Food with Karaveera Nivasini Dasi
Foods Affect Your Ability To Practice Meditation Differently
The three main energies we want to cover are Rajas Tamas and Sattva.
Rajas
Rajastic energies are ones of passion, wind, movement and the need to always do something and can be found in the heat of strong chili peppers and coffee. They overstimulate the mind and body. A restless mind is a byproduct of eating foods that are excessively hot, salty, pungen, dry and bitter.
Tamas
Tamasic energy on the other hand is dark, slow and dull There is no pull to get up from where you are sitting, nothing is getting you excited to get things done. Meat is full of tamasic energy; you can even call it demonic energy if you like, or just heavy energy. Fruits that are too ripe have more tamasic energy. Overcooked or reheated foods, especially deep fried or burned food have tamasic energy. Meat, canned foods, fish, mushrooms, eggs, vinegar, intoxicants, alcohol, opium etc are tamasic. The craving for alcohol can disappear when meat is emitted from the diet. You know how you feel after eating a light sallad compared to an oily pizza right?
Sattva
And then the third energy is sattvic energy, sattvic energy is not to be found on a scale in between rajasic and tamasic. It´s on the top of a pyramid if the other two are on each side of the base, sattvic energy is pure, balanced, light and harmonious energy. You can see it as angelic even if you like. So it’s not possible to balance out rajas and tamas by mixing for example chillies with meat to get a sattvic energy but it needs to be food that are sattvic like steam boiled vegetables and potatoes, or just perfectly ripe fruits.
The way you eat the food will also create energy, if you eat it very fast it will become more rajastic. Be positive when eating, never eat when angry and don’t overload your stomach. If you take your time to give thanks to your food and are presently enjoying chewing it it will become more sattvic – more pure. If you want to learn more about food and level your game up, we can do a private session or you can join my Master Chef Program here.
So if you eat a lot of rajasic food your mind will be more active, it will be harder to calm it down to concentrate on one thing and this will affect the quality of your meditation practice and your overall mental content during the day. If you eat a lot of tamasic food, like deep fried, you will become slower in the mind and your will to actually get up and meditate and do other things that are good for you will decrease.
Sattvic foods will increase life, purity, strength, health, joy and cheerfulness. Foods should be as fresh as possible, preferably organic and without additives. Eat them raw, steamed or lightly cooked.
Examples!
Sattvic carbohydrates: Unpolished rice, oats, millet and quinoa. Protein: pulses nuts and seeds. Fruits are one of the most important parts of a yogic diet. Vegetables should be cooked only lightly or eaten raw, including leafy veggies, roots, seeded vegetables (zucchini and cucumbers etc) Herbs for seasoning and tea. Natural sweeteners such as honey, molasses, maple syrup, juice concentrate, and avoid white processed sugar.
If you choose to eat dairy products just remember it’s very different from what they were in today’s factories where the animals are used and mistreated and the milk full of hormones and antibiotics. Also it creates excess mucus so try to find a local farmer that you can trust and eat in moderation. Sattvic foods in excessive quantities like overeating become Tamasic.
Start to improve your diet little by little for a long lasting change. First take away red meat then birds and eggs then fish and then start to think about how you cook etc.
Good luck and Lots of Love!
Karaveera Nivasini Dasi
