Eat rightly and wisely, never becoming a slave to food, to stay healthy and well, physically and spiritually, says OSWALD PEREIRA
Former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee in his book, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork, advises readers to end bad eating habits and lead a healthy life. He says that focussing only on weight loss is not the right approach to healthy living. The approach should be towards more holistic living and lifestyle changes.
Within our bodies, energy is the origin of our life force, which is the breath of life that animates our physical bodies. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and some dairy products are rich in life force and should constitute an essential part of our diet.
These are natural foods and easily digested and processed by the body. Foods in which the life force has been denatured or destroyed by improper processing should be avoided, as they are not suitable for the human system.
Health-giving Food, Pure Oxygen and Sunshine
Our body is a temple of God, which should not be abused by consumption of wrong, unhealthy foods. Health-giving food, intake of pure oxygen by proper breathing, and sunshine helps in keeping the body fit and strong ― and nature blesses, with good health, a person who follows this practice.
Says the great sage and yogi Paramhansa Yogananda: “Meditation is the most effective way to spiritualise the body. Meditative effort to make the body live on this higher plane is aided by right eating at all times.”
He cautions that “even a spiritual man eating food injudiciously would find the body obstructing the practises that lead to spiritual realization.”
Vegetarian Food for Healthy Living
While it is important to choose a proper, balanced diet, care should also be taken to eat judicious amounts of food and never eat excessively. Most yogis generally recommend a vegetarian diet for healthy living and are against consumption of meat.
Yogananda says, “Most kinds of meat (especially beef and pork) and other vibrationally gross foods overtax the life force, making it difficult to disengage its preoccupation with the senses and overworked vital organs.”
Taste: A Gift from God
The sense of taste should not be debased with greed and indigestion from wrong eating habits and over eating. Taste is a gift given by God, whose purpose is to select and enjoy the right food to keep the body healthy and vibrant for the use of the soul.
Yogananda observes, “The soul is above hunger and the desire for food. This does not mean that the spiritual aspirant should stop eating, but it does mean that he should eat properly and joyously to maintain the body-temple of God, and not just to satisfy sense craving.”
Eat rightly and wisely, never becoming a slave to food. Know that it is God’s Cosmic Energy and Cosmic Consciousness that changes the food into the energy of life, concludes Yogananda.
(Featured Image Courtesy Freepik.com ― a family happy preparing a healthy vegetarian meal)
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written eight books, including The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.