Articles

Nourishing the Spirit

by Paula Sirois

In seeking the perfect diet, what are we really seeking?

At the soul level, beyond appearances and the everyday concerns of the outer self, the longing for absolute physical health reflects deeply held convictions about transcending earthly limitations--the desire to go beyond sickness and disease to a state of perfection. Yet immortality and perfection do not represent the human experience in the physical realm.

To be alive is to be in flux. The current of life moves in a continual flow. To be alive is to always face the possibility of death. The addictions and fears that plague us serve as wonderful distractions from that which is ultimately our destination as physical beings. Yet no distraction, however wonderful, can change the fact that these bodies are but temporary housing for our souls. No diet, therefore, no matter how clean, will change the fact that we are not going to inhabit these bodies indefinitely.

The attempt to find the purest diet is essentially the attempt to align with Spirit and find the path to immortality. Once we recognize the motive behind the attempt to control what we eat, we are suddenly awakened to great compassion for the self. Rather than berating ourselves for setting up dietary guidelines that we continually fail to uphold, we can begin to see that we are trying to be as good as we can be. In truth, only a slight shift in perspective can bring about a tremendous sense of relief.

What we may neglect to see is that the drive to extend the years of ourlives negates the beauty of the present moment. And, of course, no diet comes with a guarantee that we will increase either the length or the quality of our lives. Often such attempts at longevity and attaining perfect health are based on fear. We fear the unknown and, in an attempt to gain mastery over our lives, we impose rules and restrictions to frame our existence.

Yet by embracing love as a primary form of nourishment, we can move beyond fear as we recognize and accept that we are immortal souls encased in earthly bodies. Each day, we can care for these bodies by tapping into a richer, deeper source of well-being. Just as, through our love, children thrive in a nurturing environment, our bodies respond to tender care. We can begin by trusting that our bodies' innate intelligence will restore us to a state of harmony and balance. We have attached moral values to the foods we eat before we even take our first bite. When we shift our focus to the quality of the mental and emotional energy that we are ingesting from moment to moment, the physical body reaps tremendous benefits.

Let's stop feeding ourselves plates full of anguish. When it comes to the endless sensory and sensual delights associated with the food we eat, we tend to think we are supposed to deprive ourselves. We tend to feel virtuous when we restrict our pleasures to a minimum. Somehow we have come to believe that if it tastes wonderful, it must not be wholesome.
Perhaps, we ought to consider that we are taking this dietary stuff a bit too seriously. Staying in touch with what brings us joy is vital to the Spirit. And anything that nourishes the Spirit nourishes us at all levels of being.

By paying attention to the body's innate wisdom, we learn to intuit what is best for us in each moment. To receive the most complete nourishment from the foods we eat, we would benefit from integrating a sense of joy and appreciation into every bite. This counts far more than calories and nutrients in bringing us closer to the experience of total well-being.
Clearly love is the way to the perfection we seek. Love and appreciate the wisdom of your body, and your body will guide you to the very foods it needs.

< Back to Articles