Deep Down To The Gut Of It All

Whether you feel like it yet or not, food is medicine. Boom, that’s right– I said it. And even if you have a tendency to think of food as the enemy, it’s most certainly keeping you alive, and that, my friends, is pretty damn generous of it. I truly believe that over time– if you’re committed to it– you will learn how to see your food as an ally, friend, and strategic tool to feeling good and healing quickly. It may take time, so don’t fret if you’re not fully there yet, but like all good things— it will come.

Yesterday, we talked about how emotions, particularly stress, can deter healthy digestion. Today, I’d like to go a little farther and talk about how your mindset and emotional state right BEFORE you eat a particular food or meal can also impact how well your body receives the nutrients of that food. If you sit down to eat a meal that you think is “bad” in some way, for example, and then you tell yourself you’re “such a big gross loser for eating it,” you also send those stress signals right on down to your gut. The gut gets a fat helping of stress hormones from the brain, since the brain can’t tell the difference between the stress of appearing less attractive and the stress of being chased by a lion. The gut stops what it’s supposed to be doing, and waits in terror for the lion to show its face. Now it may seem like a case of mistaken identities and missed connections, and it kinda is! But it also significantly impacts your body’s ability to extract real nutrients from the food you’re eating at the moment – even if it is a giant cookie. Cookies have nutrients too, after all; and it’s your gut’s job to find and pull out the very best of them for your body to use as best it can.

Today, we’re going to start cultivating a mindset of honor and gratitude for our food, and all of the wonderful nutrients it provides us. Just as no healthy relationship will thrive in an atmosphere of critique, criticism or hate, a healthy relationship with your body begins with a positive mindset around your food. 

We begin by showing and sharing gratitude for food as often as we can.

Thank YOU for tuning in for Day 2 with me. I’m honored you’re here, and showing up for your body and its health. It takes big courage to make big change, and you are headed for very big things.

Today’s Activity

• Start by saying “thank you” out loud to each meal you eat today, and make note of how it makes you feel: did you notice that the food itself tasted a little better too?

If you’d like to take this one step further, feel free to say this “Thank You Prayer” aloud before mealtimes:

“ I send my deepest thanks to the insects and animals who fertilized the soil that housed and fed the seed.
To the seed that sprouted the plant that birthed the food.
To the sun who shared his loving energy for the plant to continue to grow.
To the farmers who protected the plants and then used their own energy to pick the food.
To the drivers who drove that food to my grocery store or farmer’s market.
To the grocery store owners and sales clerks who stocked the shelves and checked me out at the store.
To the money that I have that has allowed me to purchase the food. And the transportation that brought the food to the places that I can buy it.
To the equipment that chopped it up, and boiled it and sautéed it and cooked it to perfection. To the plate, bowls, and silverware that are allowing me to eat it with ease.
And lastly, to this incredible body of mine
that chooses to eat respectfully, as an integral member of the circle of life myself,
where I will digest it and churn this food into nutrients for my body to use as fuel and protection and healing medicine.
I thank the entire process and every being involved in it.