Sacred Nourishment

My husband Gary recently said to me: “the season of eating is coming up. How can we enjoy without guilt, without regrets?” Interesting, that we associate the Holidays not only with company, generosity, sharing and gratitude, but also with an over-abundance of food that makes us feel great at the moment, but sluggish and heavy afterwards.

What are your earliest food memories? How have your family traditions shaped your experience of shared feasts of eating? Many of us have happy memories of early childhood family gatherings centered around “breaking bread” with others. Sometimes we may connect with painful experiences connected to food.

A friend visiting from Germany commented on the multitude of choices our supermarkets offer. To illustrate her opinion, she pointed out that, for example, “milk” comes in so many varieties that the abundant choices create an almost paralyzing effect on the puzzled consumer.

No matter what the past has generated in terms of emotions and memories: we are all called to create a new, different way of relating to nourishment and the social traditions that center around special occasions where food is shared. Does it have to be turkey this Thanksgiving? If you really love it, go for it! And if your heart beckons you to explore alternatives, maybe meatless, why not give it a try?! We are all called to examine the ways we have been doing things for so long, in order to create new traditions that may be more respectful of Mother Earth and her resources. In these times of immense change, maybe all we need is awareness that allows us to examine our unconscious ways of living, so we can evolve into a higher level of inter-dependence with all of live.

Above all, examine with compassion and gentle self-observation what *really* feeds you. Can you make more room for spiritual nourishment in your life?

Happy Thanksgiving!