What does “eating mindfully” mean to you?
Not overeating?
Making sure not to over-indulge in a particular confection or some other calorie-rich food?
While it is a good idea to be mindful not to overeat or overdo it on sweets, the mindfulness discussed in this post is slightly different. The following is a discussion of a type of mindfulness that is able to change the very chemical structure of food itself…
The late Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese scientist, subjected samples of water from across the globe to various phenomena: music, language, and intention. He then froze the water and took photographs. Here are some of his findings:
Please click on the photos above to enlarge.
Dr. Emoto’s results demonstrate what many traditional medical systems and spiritual practices of the world have long since indicated–that consciousness is powerful and can even affect physics.
To some readers, the known laws of physics are completely immutable despite having mostly been developed in the 17th and early 20th centuries. To those for whom the implications of the Emoto study seem difficult to accept, please consider the following:
The Royal Horticultural Society performed a study where it was demonstrated that talking to plants can make them grow faster. The principal findings of conscious positive interaction promoting plant growth were not only corroborated by numerous other studies, but also expanded (cf. this study, this study, this study, and this study); the results of these investigations echo Dr. Emoto’s theses on the effect of consciousness on matter. What’s more, the results of the plant studies have been so widely replicated that they are now popular in grade school classrooms all over the world: here, children demonstrate how positive language promotes healthy plant growth and negative language inhibits it.
What then can our consciousness do to the food we eat?
Dr. Emoto’s work, along with other scientific studies of mind metaphysics (noetics) citied above suggest that consciousness can physically affect plants, water, food, and the human body through language (spoken or written), music, and even prayer (intention) at a great distance.
If this is true, it may explain why a meal with a loved one can taste so good, while the same meal consumed in a state of anger, anxiety, or depression, is not only insipid but tends to lead to subsequent digestive issues. This would also help explain why the individual eating a confection in moderation, with a sincerely carefree mindset may not experience any ill effects from the high calories or sugar content; while the one who has bought into the belief that such foods are categorically bad and cause serious health problems, eats in a state of guilt and disproportionately suffers from the presumed ill effects of eating said foods.
There is thus strong evidence to indicate that “eating mindfully,” or engaging in positive thought while consuming a snack or a meal, can significantly alter the physical structure of the food effectively increasing it’s nutritive value, all while decreasing its deleterious effects. Saying grace, repeating a positive mantra either aloud or silently, giving thanks for the water, plants, or animals that one is consuming, and intending that it properly nourish the body may thus result in making one’s food healthier. Conversely, eating while sad, anxious, angry, guilty, or feeling disappointed by what one is consuming may have the opposite effect, making one’s food unpalatable and unhealthy.
It may therefore be said that it’s not only important what you eat, but how you eat it.
Finally, if there are tangible effects of consciousness on a manner of things outside of the body, one can only imagine what the effects of consciousness are to one’s own mind-body matrix. As modern medical science makes advances in these poorly developed areas of study, we may one day soon find that the entire landscape of health and nutrition will completely be revised.
Paula Iveland
Love this post, Dean, and could write so much more. I’d just like to add that intention is so important, with anything. Before
the pandemic, I was really resistant to changing my diet, cooking, etc and even the changes I made were not taken with
‘positive’ thought, but had an edge of resistance.(Ew! grains, pew!) I continued to have a good intention towards changing, however, and was
longing to return to feeling joy about meal preparation. Slowly, slowly and ironically due to the pandemic with such an emphasis
on food and health, things started changing and everything I needed started coming towards me – cooking ideas, ingredients,
even starting a deck garden that is flourishing! I’m even able to come up with my own ideas on cooking and can feel/sense what
my body needs. All this from an inner prayer for help to align with food and eating in a better way. And last, to speak to your
sentence about how even eating a ‘sweet indulgence’ with a positive attitude helps, I couldn’t agree more! So, onward to eat a
warm, chewy chocolate chip cookies, with oatmeal, sunflower seeds, and best of all – butter and sugar. ?
EzDean Fassassi
That’s so great to hear, Paula! Thanks for reading!! Yes, I think the body has its own intelligence, completely autonomous from the brain. Even in complete paralysis, the heart, kidneys, and even reproductive organs are still active, despite any and all connection from the Central Nervous System being cut off. That’s the body intelligence taking over!
We think of the autonomic parasympathetic nervous system as only relegated to important processes, but I believe this same intelligence is what we tap into in kinesiology–there’s so much more it can tell us, yet most of us don’t consciously connect with it. I feel like it’s always available to us, but requires for us not to process the information with our brains. I also feel that this same intelligence tells us what’s best to eat at different times in our lives, and comes channeled through our intuition. This is why everyone will have a different ideal diet unique to them, though I think the general principles of balance will remain.