“Just as food is needed for the body, love is needed for the soul.”
_ Osho
Many of us already know today how important good food is for the body. When my children were younger, I use to always give them the analogy of putting the best gas in the car and how it will then perform better. I then equated that to putting the best food in your body and it will run better. This is a simple analogy and we already know this, however there are a couple of problems today.
First, most of our food is not good food. Simply put, a lot of our food that we eat is rather toxic. Even if we are eating what we consider healthy, such as fruits and vegetables, they are so sprayed with pesticides today that we are getting a heavy dose of chemicals in our bodies with every bite. On top of this, our water we drink and a lot of the food is contaminated with heavy metals and PFAS forever chemicals. There is a BIG problem with this today and the best way to avoid this is to eat organic and non-gmo as much as possible and to have a good detox program in your life. Our bodies were simply not designed to handle the amount of chemicals they encounter daily. Besides the food sources we also are surrounded with chemicals in “fake” scents and household products and plastics in our lives.
These toxins will bioaccumulate in our bodies and contribute to DIS-EASE at some point in our life. I always tell people “Do the best you can everyday with what you ingest and use, but don’t beat yourself up over it. Don’t make it so difficult that you don’t do anything. Anything you do to avoid these things is better than doing nothing. Also educate yourself. Don’t assume just because it is on the market it is safe.”
I want to now talk about another food that is VERY important in our lives. It is what the school I attended (Institute of Integrative Nutrition) labeled “Primary Food”. What is this? It is not what we put in our mouths, but rather how we feed our souls. The idea of holistic health is to look at the integrated system rather than one or more separate parts, which includes the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional parts of life.
The problem with our “modern” life today is that even though we are more connected than ever, a lot of us are living a very lonely life today. We work from home, we are too busy to take real phone calls, let alone sit across from someone on a porch drinking tea and have a leisurely chat. We can eat the best food in the world, but if we don’t fulfill the other areas of our life, we are starving, just in different ways.
What is important? Healthy relationships, regular physical activity, a fulfilling career, and a spiritual practice. These areas along with good clean food will most likely ultimately lead to “optimal health”. I think the real challenge today is to step away from the “noise” daily to work on the self-care aspects I just mentioned. With the connection the the cell phone 24/7, there is always a “ding’ with another “to-do” demanding our time. We can get lost in the modern connected world and in the end become so over burdened and disconnected that all the “good food” will not be enough to feed the soul.
Chronic depression is widespread in our society today. Globally an estimated 350 million people suffer from depression according to the World Health Organization. A lot of people turn to secondary food to alleviate problems, causing more obesity, rather than giving ourselves what we really need, primary food. If you are not getting the primary food you need, eating all the food in the world won’t satisfy your hunger.
My tip? Make sure to take time to cultivate a life with balance. Really ask yourself what brings you joy? How are your relationships with loved ones and friends? Do you have a line of work or a hobby that if fulfilling? Do you have a good home environment? Do you have a past time activity where you can explore creativity? Do you have an active social life where you are interconnection with people in real life, not just on line? Do you have a relationship with your Creator?
These things along with good clean food will go a long way in optimizing a healthy fulfilling life.
It’s Your Life, Live a Great One!
XO
Anne