Good Food Habits
Choosing nourishing foods to incorporate into your daily life are not just important for your body, but your mind and spirit also.
Bhagwan Shri Satya Sai Baba has always guided us to pay attention to our food habits as this has a direct connection to leading a disciplined lifestyle. Man is a body mind complex, in fact our thoughts are influenced by the food we eat. The gut is considered as the second brain in our human body. It is important to focus on the foods we eat, ensuring they are filled with nutrients that nourish our bodies.
In Hinduism, it is believed that a man attains a human birth after millions of years of penance. This body is a sacred vehicle that we have been gifted with to enjoy this beautiful journey of life.
What is the definition of health?
Bhagwan Shri Satya Sai Baba says - “ To lead a discipline spiritual life, heath (Arogya) is a very important factor.
Our Health comprises of 5 important factors.
Aahara - Food
Vihara - Exercise
Achara - Self Conduct
Uchara - Speech
Vichara - Thoughts
Our human body is made up of 5 main koshas. Koshas are considered the energetic layers of your body that surround your soul. The five koshas exist together and are encased, or nested, within each other. Your physical body composes the outermost layer, while the innermost layer contains your bliss body, or soul. Some believe the koshas are key to enhancing awareness of your inner world and developing a connection among your mind, body, and spirit. Attention to your koshas may awaken deeper states of awareness on your path to self-realization. Please refer to this article for more information on the koshas - Koshas: What These 5 Layers Mean in Eastern Philosophy (healthline.com)
Annamaya Kosha - Physical Sheath
Pranamaya Kosha - Life Force Sheath
Manomaya Kosha - Mental Sheath
Vigyanmaya Kosha - Wisdom Sheath
Anandmaya Kosha - Bliss Body
Sages and saints have spent millions of decades researching the importance of eating healthy foods. Just by practicing proper discipline and control on what we eat and how we eat we are able to get rid of many of the bodily ailments. Our human body is a complex machine. Food is said to have a direct correlation to our character, abilities and behaviors.
Food has been categorized in three main categories.
Sattvic - Sattva - It translates as balance and harmony. Sattvic foods can be loosely categorized as most fresh fruits and vegetables, most whole grains, legumes and nuts. How they are eaten, for example cooked versus raw, can make a difference in whether they add sattva or rajas to the mind and body.
Rajasic - Rajasic foods are stimulating and contribute to physical and mental stress. Small amounts of rajasic foods are not a problem in an otherwise balanced life, but a diet made up of too many rajasic foods overstimulates the body and mind and will lead to circulatory and nervous system disorders. Examples - Red meat, high protein food, garlic and onions stimulate desire. Rajasic foods include chili peppers, coffee, and anything that stimulates movement.
Tamasic - Tamasic foods are impure, rotten, or dead and create heaviness and lethargy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Eating tamasic food leads to dullness, lack of motivation and purpose and negativity.