"I just read somewhere that 20% of American meals are consumed in a car!" Sadhguru shares tips on the right way to eat food

People often discuss what to eat and when to eat, but they rarely discuss how to eat. In Indian culture, eating food is a wholesome experience. It is a sensory delight experienced with hands, mouth, and mind. Ayurveda regards it as a spiritual experience. The Indian cuisine has been designed in a way that it plays with all the sensory nerves on the tongue by presenting it with sweet, salty, bitter, astringent, and umami flavors. In the past, saints and sages would eat alone, fully immersing themselves in the experience, and speaking was not permitted during this time. However, things have changed now, and from being a family time experience, it has now become a 'reel' time experience. Meals on the go have become more common than one can imagine due to the hectic lifestyles of people. Spiritual leader Sadhguru expresses alarm about this strange shift in habits and says, "I just read somewhere that 20% of American meals are consumed in a car. If 20% of the meals are eaten in cars, maybe another 20% are eaten in bars! I do not know how many people actually sit at the table and eat a meal consciously and with a certain sense of involvement with the food and the people around them. Today, I think there is enough knowledge in the world about the content of the food but people are yet to make the necessary changes." He says that eating food should be a wholesome and meditative experience and shows the right way to eat food by sharing some tips-

In India the culinary culture is deeply ingrained with its traditional philosophies of Yoga and Ayurveda., Eating food is looked upon as an act that requires deep attention and hence the traditional way to eat food is to the Yogic culture you are always asked to cross your legs and to not stretch your legs in the direction of an energy form. This is essentially because you can receive anything that comes towards you in many different ways. The Yogic intention is always to receive it from the higher aspects of your life. When there is a consecrated space, that means there is a powerful energy which has the possibility of transforming you. That energy must always come to you from the highest possibility that you can receive. We do not want to enhance our survival processes; we want to enhance other dimensions of life. It is very essential that we survive, but surviving better than someone is not a life goal. It is a waste of time because whatever you do, you are not going to survive forever.

When you do not touch the food, you don't establish a connection with it. It is believed that when the food touches the tips of fingers, the electric signals carry a message to the brain, and this determines both satiety and hunger. Also, the cleanliness of your hands is entirely in your hands, whereas the cleanliness of a spoon or fork is not necessarily in your hands. Also, eating food is a complete experience, and hence it is important that what you feel with your hands is the texture and temperature of the food, which is said to play a role in evoking hunger and determining.

"Only when I came to United States for the first time, I saw that everywhere in public places, particularly in schools and those summer camps where we used to do programs – there were notices instructing what to do if somebody chokes on food. I cannot understand why anyone will choke on food." Sadhguru raises a very potent question. Why are there so many cases of choking over food? The answer is—we are talking too much while eating. Traditionally, fasting was considered an act of meditation and was meant to be performed in silence., The spiritual icon insists that one should eat quietly in a calm meditative mental state.

Have you ever thought about how blessed you are that you are eating food? Every morsel on your plate is a blessing from God, as there are millions in this world who sleep on an empty stomach because they have nothing to eat. "One must eat, but we must eat relishing the nourishment of what the food offers and with gratitude for what it means to our life. Our goal is not to take away the pleasure of eating. The true joy of eating lies in being aware of another life that is willing to merge with your own and become part of you," says Sadhguru.

Have you ever thought how blessed you are that you are eating food? Every morsel in your plate is a blessing from God as there are millions in this world who sleep on an empty stomach because they have nothing to eat. "One must eat, but we must eat relishing the nourishment of what the food offers and with gratitude of what it means to our life. This is not to take away the pleasure of eating. The true joy of eating is that you are conscious of some other life willing to merge with your own life and become you." says Sadhguru.

It is extremely important to be mindful of what you are doing. Paying attention to what you are eating is the basic thing recommended in Hindu shashtras. The body does not need the same amount of food daily. "If you have a dog at home, even he refuses to eat on certain days. These days, they have made him so stupidly disciplined that he eats every day; otherwise it is natural for him not to eat on certain days. He will eat some grass, puke it out and do his own cleansing for himself. All creatures are aware of this, but human beings are using their intellect to decide what they should do." says Sadhguru. Sadhguru gives this beautiful example from the animal world and tries to explain that eating should be entirely dependent on the desire for it and not based on some sort of a routine.