Bear's Blog

Blessing your food is an ancient ritual, a spiritual and religious practice of gratitude. Saying a prayer before we eat actually drops us into Being – the “rest and digest” mode of the parasympathetic nervous system (versus the sympathetic “fight or flight”). A moment of mindful prayer actually prepares our body to digest food. So many spiritual practices actually have practical value as well!

So take a moment to appreciate the food you are about to eat. This can be as simple as looking at your food with attention to detail, to visualizing the elements that came together to produce this meal. My children were always impatient with this practice, but just holding hands and saying “blessings on our meal” was enough to better receive our food.

As with so many things, I have my personal energetic take on this as well. In this case, I start by holding my hands over the food and sending general energy, or white light, as thanks. I also do the above visualization of all the different food on my plate, growing in nature. For meat I call on the specific animal and silently say thanks for their sacrifice. Trained to see and sense energy, I get very specific responses! For instance, pigs are still mad as hell about the situation. Fish and birds tend to have a minimal response. Cows have become more conscious over the years, and I can see if the one I’m eating was sickly. While I try to eat all organic free-range animals… it doesn’t always happen.

Which brings me to my next point -

Sending energy as thanks, I noticed what I call a “bounce back” effect – energy moving from the food to me! The energy varied in its volume; sickly animals, or low nutrition food, had much less. I found that if I continued sending energy, the “bounce back” got stronger. You can actually enhance the quality of junk food by blessing it! (Originally from Chicago, I must eat the occasional hot dog…)

I also fully receive the “bounce back” energy by drawing it in through my hands and then throughout my body, nurturing every cell, honoring the gift of food by utilizing it as best I can. I only remember to do this about half the time - remember it’s a practice! - and have gotten over how it might “look” in public. This is one way I incorporate moments of Being into my day, which is easier when I combine it with something I routinely do.

I have to share an experience I had blessing my food this way. I was eating buffalo and acknowledging the exchange, and when the buffalo appeared to me it knelt down on its knees! I understood that the buffalo – all buffalo – are manifest FOR humankind, they are here on purpose just for us. I have heard how the buffalo completely met the needs of Native Americans – for food, shelter, clothing, and more. Yet this gave me an even deeper appreciation of the significance of this relationship. And I do find buffalo meat to have the most potent energy of any food I have eaten.

Enjoy all your food – and remember even the sugary, rich holiday food can be transformed!

For more everyday energy practices, download my e-booklet “Being and Doing” and experiment with more moments of presence in the new year!

Bear