In general,
bad habits block you from reaching your goals in life and fulfilling your
potential. It doesn’t matter so much what
they are, but it is important to become aware of them and accept the truth of
them, and then to take action to begin to change those negative things in your
life.
Eating…it’s
something we all have to do. Feed the body so we can function. Keeping our
bodies healthy and feeding them correctly will help us in our meditation and
spiritual practices.
For
instance, try meditating when you’re hungry, or when you’ve overeaten. Where’s
your focus going to be; not on the peaceful place in your heart area, or on the
mantra you’re listening to. The mind and all the senses will be working
overtime to distract you. They already distract you enough during meditation, even
when you don’t over eat.
Remember
what you focus on; that’s what you draw into your consciousness and your life.
Try to
see your mind as a container and your consciousness as water. The water will
take on the shape/form of the container you pour it into. So be careful of your
container, i.e., your mind. Practice discrimination and control, and focus on
spiritual aspirations as opposed to material ones and your consciousness will
be elevated.
Am I
here to tell you the bad habits of eating? Hardly. I think we all know that stuffing
our faces isn’t healthy. Eating in the middle of the night is not a good
thing. Thinking about food throughout the
day, or wanting others’ food…not a good place to be. Hiding food…not healthy.
If you’re eating certain foods that give you gas or indigestion and you
continue to eat those foods anyway…that’s not a good thing for your body or for
the others around you.
Eating
junk food takes its toll; we all see that.
It’s a
simple process, take care of the body, and for the most part it takes care of
itself. Yes, there are some outside forces at work in our lives, e.g., Karma (http://www.swamij.com/karma.htm), Samskara
(http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2009/bfeb09/sam.shtml)
and there are always the natural and spiritual laws we can’t see or understand
with our empirical or logical intelligence that are in progress and that is why
at times you’ll see someone who never smoked get lung cancer, or someone who is
in great shape, eats properly and out of nowhere they have a heart attack.
But in
general we do what we can do, especially as the body gets older. This is where
a lot of us have another bad habit. Thinking we can eat, like we did 5-10-20
years ago. Over time our metabolisms slow down, but we still eat the same and do
less running around or exercise.
Yes,
our minds want us to think we are the same, but the body is always changing,
and we need to use our intelligence to see that.
So
what are the good habits and how do we slow down? Your spiritual practice of
meditating, praying and reading the scriptures will slow you down and the inner
intelligence in you will awaken and it will help you make better choices in your
life and create good habits.
Does
that mean we are all going to get skinny and live a long peaceful life? No.
But it
will bring more peace into your life and your mind, and you will emanate more
peace in day-to-day living.
There
are other reasons why certain people hold more weight than others, I’ve seen
several very spiritually advanced teachers, yogis and master that some would
say are heavy or overweight. There is a reason for that, and its more than
this, but it is a way for them to protect themselves from the outside world.
Then
there are other factors as to why some people hold weight differently than
others and it doesn’t mean they have issues or bad habits surrounding eating or
food. There is something called Dosha’s (http://doshaquiz.chopra.com).
It’s part of a very ancient formula for living and comes from the Vedas. It’s
called Ayurveda. You can go to the link provided and find out what dosha you
are, which will help you eat a more balanced diet.
If you
have any questions, please ask them. It’s a pleasure being able to be of
service.
Namaste,
Michael
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