You Are What You Eat

Health is a function of diet. What we eat, how we eat, and when we eat are    
        important elements of a healthy lifestyle.
       Yoga promotes the principles of inspecting what and how we eat, for the essence of food has a direct effect upon our physical, mental, and spiritual being. Yoga is an all-inclusive discipline, ignoring no aspect of human existence, which includes our diets.
       Thousands of years ago yogis understood that our bodies and our minds are functional units that reflect the very state of our being. Honoring the body-mind with nutritious life giving food brings about balance and health. The primary journey of yoga is spiritual, which requires clarity and balance, and it is well understood that when the body-mind is in a state of agitation due to a poor diet, clarity and balance cannot be found. We often look at poor diet, lack of exercise, and self neglect as the causative factors in disease and energy imbalance. However, these are really a reflection of our own inner inability to treat the underlying cause, which is not to simply attempt to cure a disease, but to strive to return us to a state of healthy balance in body, mind, and spirit. The spiritual path is a path of consciousness with a reverence for all of life, which includes the state of our body-mind. Therefore we should always seek to honor that which brings us health and joy.
       Remember what you honor and elevate is what you become.  So it is wise to be conscious of what you eat and how you eat it.  The practical application of this philosophy is simply consciously choosing what you eat without guilt, always aware that what you eat is a direct reflection of yourself.  A healthy diet is more a function of choosing whole natural foods and staying away from fast and process foods which offer no nutritional value.  It’s not about dieting but about choosing to give yourself the best and the best is that which supports your health. Diets fail because we feel denied.  Healthy eating succeeds because we choose.
       We all know what we should eat as a healthy diet but how do we always choose the best?  Most of unhealthy eating is done without much thought.  We simply indulge.  Before you reach for that bag of chips or that jar of cookies, stop and look at the choice you are about to make.  If you still want to indulge, go ahead but remember in the world of food, you are what you eat!
       Doctor Lynn
       www.doctorlynn.com