30
Nov
2010
The Hidden Key to Health
by Kino MacGregor
Food is not who you are. It is a way you communicate with the world. You express things through food, through eating, like you do through any art form, but it nevertheless is not who you are at your deepest essence. Your eating habits are merely habits, not your life or your vitality, though they may seriously enhance your life, your energy levels and your overall health.
There is so much attention given to diet and exercise as the solution to every health worry. There are at least a dozen new diets promising to make you forever young, cancer-free, heart healthy, thin,vibrant and closer to God. Yet what lies at the core of every extreme diet is a fundamental rejection of who you are in the present moment. While you might do well to work with the part of yourself that still hungers for a Supersize Big Mac, thinking that the epicurean in you is bad, evil or unworthy creates unhealthy thought patterns that last for lifetimes. What all crash dieting misses is that when you reject a part of yourself along the way, even when you finally arrive at the goal of skinny body with perfect blood sugar and cholesterol levels, you are not fully happy.
Health and happiness are part and parcel of a total life perspective that includes genuine gratitude for the gift of life. In order to be deeply happy in a lasting way, you will need to develop a high degree of tolerance for the multitude of selves that you are. There is a part of you that loves culinary indulgence and another part that enjoys living a very pure life. In a truly integrated existence, there is no separation between these apparent extremes. You as a being in fact already contain them within you. The work of creating a yogic diet begins with accepting who you, what your basic likes and dislikes are and working with yourself in a patient, persistent and kind-hearted manner.
Solutions to your health problems that have at their basis a fundamental rejection of your basic worthiness do not lead to long term success or sustainability. Extreme crash diets can only last so long before you fall off the wagon. The truth about food is that the only diet that instills lasting change is one that embraces both who you are and who you want to be in the same loving light.
Unless you address some of the basic beliefs you hold about yourself, merely changing what goes into your mouth won’t make you happy for the long haul. The inner world of your mind directs the physical world of your body. You hold certain thought patterns about food, life and self-esteem. The thoughts you keep in the hidden realms of your subconscious mind play a crucial role in your overall level of health. All food choices are reflections about your level of self-love, self-acceptance and self-appreciation. If you do not work on loving and appreciating your life, then no diet will make a deep impact in your sense of joyful living. If you want to begin working of your health, then begin to a dress the silently held judgments you have about yourself.
Health in a word is balance; it is a dynamic equilibrium that holds food, health, emotions, thoughts, your body, work, love, relationships and fun in a teetering sphere. When all these aspects dangle in harmony, you are filled with an effortless happiness and peace of mind that emanates forth from you. It’s a magnetic glow that’s unmistakable.
