Eat With Me This Year

It’s taken me over 7 years to post this mostly because I told myself I wouldn’t teach something unless I could master it myself. Then the years passed and I figured if it hasn’t happened by now it may never, or I could be dead before it does! So what is this mastery I’ve strove for? It is as simple as sitting down to eat, every meal, every time. Preferably at a table, not standing up, lying down, in the car, while typing, texting, reading, arguing, or to ever eat alone if at all possible  btw pets count as eating companions).I wanted to be able to write authentically in the work I call “The Meal” which many of you have heard about for almost a decade now. I finally realized that if I write truthfully it’s just the same as authentically so TRUTHFULLY, I have spent many hours yelling at my mother, husband, child and other family members to “SIT down and eat”, but haven’t been able to completely do it myself. It’s a modern struggle we have to just pop food in our mouths without any conscious realization of what’s going on, what’s going in or even remembering that we just ate!
Eating food is more than just the physical action of chewing, satiation and digestion. It is a process, that once sacred, has become mundane or abused. It is the process of earth matter and energy becoming part of our being and consciousness. We’ve heard it a thousand times: We truly are what we eat. And what’s even more important to our health is WHO we eat with, HOW we eat, and even WHERE we eat.

The meal is equally simple and complex. I’ve compiled personal stories and research regarding the spiritual, social and cultural aspects of the Meal from my travels, studies and professional life in health care. There is no better time to share than in a New Year, while I’m alive, healthy and still trying to master the art of sitting down for the sacred experience of eating. Maybe this year we can all endure the challenge together. Happy New Year and let’s eat!

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