Why I Eat Food With My Hands As Much As Possible
I woke up today. An hour after I set my alarm. It’s been harder and harder to wake up in the mornings. Mainly because I am working like crazy, but also because my lucid dreams are so much fun. It’s hard to not want to sleep as long as possible. I’ve been taking mugwort to help with this. If you haven’t heard of it, you should look it up: Mugwort Tea. It’s great for opening up your third eye.
Anyways, after waking up late, I ate some oatmeal and planned the food I would have for the day. I’m flat fucking broke. I lost a client of mine, and I haven’t been able to tell my family yet. I know I can make this work with what little money I have. The jewelry line me mum and I are working on will be off soon, and the money will start coming in. We’ve been working so hard on our little business. It just has to be a success. For my mom’s sake. She needs this. She needs a way to make money.
Like I was saying...I’m broke. So I decided I can eat oatmeal every morning, 1 avocado anytime I want, 2 protein shakes during the day, almonds in the afternoon, vegetable soup with beans for dinner with a salad from my roommates garden (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, dressing, and spicy, spicy, spicy red peppers). Spicy red peppers and a sweet vinaigrette are to die for. I’m vegan and hate cooking so this is a great system for me anyways. And it will keep me on a tight budget.
But this is what I wanted to share. Something odd I have been doing recently. I’ve been eating food with my hands. It started in Costa Rica really. Or at least the first step towards eating with my hands did. The food tasted so good, and the yoga retreat I was on had a focus on mind-fullness. I was trying to be more mindful of my food and what I was eating. After having many eating disorders, (you name, I’ve tried it) I wanted to rewire my brain to look at food as fuel.
So what did I change? Well now I actually talk to my food and tell it how grateful I am for it. I ask for it to be blessed. I think about what it will do for my body and how it will give me energy and nutrition. I make a decision to eat slowly and not multi task but appreciate the fuck out of this delicious, nutritious treat because some people don’t have anything to eat. At all. Nothing. And every day I stuff my face with food like it’s nothing. I leave to-go bags at restaurants because I take it all for granted. So now, I just slow down...
I decided to eat with chopsticks to slow my eating down at first. And then my friend posted an article about the shape your hand makes when you eat food and your fingers are closed together. The shape is a mudra, which symbolizes grace and humility. The hand is also considered the most precious organ (hence to use the same ritual when feeding the body). Ayurveda believes that each finger is an extension of the soul: space, air, fire, water and earth. Each finger actually helps enhance the food so you are more conscious of the taste. Hindu rituals have beautiful hidden meaning if you look into them.
And guess what? I’m actually completely full off of this diet and sometimes have to cut my meals in half. It’s amazing how a change like this has carried over to help my health and balance a steady, lean weight.
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