Enjoy food, not just during an Ayurveda cure
Eat mindfully, avoid distractions, engage all taste senses, and support the digestive fire (Agni) with spices.
Eating should be enjoyable, and it is important to truly savor your meals – not only during an Ayurveda retreat but also in everyday life! Mealtime is the moment to replenish our energy stores, and how we eat plays a significant role.
Delicious, wholesome food is an essential part of our daily joy. Just as a skilled chef creates dishes with love, passion, and care, we too can enjoy our meals with the same feelings and take pleasure in them. If you cook yourself, try to make the preparation of your food a meditative experience. As the saying goes: “Love goes through the stomach.” 😉
Eating is the time to refill our energy stores – and this happens not only on a biological level. Our soul and senses also benefit when we eat mindfully and with enjoyment. A creatively prepared and beautifully presented dish can contribute significantly to our happiness.
Old sayings remind us of this wisdom: “The eyes eat first” or “He who does not enjoy becomes unenjoyable.” In Ayurveda, it is known that our metabolism works most effectively when we eat in a relaxed posture and environment.
To eat in a relaxed way, it is recommended to sit while eating. When you are too active during meals, the nervous system directs blood to your muscles and brain rather than to your digestive system. This happens, for example, when watching TV or reading while eating. So: relax, focus on your meal, celebrate it, and enjoy every bite! A spontaneous “Mmmh” or “delicious” immediately triggers positive digestive signals.
Do not drink too much during meals. A little warm water with ginger, lemon, or salt and honey before eating can support digestion. This also stimulates all six taste senses – sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, and astringent. According to Ayurveda, every meal should include all these tastes; otherwise, the body may eventually signal a deficiency.
Spices such as anise, fennel, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper are thermally stimulating and are considered digestive spices in Ayurveda, as they strongly activate our digestive fire (Agni).
For more information on Ayurvedic nutrition, check out the posts from Ayurveda Shunyata Villa:
