The Yoga of Eating: Transcending Diets and Dogma to Nourish the Natural Self

In our busy world of work and taking care of our homes and families, it is difficult enough to find the time to exercise and practice Yoga, never mind paying close attention to what we put in our bodies. The Yoga of Eating will teach you how to listen to your body and interpret the constant signals it sends on what it needs for sustenance and how to live.

When we begin to hear the messages from our bodies, we must learn to trust the results without expectation that we will suddenly eat less or differently. Allowing change and trusting our self to know ourselves can appear simple, but in our world of ‘weight programs,’ diet clinics, and ‘lose weight in just two weeks’ advertisements – trusting ourselves happens less and less.

All is Connected

The Yoga of Eating is extremely well written in precise and easy language and brings to light the importance of developing a healthy relationship to the food we choose to fuel our bodies, mind, and spirit with. While this wisdom has been expounded upon since ancient history, Eisenstein does a wonderful job making connections between our emotional states, our health and our nutritional intake. The information The Yoga of Eating provides is more accessible than any other book on holistic eating that I have read and truly contains wisdom that can help transform your health on a whole new level.

One of the many faults of our western civilization is our constant presumption that we can somehow know intellectually what is best for nutritional health. In reality, while this works to a very minor degree – sooner or later it fails. Whether you choose to accept it or not, our bodies are designed to effortlessly work with all of nature and in harmony with it. Learning to listen to the signals of our body’s and our spirit leads to the ultimate state of health.

Healing

The Yoga of Eating provides with reader with a book that goes beyond simply food. For those in need of emotional healing, we are invited to a new awareness of how to live a vibrant, honest and fully realized life. Rather than following the latest craze in new diets or nutritional medical labs, we are given back our ability to eat what feels best for us. In freeing ourselves from the dogmas of diet and rigidity in our eating, we are returning to the joy of satisfying our body’s hunger and our zest for good healthy food.

A peek inside

Eisenstein has completed a remarkable work with The Yoga of Eating. It is a book that speaks to much more than diet alone but truly addresses the Yoga of life itself. Some of the following chapter topics to entice you some more… (Really, you must read this book!)

Food and Personality
The Karma of Food
The Natural Breath
Making it Practical
Discovering the Right Diet
Loving the Body, Loving the Self
The Yoga of Cooking
Relaxing into Change

I give The Yoga of Eating a resounding review score of (5/5) .

Final Notes

Eisenstein’s work reminds me that every aspect of our physical journey is meant to be joyous and satisfying. As we are multifaceted beings composed of body, mind, and spirit, all three must be brought into a state of harmony in order to fully realize our existence. (I will speak more to this and other spiritual topics in the new series of articles, the first of which is entitled Groundwork.)

In order for us to find joy and satisfaction in our eating and our lives, we must look first to nature and understand the effortlessness in which everything accomplishes what it needs to do. Even in the perceived effort of a cougar chasing down a rabbit, there is no worry about how many pounds this might put on, or whether it will all go to my hips or stomach, there is only instinctual effortless activity to fulfill the body’s needs. In the act of eating the kill, there is satisfaction and fulfillment. (I apologize if my example leaves any vegans feeling ill!)

Too often, despite our adherence to our Yoga practice, our daily routines have eaten up (no pun intended) the time we often need to stop for a moment and listen to what our bodies are really trying to tell us it needs. Try to step back for a moment and listen to what your body is telling you today as far as nutrition is concerned– pay attention to the affects of your food choices on energy levels, emotions and your satisfaction. Eat mindfully and slowly, listening for your body to let you know when it has had enough.

Until next we meet…

Namaste.

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The Yoga of Eating: Transcending Diets and Dogma to Nourish the Natural Self
Charles Eisenstein, 2003. ISBN: 978-0967089720