How To Eat

Consider the difference between eating Pizza with your hands, or with a knife and fork... which is better?

Get intimate with your food

Smell your food: Take a deep inhalation of what you are about to eat. Let your senses be a guide, does it smell gross? Or does it smell like it will give you vitality? Eventually you will learn to smell vitality in food, and come to love it!
Eat with your hands: Experience the sensation of touch with your food, how does it feel? Natural? Knives, forks and chopsticks are a way to consume food that is too hot to touch, but the downside is that they rob you of the sense of intimacy via touch. We are the only animal in existence that separates ourself from food in such a way. So, touch your food whenever you can, and experience the sensation fully.
Look at your food: Really look at it, does it look appealing? You may be surprised to find that you like the look of unhealthy food! Don't worry, this is a symptom of the modern European lifestyle we live in. Eventually, you can learn to love the site of brocolli, fish, and other foods that look less appealing than a cupcake, but are incredibly good for you.
Taste your food: Soak up the first few bites, close your eyes and visualise the flavours - how does it make you feel? Visualise the nutrients and life force that is entering your body - on it's way to giving you vitality and life. Doing that exercise effectively can make a sponge cake taste awful, and a brussel sprout taste incredible - but it takes practice.
Flirt with food: It's common knowledge that food can be consumed as comfort food. There is certainly an emotional intimacy in the act of eating. We can learn to embrace this relationship with our food in a healthy way. View eating as a relationship; do you get nurtured by it? Does it help you to feel good about yourself? Is it a one night stand (eg. pizza) or a long term love (eg. vegetables)? What is your relationship with food, and what characteristics are you attracted to?
It's all about intimacy with food: Food is life. Rejoice in it! Respect and love it and embrace the gift, it is a source of immense happiness if used wisely. So get intimate with your food, become increasingly closer to it's wonder, you will be amazed. Meditate on the miracle of food, and how animals embrace it in the wild.