Hungry
By Cait Johnson
Are you hungry? If so, you're not alone. Our culture seems to breed both soul-starvation and a relationship with food that is becoming increasingly out of balance. For many Americans, food is The Enemy: we knock ourselves out counting every calorie, eschewing all the "bad" things (and almost everything is bad according to somebody), carefully combining, avoiding, abstaining and sometimes downright loathing our food. Meanwhile, our disconnected consumer/pop culture can leave us feeling so deprived that, when we're not counting and measuring and denying ourselves, we eat and eat--anything to fill the void of deep soul-hunger. Obesity and eating disorders are epidemic; so is depression. But food can be our key to reconnecting with what really matters.
It's not hard to undo our cultural alienation from food; these few simple steps can begin the process, heading us in the direction of eating with real life-promoting pleasure. It all starts with our attitudes toward our bodies.
Love your body just as it is. Here are some interesting survey results: 90% of women that look at a fashion magazine for as little as three minutes experience feelings of self-loathing, insecurity, and depression. Why? Well, diet and fitness are multi-billion dollar big biz. If we felt great about our bodies just as they are, that business would suffer, so we are force-fed the idea that anorexic, sometimes heroin-addicted "models" look great with the clothes falling off their bones. We will never be thin enough or fit enough, because if we were, we wouldn't spend money trying to achieve an impossible ideal. Be subversive. Find images of feisty, vital people of all ages and sizes and put them up on the fridge. To paraphrase the great Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés, if your body feels, if it functions, it's a good body. Feed it deliciously.
Love your hunger: it's a healthy sign that you need something. I have a theory--borne out again and again with my clients--that our cravings tell us something important about what it is we are really longing for. Do you find yourself longing for that third scoop of ice cream? Dairy products with sugar remind us of mother's milk, sweet and comforting; you may need more soothing body contact. Hugs, cuddling, massages may fill the deeper need. Or is there a bag of potato chips in the cupboard with your name on it? When you bite into a chip, your whole head resonates with the crunch. And the saltiness--mmm, like the salt left on skin after a really good workout. Maybe you need to dance, or run, or make vigorous love, or take a drumming class--let your whole body resonate. Give some time and thought to the things you crave. What do they tell you about your soul-longings? Honor your deeper desires, as well as your simple physical need to be fed.
Commit to the very best. Instead of buying plastic-wrapped, processed, toxin-laden stuff off the supermarket shelf, we can go to our local farmer's market or natural foods store and be nourished on every level by the vibrant beauty of the produce. Buy fresh, organic, whole food whenever possible. And look for the very best quality in the things you love to eat: if you have a hankering for chocolate, for instance (doesn't everybody?), then say no to ersatz tasteless garbage and go for the very best 70-85% cocoa-content bar you can find, then savor every precious morsel.
Connect. Ours is a culture disconnected from the earth, and from a sense of meaningful community. If it is this pervasive disconnection that often makes us feel so desperately hungry, then connection is the answer to our hunger. When we grow our own food, or choose it from a farm stall overflowing with freshness, we eat a delicious embodiment of our juicy, rich connection with the earth. And sharing food has been the means of creating community for millennia, so connect with others over food if you can, making meals a celebration of enduring bonds and relationships.
Be mindful when you eat. Most of us don't really taste our food: we gulp it down in the midst of relentless multi-tasking and so are left unsatisfied. Treat eating as a sacred activity. Sit down. Slow down. Savor the colors and scents of your food before you even take the first bite, then allow yourself to fully experience the pleasure of tastes and textures. Notice everything about your food. Give some thought to the people involved in the growing, harvesting, and preparing of it. Be grateful to the earth that sustains us.
Autumn invites us to connect deliciously--to our planet, to others, and to our own richly mysterious inner selves--through the foods we eat. When we take a woods-walk with a crisp, tart apple to munch along the way, or find a gorgeous pumpkin to hollow out and fill with creamy soup to share with friends, we take in far more than chemicals and calories. We take in deep nourishment that feeds us, both body and soul.
