When I tell many people about the relationship between chakras and foods, they understand immediately. It's a logical fit. After all, chakras are energy centers in the entire being, and food provides energy to feed these aspects of ourselves. Chakra Foods gently walks you through the journey of your energetic landscape and gives you creative tools and insight as to how foods and ways you eat can heal, brighten, balance, and strengthen parts of you that need not only physical, but spiritual nourishment. Every chapter of Chakra Foods dives into a single chakra, its physical correlates, and all of its energetic intricacies that manifest in our lives as emotional tumult or physical breakdown. With this information, you will be equipped to create a healing path to this part of yourself, with specific foods resonant with that chakra and even ways to eat to tune into that chakra.
There is no one diet that will work for an entire population of people. That would be too easy. We are all so incredibly unique from a biochemical perspective. Our multifaceted chakra network provides an additional overlay of complexity that interacts with our diverse biology. Therefore, we shortchange ourselves when we stuff our beautiful diversity and complexity into a stifling, static “diet,” or path. It is like wearing a dress that does not fit. It is uncomfortable, looks terrible, and we just want out! No “one” ultimate solution exists. If we could piece apart the body and soul aspects of ourselves and deal with the parts of our being as if they were in silos, our lives might be radically different. However, we are a uniform whole; all of the aspects of our being are equally important and must be recognized.
For optimal wellness, the gap between our earthly body and ethereal soul must be closed, integrating throughout in harmony. We evolve over the course of our lifetimes, dealing with different emotional states and situations, all intricately interplaying with our physiology, making us need different foods at specific times. Even Buddha was said to have been worn out from a diet of root vegetables over an extended period of time. No one food (or diet) fits one soul Preface or one body. We must be continually in tune with our changing and cascading needs. Chakra Foods opens up the doorway to making sense of the complexity of who you are, being able to “read” this complexity through your eating patterns and through the chakra imprints.
Why food? The one premise that I believe most professionals and laypeople would agree upon and that has remained consistent is that food has an amazingly potent effect on the emotions, body, mind, and spirit, and, conversely, our food choices affect these parts of us as well. By hitting the internal “reset button” to arrive at our inherent, intuitive baseline, we can eat in harmony with who we are as unified body and soul. When we function as an optimally resonating collective, we can be grounded and creative in the present moment. We can focus on tasks at hand, helping us to feel a sense of accomplishment. We are able to take better care of ourselves when we know what we need moment to moment. Therefore, we will have more radiant bodies—we will be our perfect weight, shine forth our radiance through clear eyes and skin, speak our truth without the layering of lies and deceit to others and ourselves, harness a wealth of energy so we are not dragging throughout our days, and be able to connect creatively with elements at hand to tap into the universe of opportunities available to us at all times.
One of the ways to come to this place of balance is to get in touch with the soul needs; this can be done through working with the chakra system. Foods can take us to the realm of heightened energy, glowing health, and vibrancy by feeding the energetic layers of the chakras.
The food-spirit connection is what Chakra Foods is about. It takes you to the other side of the spectrum by giving you the tools to fuse the connection between body and soul through the physical and vibratory qualities of food and in how we approach foods and eating.
I am grateful to be able to provide you with this approach to add to your palette of choices for achieving wellness. For some of you, it may simply be a stepping-stone on your way to your truth; and for others, it may change your life dramatically. Either way, I wish you the simple, perfect, shining health we are endowed with and always have access to, and must find again if we are feeling lost.
Deanna M. Minich, Ph.D., C.N.
Port Orchard, Washington
Summer 2008
MY RAINBOWED BEING
I am red.
Passionate, warm, connected to the roots of earth.
An eclipsed sun blessing a sacred union—A tapestry of soul created from the threads of ancestors. Pure acceptance of the self, breathing in trust, living to the beat of the heart. Tiptoeing into the mystery.
I am orange.
Overflowing with expression, bursting forth with raw creation.
Swimming in the depth of feelings—Juicy bites of life fill the belly with sweetness. Creatures of land, air, and water unite. The spiraling energy of the whirling Dervish—an endless dance of giving and receiving and sharing!
I am yellow.
Illuminating brilliance, power, and intellect.
An exploding bouquet of flowers, an infinite buffet of food and drink—The exuberance of the sun, the wisdom of Saturn Embracing with its warmth, marching to the rhythm of life. It is shiny gold, worth more than any currency.
I am green.
A lotus flower in full-bloom residing in the lushness of the heart.
Reaching, embracing, nourishing all in need. Fragile as the morning dew, as expansive as the depth of fragrant forests. Ultimate unconditional acceptance, like the Mother Earth's love for her children.
I am blue.
Calm and cool, a reflection in a mirrored pond.
Diamond stars married to the nighttime sky. The ocean waves curling back to their source. Kind, compassionate words serving as our guide, teacher, and mentor. Father Sky carries truth in the celestial music of his voice.
I am purple.
The richness of velvet and the elegance of silk.
Diamonds of intuition embedded in the space of all-knowingness. Imagination running through the vastness of the dreamscape, playing in a field of swaying lavender, swirling in the energy of dimensions. Insight radiates softly into the mind's eye.
I am white.
Living within us like the innocence of a child.
Sitting quietly, still with peace and patience, ready to serve. Every sparkling, dazzling particle on our planet shining forth universal light. The phenomenal beauty of pure Spirit.
I am many colors.
NOTE TO READERS
This book is intended as an informational guide and is not meant to treat, diagnose, or prescribe. For any medical condition, physical conditions, or symptoms, always consult with a qualified physician or appropriate health care professional. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any responsibility for your health or how you choose to use the information contained in this book.
Names and identifying details have also been changed to honor people's desire for confidentiality.
CHAPTER 1
THE VIBRATION OF FOOD AND THE SPIRIT OF EATING
We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.
—ADELE