The happy yogi believes good health is more than just good ingredients. Preparing the food and eating the food while in a state of peace and relaxation soothes the body and allows the digestive organs to function efficiently as they assimilate and distribute nutrients to the cells.

In addition to helping the digestive system, pure thoughts infuse the food with positive energy. This energy enters our cells like a peaceful tune, inspiring them to dance harmoniously. Though this may have been a far-out concept years ago, recent research in quantum physics, as well Dr. Emoto's research on the effects of consciousness on matter, support this concept. All matter responds to the energy of our thoughts. Why not make our food, which is deposited in the body three times a day, sing with high spiritual energy?

 

The tips below are a few easy ways to start the habit of ‘The Mindful Kitchen'.

Tips for preparing food while in a peaceful frame of mind

1. Take a shower to cleanse the energies you may have picked up during the day. Water refreshes both the body and the spirit. Then turn on some gentle music in the kitchen. Set the intention to make your mealtime preparation a quiet, meditative process. Stay present and enjoy the silence as you chop, clean and cook.
2. Meditate for 5-10 minutes before you prepare your food. In your meditation, nurture a simple thought. For example, "I, the soul, am fresh, pure, clean light." As you meditate on this thought, savour it. Visualise it. Feel it. Experience it. Then enter into your kitchen with the intention to hold that experience and thought as you prepare your meal.
3. Take a few moments of silence before you cook. Invite God into the kitchen with you to pour the pure energy of spiritual love over your food. As you cook, imagine God as a waterfall of divine pure, loving light above you. In each moment, see that light as it pours over your mind and heart as well as the food. Hold this vision as you prepare your meal.

Tips for eating while in a peaceful frame of mind

1. While you eat, simply eat and be fully present. Resist the urge to check your cell phone or search the web. Set the intention to eat calmly. Chew each bite at least 40 times. By counting the bites, you not only improve your digestion but you become present, peaceful and focused.
2. Before you eat, take a moment to become aware that you are a soul and that the body is an instrument that allows you, the soul, to travel through the physical world and experience the sights, sounds and scenes of life on the planet. Eating is a way of filling the body with good, healthy fuel.
3. With each bite you eat, imagine that you are filling that food with pure, healing light. As you swallow, visualise that light pouring into every cell of the body… healing the body and bringing it into balance and harmony.
4. Set the intention to rest your mind on one simple thought as you eat. As you eat, simply hold the thought, "I am a peaceful soul." As you savour your food, savour that thought as well. Allow yourself to really feel it and experience it. If your mind wanders, simply come back to that one thought and see if you can hold that for the duration of your meal.