Friday, February 8, 2008

Eat Like a Yogi

In an old issue of Yoga Journal, there is an article titled "Choice Eats: the first step toward changing your eating habits is to become aware of what and why you eat. Then your plate, like you life, can be delightfully full."

The article begins by introducing the concept of samskara, defined in this context as "a pattern that is reinforced by repitition", like eating. It says that we can overcome our negative food habits (samskaras) by replacing them with positive ones. The article suggests that when you have a desire to chow down, you should ask yourself a series of questions, such as "Am I really hungry?" and "If I am hungry, what is my body really hungry for?" Then, it says, "by pausing and bringing consciousness to your physiological hunger and examining the source of your desire, rather than eating impulsively out of habit, you're on your way to creating a new, positive samskara".

I was amazed when I read all of this because a recent blog post of mine was so similar. Now if only I could remember to think about my samskaras.

Thursday was my day off.

Friday's workout:
4 miles
6 x 20 second strides

1 comment:

chia said...

That would totally work for me. Mostly because I am easily distracted and by the time I ask the second question I'll forget I was even hungry and not even eat at all.

I'm leaving Michigan on the 12th and planning on arriving on the 14th. We're driving over to D.C. first then we'll just pop over after.