We are passionate beings and we have a sacred relationship with food—the dance of eating is a ritual, not a race.

Humans contain a life force.

When our body passes on, our soul leaves the body behind.

Shamans believe our soul is fragmented and can leave the body (like one being in a coma or accident), and our life force is still keeping the body alive.

My point being that we can be without a soul, but not without life force, otherwise known as chi or ki.

Animals, trees and food are the same as us; we all thrive with a life force.

When we eat food in its perfect form, not processed and stripped, it still contains that life force.

The life force that is the light that heals and sends love into our bodies, healing us spiritually, emotionally, mentally as well as physically and energetically.

We have become a society that has lost its way.

We take everything pure and perfect from the earth and strip it, add sugars, stabilizers, emulsifiers, bleach, softeners, texturizers, then a ton more chemicals to preserve it, add flavor and color. Then box it, bag it, can it, so we can eat it months from now or throw it under florescent lights and refrigerate it which sucks more of what little nutrients are even left.

With our busy schedules we combine eating and doing. Eating while on the phone, while driving, on the computer, watching TV, or in a social gathering. We eat processed fast foods, drink caffeinated energy drinks, and practically swallow our food whole!

Ideally though, we should choose foods that are unprocessed, untouched chemically by pesticides, preservatives or fluorescent light.

Try eating foods that are organic and harvested as close to your home as possible. Eat fruits and vegetables soon after they are picked. Eat fresh, and avoid leftovers. Freshly made juice should be consumed within 20 minutes.

For example: A fresh apple eaten as close to being picked is perfect in every way. It is a whole food, containing life source. No chemicals, or preservatives. It hasn’t been stripped, grinned and beaten of everything it’s supposed to be.

Food straight from the earth in its natural form still contains its life force.

What is the big deal with processed foods you might ask?

Well, let’s take a look at flour. Picture a glass jar of white flour—does it look like anything that comes from our Mother Earth? It makes a paste when you add water to it. That is exactly what is does when it gets into your body; it creates a sticky paste.

How many of us know what a flour seed really looks like? White flour has had its germ removed and has been bleached with chlorine. There is nothing good in processed white flour; in fact it is downright deadly! You are ingesting a poison, a sticky paste that stays in your body, stripped of any nutritional value.

Society, in an attempt to remedy this problem, has added some nutrients back in, creating what we call “enriched” flour—the great irony is that we strip naturally occurring nutrients from our food, only to add supplements that our bodies have trouble recognizing.

Unfortunately, you cannot ingest isolated nutrients and expect them to do much for you. This kind of “nutrition” sends your energy levels all over the place, acting like pure glucose (sugar) in your body, which later causes long-term health issues like obesity and heart conditions.

Most everything out there is full of sticky poisonous processed flour or corn. Tortillas, wraps, tacos, chips, sandwiches, toast, hamburger buns, pancakes, french toast, pastas, lasagna, muffins, and cakes are examples.

Instead of eating enriched flour, look for products that are made from whole wheat. (One hundred percent whole wheat must be listed as the first ingredient.)

You can also find substitutes made of oat, rye, almond, rice and millet flour. Just keep in mind that the less ingredients it has, the better it is for you. Stick with grains, rice, millet, quinoa and oatmeal. Put that tuna sandwich on a giant tomato slice or use a sheet of nori to make a wrap.

I will make one last point here.

Some processed foods like coffee, sugar and chocolate are supposed to be in their natural form, and eaten in moderation.

We have taken them to an unhealthy level.

If you were to pick your own sugarcane, you would have it in moderation, in its natural state, unprocessed. You would not be adding it by the spoonful into everything you ate and drank. If you took the time to pick it and make it yourself, you would be consuming a limited amount, without additives.

Eight Steps to Connect With Food and Heal Your Body

 1.) Add foods that are whole from the earth to your plate.

2.) Sit alone or in a quite area, without cell phones, TV or computers.

3.) Bless and cleanse your food.

There are many ways you can do this, so practice and do what feels natural. I fill myself with light, then blow over my food, seeing purified in my mind’s eye. With my hands holding the bowl, I send light from myself and the universe into the food; I see and feel the food glowing with life force. I then ask for the food to be blessed, everyone that came in contact with the food to be blessed, and to please bless our dear Mother Earth.

Another way to bless your food is to have fun while cooking.

Remember we are energetic beings and our energy goes into our food.

Never cook food for yourself or others while angry; on those nights picking up pizza or take-out is actually better for your family.

Send love as you cut those veggies. Sing, “Om”, dance. Remember: Life is fun. Rejoice and know you are being blessed with a gift of food!

4.) Admire the beauty of your food.

It is no coincidence that unprocessed foods are full of beautiful colors, shapes, textures, and tastes. Drink these in!

5.) Touch.

Play with your food. Eat with your hands whenever possible! We don’t touch or kiss each other with utensils, so why would you use them to put food in your mouth? Utensils were made to shovel our processed, sticky food into our mouths.

We are passionate beings, and the dance of eating is a ritual, not a race. Take a piece of precious life force containing food into your hands and feel the textures; honoring it as you do so. 

6.) Smell—not a sniff, but a deep inhale; smell it with your entire being.

Notice where in your body you feel it. Smell is very important for taste and digestion of your food.

 7.) Feel.

Close your eyes and feel again the food on your tongue; notice the textures in your mouth, and chew slowly at least 30 times. When we see, smell, and taste our food our salivary glands kick in. Chewing is the first part of digestion; yet we expect our stomachs to do it all.

Our saliva contains digestive enzymes that aid in the break down of food. We should be liquefying our food before swallowing and chewing our liquids.

(I feel that the only substance we consume correctly is wine. We look, smell, and slowly taste it holding in our mouths, and aerate it with slurping noises as we roll it from the front to back and to the sides of our mouths. No wonder I love wine!)

For a moment, visualize the lining of your stomach containing a bunch of plant-like roots. The more you chew and liquefy your food, the easier it is for your stomach to absorb nutrients. It takes 30 percent of your energy to digest your food—by giving your body better food and helping the digestion process, you will be giving yourself the gift of more nutrients absorbed—and increased energy.

8.) Pause and feel the food in your body and the life force spreading and healing you.

Honor the food and yourself for taking this moment in your life. Focus only on eating, slowly, pausing between bites. Breathe to help you stay aware of when you are starting to feel full.

Annalisa is from Encinitas, California and currently is managing an Eco Village on the Big Island of Hawaii after selling her car, quitting her job as a Math Teach and deciding to live her life. You can find her blog here:http://thegoddesswalk.wordpress.com/.  

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Editor: April Dawn Ricchuito

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