SpaNutrition
58 AsiaSpa November/December 2017
Writer Elle KwanYOUNG WOMAN HAVING A MEAL/THINKSTOCKWatch What You Eat
Eating that takes care of body and soulLast year, Sebastian Kade
ate exactly the same three meals every
day. Muesli for breakfast. Ramen for lunch.
Rice, kimchi and dumplings for dinner. He
labels himself quite the foodie, so why the
restrictive diet?
“By learning to find honest appreciation
in my simple meals, I’ve actually built up
food to be a constant source of joy in my
life,” Kade says. “Each night when I finish
my same plain meal, I honestly think, “That
was good!’”
How many of us can say the same? With
the lure of the smartphone an ever constant,
it’s become more likely for most to notice
the number of emails sent during lunch
than the food we ate while doing so. We
rush through dinner thinking about tasks
that need completion immediately after it,
and cram in breakfast as we jump into our
daily commute.
The kind of eating Kade practises,
mindful eating, involves a very differentprocess. It involves projecting focus into the
preparation and enjoyment of each meal.
Mindful eaters often break down every
meal component by individual ingredient,
ruminating on where it originated and
imagining how it got to the plate. Upon
taking a bite they focus the senses, detecting
every different subtle flavour and texture.
The challenge in eating like this is also
the core purpose, Kade says. “If you can
appreciate the taste of a dish once, then
theoretically that same dish, with the same
flavours, can be appreciated multiple times
on end. The only thing preventing that is our
ability to appreciate it.”
Although Kade, who is the author of
Living Happiness: A Personal Manifesto for
Living, jokes that he thought he coined the
mindful eating term, it has become quite
a buzzword in recent years. But it is far
from modern thinking. The concept of food
appreciation is built into some of the world’s
oldest religions. Being thankful for food andthe nourishment it provides are found in Zen
and Buddhist teachings, where it is believed
food, as it is broken down and absorbed
by the body, becomes one with the person
eating it. Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has
taught about the subject widely and co-
wrote Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life,
which talks up many benefits that mindful
eating can encourage.
Ayurveda, too, embraces the concept, and
considers food to be a form of God, says Dr
Miithhun Raju, resident Ayurvedic Physician
at the Sukhavati Ayurvedic Retreat and Spa
in Bali. Ayurvedic principles centre on
balancing the mind, body and environment
and don’t prescribe to fast consumption of
food. Eating should never be associated with
greed, he says. Menus are devised in ways
that balance three doshas, or energy states,
and seasonal eating is encouraged. Eating
itself should be a pleasure, in a slow, focused,
peaceful and comforting environment. When
“nourishment of every tissue is important”,
food choices, preparation and consumption
are all carried out thoughtfully to aid the
process.
A disconnect between the mind and
body is deregulating and when negative
judgements cloud the mind, we are prone
to treating the body with disregard. Mindful
eating brings realignment, making it a
useful strategy for anyone wishing to adopt
healthier eating practices.
Participants on an online mindful eating
programme run by Sydney’s The Mindfulness
Clinic sign up looking to conquer bad food
habits and associations. They are not given
menu plans and nutritional guidelines to
overcome them. In fact, no foods are off
limits. Instead, they are asked to honour
themselves and the food they choose to eat
using mindful eating strategies. It’s ancient
thought delivered in the most modern way.