Happy Holidays!

Season’s Greetings!

I can’t believe that another year has passed and Christmas is already upon us. Though it does feel like winter with such short days. But this past weekend was the winter solstice, so the days are starting to get longer again!

It has been a wonderful year and I want to thank everyone for being a part of it! The holiday season is one of joy and celebration. And for most this often means lots of parties, with lots of eating and drinking. This can be challenging on our bodies though. Many people work hard all year to eat well and take good care of their bodies, only to see that slip away during the holidays.

So I want to share something that will hopefully help with this. No, I’m not going to tell you to just strengthen your will power and not eat that cookie or have that glass of egg nog. I’m going to tell you to enjoy it. Really, truly, ENJOY it! Discover and delight in the joy of eating it. This means slowing down and really savoring what it is you are eating. Let go of guilt or thoughts like “I shouldn’t have this”. Look at it, decide if it really looks appetizing, focus your attention on it completely, smell it, take a bite of it and really drink in the taste of it while you chew it thoroughly. Have gratitude for all that went in to growing, transporting, and preparing it. Celebrate with those around you how good it tastes and how lucky we are to have such beautiful, amazing and delicious food.

While it may sound strange, eating in this way is beneficial to our health. When we slow down and truly smell and taste and chew our food completely, our body’s digestion is properly stimulated and better able to break down what we are eating. The beautiful intelligence of the body knows exactly which digestive resources need to be mobilized to best digest something. We secrete different enzymes and substances based on what food we eat. (e.g. fats vs sweets) And smelling, chewing and tasting are the means of communicating this information to our digestive system.

It is important to indulge every now and then! But do it in this conscious, mindful way. This allows us to really enjoy it, and to satisfy that longing in us to taste something delicious, so we don’t keep going back for more and more. It also enables our body to digest it as well as possible, mitigating the ill effects of those less-than-wholesome things we often eat this time of year. Occasional indulgence and truly celebrating the joy of food is one of the things that makes us human!

I wish everyone a happy holiday, and look forward to continuing to serve you in 2015.

With love,

Tim