Choices - I

My choice of food has a profound effect on my intellect, energy and well-being. Not just the choice of food but also the timing and frequency of the intake. I really don't know if any of you will be able to relate to the post but it's the truth of my life. Had I not been a physically weak kid with a severely dysfunctional diet - don't know if I'd have paid much attention to what goes into my stomach.

Folks of my age revel in the pizzas, pastas, sev puris, pav vadas, pav bhajis and the likes. With a metabolism that comes with our age, this diet is no surprise. No surprise because it caters to the taste buds. The generous layers of mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, onion and other divine ingredients lead to an orgasm for the tongues across the world.

Unfortunately, sometimes an orgasm for the tongue leads to an impotent stomach *Yes, I need some serious help with analogies* So, great tasting food often creates a not so great experience after the food slips down my throat. Hence the question I ask is - Food for the stomach or food for the tongue?

In an ideal world this question would be irrelevant. But in my not so ideal universe, this awareness has brought with it certain choices. The choice to either create a sustained feeling of zest in me or to let my hedonistic tongue rule my body.

Until a few months back, I had no such awareness. To keep up with the dietary prowess of my peers, I put my body through all the foods that evoked feelings of lethargy, restlessness and depression. Foods which did not align with my relatively weak digestion. and it happened for the longest time. Until Yoga came into my life.

Yoga Institute in Santacruz advocates a Sattvic Ahara (diet) which focuses on the nutritional aspect of food alone. Infact, it is a fundamental requirement in the practice of Yoga.

Sattvic diet is food that gives life, strength, energy, courage and self-determination. Sattvic food gives us more than the gross physical requirements of the proper mix of proteins, carbs and fats etc. It also gives us the subtle nourishment necessary for vitality and consciousness. Food is seen as a carrier of the life force called prana and is judged by the quality of its prana and by the effect it has on our consciousness.

With this knowledge and awareness, I am more prudent with my food choices. The pizzas and burgers still exist but they now co-exist with the awareness that I have to replenish my system with nutrients that will allow me to feel better and lighter from within. With food which will allow me to be in greater control of my emotions. And with a lifestyle which allows me to be zestier, healthier and free of disease.

Let me ask you - What do you eat for?





Ahara-suddhau sattva-suddhih, sattva-suddhau dhruva smritih; Smriti-lambhe sarva-granthinam viprarnokshah - By the purity of food follows the purification of the inner nature, by the purification of the nature, memory becomes firm and on strengthening the memory, follows the loosening of all ties and the wise get Moksha thereby.