yourself this when you choose food from the fridge, the supermarket, a restaurant, and feel the energy. With time you'll learn to choose food without judging what you eat, without thinking: is it healthy or nor, is it "bad" or "not", is it low fat etc. You will become aware of you, your body and its needs, in a completely new way.
If this sounds complicated just try to feel your body after eating: Sit relaxed, feel your breath. Does your body feel light, nourished, happy, full of energy or heavy, bloated, sleepy or even guilty?
We all want to feel great, healthy, light, so we can do the things we love to do - like being active, travelling, and caring for our family with ease.
So why don't we choose food that helps us, that nurtures us?
Think about it, eat consciously, and you’ll begin to see a change.
Do you have a passion for nutrition & natural healing?. Learn more about the Food Matters Nutrition Certification Program here.
My name is Maja Kefeček. For a number of years, I've been promoting a healthy and natural vegetarian diet. I graduated from Makronova School of natural cuisine and have done numerous seminars on healthy eating and living, and lot of cooking classes. I teach healthy cooking classes and teach in Makronova School of natural cuisine.
I cook on yoga retreats and other healthy seminars, write articles and teach individual cooking lessons. I finished Faculty of Science (PMF) and graduated with a diploma in Paleontology and Geology. I live in Zagreb, Croatia, and love to travel and experience new things, learning the local ingredients and new ways of preparing food.