329 thoughts on “Starting a New Relationship with Food and Myself”

1. Janina what is being shared here is an appraisal of how we can abuse ourselves in the refutation of what is true. ‘To stuff myself by eating too much, and with heavy food, destroys the lovely connection I am building with myself. It’s a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am’. Many of us are choosing an energy that is constantly encouraging humanity to withdraw from life, this is how it gains control over us so that we stay in this swamp called creation rather than evolving ourselves up and out of the swamp. When we start to rebuild the connection you speak of then we have taken the first step to return to what we should never have left – our soul the one soul = God.

2. All my life food was seen as a celebratory thing, a reward for the hard work we put into the day. It needed to be stimulating in one form or another, and it needed to leave us satisfied. My relationship also developed that in the preparation of food, it was arduous. The preparing, washing, and the spices, all needed to be the right quantity, crucial otherwise we were not considered as good cooks.

   Women were ranked higher if they cooked delicious tasty foods. And when you were the opposite, you were critiqued, with the judgment hitting your stomach.

   Now I’m developing a new relationship with food. It is far from perfect as the inheritance of the Indian culture still pollutes my thoughts of it needing to be a certain way. There are many ways to preparing, washing, and cooking foods. It’s also in the quality we shop in, but also being obedient to what the body is requesting too.

   We have much to learn about food and our relationship with it.

3. You nailed this comment Elizabeth! And it can be further extrapolated to all areas in our life 😉 This is a comment worthy of being a quote and I will have to write it up and stick it on my fridge: “Our relationship with food is a direct reflection of the value, love and respect we have for our body.” Thank you Elizabeth!

4. Interesting how we are very particular about the fuel we put in our car, and would never put the wrong fuel in as we know the consequences are super severe and expensive. But when it comes to our body we are quite ok with fueling ourselves with foods that do not suit or we are ok with over-filling the tank so to speak!

   1. This just goes to show that we take better care of our cars than we do of our bodies. A car is considered a commodity. We research to find the next suitable car. The make, model, colour, costs, financing etc. And yet, we pay less of that attention when it comes to our bodies, unless it breaks.

      Much to consider…

5. Food psychology is certainly a very interesting topic to explore…from a very young age we are more often than not introduced to using food in response to emotions. For example getting a treat when we have achieved something and wanting to celebrate things. Or eating food when we feel depressed or down and the list goes on. I am not aware of animals abusing food in this same way…we are certainly unique in this aspect of things, which really should lead us to ponder more on how and why this happens.

   1. Henrietta I can remember being at school and learning the times table by rote if we managed to get through them all without a mistake, we could walk to the teachers desk and pick a sweet out of their sweet jar. Not only is this a form of bribery but as you say it encourages us to reward ourselves when we have achieved something. We are setup from the get go to be self abusive, so that we don’t get to feel just how amazing we are. Its impossible to feel amazing when we have sugar coursing through our veins which is a well known stimulant and a sure recipe for disconnection.

6. Janina, thank you for your sharing – and what you have shared seems to be a universal experience for us all in terms of turning to food for comfort, for relief, to numb ourselves, to get stimulated etc etc. There are so many ways that we use food that fall outside of the nutrition and nourishment aspect.

7. We pay more attention and respect to what fuel we put into our cars than we do our bodies and one example is white sugar, as in some articles it can be classified as a poison or maybe that is harsh but it does go by the name of white death! and it is now in so many foods as it is the first choice as a preservative, then we also use sugar in so many of the home cooked cakes and deserts to preserve them, we have to question the science that has given us white sugar?

8. Janina you have inspired me to start a new relationship with food, what, when and how I eat, and how I prepare and present the food. I can see there are many changes I can make to bring more Love into everything around food in my life.

9. Our relationship with food is just fascinating. Eating what we know doesn’t support our body, or even when not hungry, or more than we need – how do we explain these kinds of behaviour? These are very common, but hardly rational. Then again, there isn’t THE definitive way of eating by which we should be following. As you say, it is a relationship, and like any kind of relationship, before anything else, it starts with the one with ourselves.

10. ‘ I was convinced that life was too much and that I couldn’t handle it.’ I know this feeling well but more and more I am realising that there is a way and that we are supported so much more than we give credit for.

11. Thank you Elizabeth . This immediately puts me on notice as to how much more considerate and loving towards my body I could be and what a difference this could make in life.

12. Janina this is a beautiful blog to read – I love your realisations about food choices and developing a deeper relationship with yourself –
    “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”

    1. I agree Stephanie when we take the first steps to building a deeper relationship with ourselves, then we allow ourselves to tentatively feel the effects food has on our body. Then we can observe the foods we consume that race our body so that there is no way we can stay in the connection to it. Alcohol is a great example, we all know it has a huge sugar content and when we drink alcohol we immediately shut down any communication our bodies can have with us. We also put a huge strain on the liver and kidneys as they have to deal with the poison we have just drunk. We have all seen those pictures of the liver of someone who consumes a lot of alcohol it is shot to pieces. There is so much research on the subject of food and alcohol we cannot say we are unaware and yet we still abuse ourselves with both? It just doesn’t make sense.

13. A true relationship comes from us listening to our bodies and honouring what the body communicates when we eat certain foods. Not a free for all and just whatever we want as this just comes with a whole lot of numbing and potentially dangerous effects, and a lot of the time harmful ways of eating. Building that relationship with ourselves and food is such an important step for the quality of health and wellbeing.

14. A great point Brendan, the obsession so many have with food has become a ‘normal’ and ‘accepted’ way of living, if we only ate what we needed I am sure we would see less cases of obesity and diabetes.

15. When we build a loving relationship with our body it is far easier to feel when we are abusing it or nurturing it. There are times when I override this and overeat or eat foods that certainly don’t support me in my connection and it feels pretty yuk. I have found it is best not to beat myself up about it but to read into why I did that as it brings a deeper understanding to what lead me to make that choice.

16. It certainly doesn’t make sense Doug, especially as we humans consider ourselves to be very intelligent. To me, caring for our bodies is more about common sense than intelligence, especially if we rely on the intelligence of the mind to guide us. But in absolute contrast if we acknowledge the intelligence of our body then we will be accessing everything we need to know about how to care for ourselves, and connecting to the knowing that our body is fragile and very breakable, if abused in any way.

17. I changed my food choices about 15 years ago, removing gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet, which had amazing effects on my body, but the one thing that I was a lot slower to changes was my relationship with food; why I ate what I ate and why? It took a while to see that at times I was trying to feed my emotions and at others, to cure my tiredness; this was the missing piece of my eating puzzle. Once that puzzle is solved then our relationship with food is a more nurturing one, one that truly supports our beautiful body.

    1. Ingrid, I know that I eat food to dull my awareness of what is happening around me in technic colour vision so if I eat something to dull or race me I am using it as a form of protection to take the edge of what I cannot stop feeling. It’s such a worn out game because no amount of food, drugs or alcohol can dull the sound of the scream of humanity in the disconnection to their soul = God.

18. That’s a great point, we would never ever put diesel in a petrol car, and if we did we’d immediately take it to a garage because we know the harm it would cause – yet we just don’t have the same level of care for our bodies.

19. Our approach to food is a direct reflection as to what is going on in our lives and we cannot address our relationship with food without looking deeply into how we are living, what are we choosing, how we feel about ourselves, our relationships, every little detail counts.

20. There is no doubt that when I allow myself to feel the tension in my body and express it if I feel to, there is not a force or the force is lessened to overeat or eat foods that do not support me. To allow myself to feel what is there to feel in each moment is key and supporting me in my refining, unfolding, relationship with food.

21. The issue of food invites to ask very simple questions: what are we truly feeding? What does food in our life talks to in us? What are really choosing? Hence, what are we not choosing?

22. When we start with the basis that: “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” then every diet book goes out of the window as naturally we will only choose foods which support, nurture and nourish this yummy feeling we have inside. The question then comes how much yumminess can we handle?

23. There is a gnawing hunger that has nothing to do with what we can, cannot or will eat, it goes much deeper than that. It doesn’t go away either, we can only dull it and leave it for another time, day or occasion. It is an emptiness, the missing of oneself disguised as hunger pangs and not ever satisfied unless we learn to reconnect to our essence.

24. It does matter when we overeat, as we can feel it in our bodies. When I just eat the right amount, I still feel light and present in my body, when I overeat, I feel a heaviness, and all my energy going on digesting this. And I sleep longer next day, or to be more exact, I struggle to get up at my usual time.

25. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” I love the truth in this sentence. When we stop numbing ourselves with the comfort foods, our bodies can speak louder and communicate with us what foods truly nourish and the foods that don’t.

26. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” I agree Janina and I have experienced this too. But some days, I find I resist feeling this amazing connection and I tend to sabotage it with food. When I do this, I am learning to observe and learn from my choices instead of beating myself up.

    1. I do this too, I resist feeling this amazing connection and then sabotage it with food. What I am learning when I do this is that I do not appreciate enough….there are many moments of confirmation, which are easy to appreciate, but also working on appreciating that which I take for granted, for example, that God’s breath flows through my body, and all that has been given to me for my learning and growth.

27. ‘I was convinced that life was too much and that I couldn’t handle it.’ How many people will have this same idea and develop eating disorders, use excessive gaming, smoking, drinking alcohol or use drugs to ‘handle’ life. What on earth is happening with humanity?

    1. The part we have trouble handling is the very part that we have created – and in fact it is in our hearts that the way forth is spelled out in simple terms, we just have a bad habit of making complications when we forget to stay connected to our hearts. Then we don’t want to deal with the complications that we have created. Hmmm… something very strange with this game that we play….

28. Awesome blog Janina, I can very much relate to everything you’ve shared. My relationship with food has changed so much in the past 5-6 years and I notice I am less reliant on food as a form of reward or addiction. I used to never miss a meal because I used to overeat to numb myself. Now, I tend to only eat when I am hungry and I am more careful with what I eat. Also I am more aware of what foods makes me feel tired and disconnected which supports me to make wiser food choice. Allowing myself to be honest about how I feel and by being open to be more aware is a great support to feeling more myself and feeling more connected.

29. Slapping food on a plate or hurrying a meal does have an impact to the quality of the food we have eaten. Making time to honour each meal and the company of those present is one of the joys that is often down played during meal time.

30. These days I eat very healthy food but at times overeat. On the occasions that I overeat it is symptom of how I have been during the day and therefore that is what I need to look at rather than try and control my eating. For example I might have allowed myself to get a bit stressed or react to something in the day and then find myself eating a bit much in the night. Better to look back and see what I can learn from the day’s events.

    1. Great sharing Nicola, this is super supportive to read as I sometimes scratch my head when it comes to food cravings and wonder why I would want to eat certain foods or why I have a tendency to over eat on certain days. Some days I only feel like eating one meal because I simply don’t feel hungry but then on other days I could feel like eating every meal plus snack in-between. So, I find it fascinating to observe and learn. Also, I find my relationship with food is very much related to the relationship I have with myself and others.

       1. Yes food is very related to everything that is going on and is more the symptom and not the cause, although eating in a harmful way is a bit chicken and egg as it makes it harder for us to be clear so then you have to wonder which came first.

       2. Of course which came first is always energy. So one question is what did we let in (eat energetically) that led to us eating it in other ways!

    2. Great sharing Nicola because most people will look at reducing their food or changing their food when the extra inches appears on the hips or waistline, but actually, as you point out, it is about looking at how we have been during the day to why the weight piles on. Were we in drive mode, or feeling stressed or that we didn’t fully express to someone, which can leave an after taste of agitation….and then we reach for food for reward and/or to dull. Sleep or rather lack of quality sleep I have also found impacts my food choices – indeed everything counts.

    3. True, our food intake is a mere symptom of something that has happened before; and thus, using willpower is not going to do the job. If anything, it’ll confuse the issue.

       1. I agree and that’s a great point – so often we can willfully stop ourselves eating something only to find ourselevs later stressed out or having an argument – so the question begs is it really the food that is the issue or something else which led us to wanting the food?

31. The relationship we have with food is always changing and evolving, it takes a lot of honesty to review our foods regularly and to feel if they support our connection or dull our connection.

    1. So true Anna, and I find that sometimes I already can feel a food no longer supports me, but I hold onto it a little bit longer, but actually what am I holding onto is comfort – ouch!

32. It’s interesting how so many of us think we deserve a reward for living life, and accept a ‘reward’ even if it may be actually harming us. So, who is rewarding who? I used to think allowing myself to eat and drink whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted was ‘loving myself’ based on the relationship I was having with myself at the time. As we deepen our relationship with ourselves, what we choose for ourselves keeps changing.

33. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” How often do I stop to appreciate the deliciousness that I am? No where near enough. It makes sense that we might seek that feeling from the exquisite taste of some foods and then use foods to get that feel good factor that is missing when we are not connected to ourselves. The feeling is not the same and we know it but we like to live in the illusion that it is so we even use food to induce mind altering experiences – mind altering experiences that last for a while and then leave us and the body worse for wear.

34. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” – such an important reminder and great when it comes to looking at and addressing our food choices. Seeing food as a way to support the body to sustain living love rather than to get something from it starts to change the way we view it. There is also no right or wrong diet rather eating to support support our bodies is key which is a continuing evolutionary process.

    1. I agree James, that there is no wrong or right diet because when we eat in a way that nurtures and nourish our body, every part of us feels amazing and our body will thank us for it too.

       1. I find the moment we subscribe to any diet even a so called ‘healthy’ one and by doing so copy others we are not listening to our body and paying attention to what it needs. For me this is a constant evolutionary and refining process, seeing when I need certain foods and when I do not. It also takes the ‘I can’t’ or ‘shouldn’t eat that’ out of the picture which can be so very destructive.

35. We all know that the physicality of our body requires food to fuel it but the nourishment we get from taking care of ourselves in the way that we sleep, move throughout our day and love and interact with each other is also a source of nourishment and sustenance for us.

36. Yummy food defiantly can become a distraction, especially when the under-lying issue was smoking and food becomes a replacement for the emptiness in our body.

37. Cooking a yummy food is something in itself. Yet, it is different when it is the only yummy thing in town, compared when you feel yummy too. In the latter case, it confirms and feeds the quality you are in.

38. ‘And, even though over the last 6 years I have changed to a mostly carbohydrate, dairy, sugar, alcohol and caffeine-free diet, I still did not change my relationship with food’. This is gold because I can relate. I have made all the same changes as you Janine but just realised in reading the above that I too have not changed my relationship with food. Feels time to revisit and explore what is my relationship with food?

39. I had not made the connection between stuffing ourselves with food and eating the wrong foods with commitment to life and the ‘giving up’ energy…. currently I am focusing on deepening my commitment to life.

    1. This is very interesting what you’ve shared. I notice it is how we feel that often affects how we choose to eat. Is it possible that when we have an issue with certain foods, like an addiction of some sort, the issues aren’t necessarily just about food, they could to be related to things in our life?

40. I have an old time habit of eating my food to quickly, and have been aware of it for some time, yet still I continue…. not all the time but still too much. Key for me is being consciously present during eating because my body is too sensitive and delicate to be abusing it this way, and actually abuse feels true. Time to re-imprint this to honour my wise and intelligent body.

41. It is so interesting what we think that self-abuse is and we come to find that it can be in the smallest details in those areas where you would have not sought it, yet found it as you increase your awareness of the quality of your connection. Forget the right or wrong ways, as they only block us from truly seeing what is there, what is ready for us to change and how dear love is to us. No longer will we allow (self)abuse in our lives and world when we get stronger and stronger..

42. This blog is so relative to any time I use food to numb myself . . . no matter how little I eat during the day . . . even if I do not eat . . . when I do have a meal in the evening I can still overeat and use the very best of foods to numb myself. It just goes to show everything is about the energy you do anything in.

43. This sharing is so relatable. If I look at my diet – it has changed massively, but how I use food has not. Ie I still overeat or try and eat not great stuff when I am feeling not great. So certainly I am on the same journey of developing a relationship with food that is truly loving and supportive.

44. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” A simple and powerful awareness of your own inner beauty and preciousness.

    1. Yes this is so true when we make life about eating to support how we feel rather than numbing.

45. The preparation of food has been something I have been observing lately and it is the care and attention to detail of how I cut and place my food on a plate and or container that brings a real smile to my day. So it is not only the food we choose to nourish ourselves with but also how we prepare the food and in what quality we are in when eating and or preparing. So very cool thank you Janina.

46. Our relationship with food begins very early in life, often from very young. How many of us were told we had to eat everything on our plates, that the food we hated was actually good for us, and that you can’t have dessert unless you eat your vegetables …and many more scenarios. Children have a natural knowing what is nourishing for their bodies and when food doesn’t agree with them, so why as adults do we think we know better, don’t listen and make them eat it?

47. This offers a very true perspective on food and how we can use it, further to that, how what we eat certainly does affect everyone. We, therefore, have an opportunity to be with food in a very different way and to not use and abuse it to not feel. But the key is appreciating ourselves to a point where we would not even consider putting in anything to our bodies that dulls it, because the body feels so amazing and content.

    1. My body does feel amazing and very light…. yet I still use food to dull myself down, it feels to me some deeply ingrained habits take time as we adjust to a new way of being and of allowing ourselves to express all that we are without holding back an inch. I guess I am still holding back!

48. In developing a loving relationship with our bodies we develop a relationship with truth, for our bodies will always reflect the truth of our choices. It is a great point you share here Janina, as even if we are eating foods that are knowingly more supportive for our bodies, we can still abuse, numb and dull ourselves depending on our intention of eating. As behind everything there is an energy first, and our bodies will always reflect the quality of energy that is moving us.

49. Having the commitment to constantly fine-tune our relationship with food is the best support that we can offer our bodies to be a vessel for the volume that is needed in line with our own evolution.

    1. Nailed it Francisco, it feels very self-loving to continually and regularly do a stock take on what we are eating to get clarity if the food we are buying and eating still supports where we are now and in our evolution.

    2. Very inspiring Francisco, I love what you’ve share. It is a beautiful reminder for us to take responsibility for our choices and for our relationship with food, with people and with life, because everything matters as it affects our evolution and also affects the evolution of humanity.

50. As my relationship with myself has deepened so too do my food choices lighten. It is difficult to feel lightness and clarity in the body when the food ingested is heavy and dense. Like closing a curtain on the bright and shining sun.

    1. As I am writing the sun is just rising and shining directly on me as if to confirm your comment. I have let some heavier food into my diet recently and I know it is not supporting me. I also know that I am resisting deepening my true relationship with myself despite my intentions so thank you for the inspiration.

       1. And right on cue the sun literally just shone through my bedroom shutters. A loving confirmation. I love the way nature reflects 🙂

51. Thank you Janina. I loved reading this and your words find me at a time where I am very aware that I need to change my relationship with food. It can be a heavy subject but you bring a lightness and a joy to it that is contagious.

52. I started “a new relationship with food” quite a few years ago and with the changes in my body and my health being so incredible I felt like I was starting life all over again. Gone were the days of feeling continuously miserable and exhausted, with one body issue after another, to be replaced with a feeling of lightness in my body, a steady increase in my vitality and a big increase in my energy for daily living. Food had finally became my friend and not my enemy.

53. It is always revealing to look at not the food ‘issue’ as such but what comes before we make the choice to eat.

    1. Great point Victoria. Whenever I focus on food as my issue I know I am off track as it has never really been about food. My diet at the moment is not supportive but instead of focussing on what I eat I know I need to focus on the way I move and the way I react or respond to the world around me.

54. The body is very clear in its messages when it comes to food, what sits well and what doesn’t, puffy eyes, bloated stomach, allergies, heart palpitations, dizzy heads and the list goes on. A body that is well cared for and listened to responds in kind.

55. I have found that when I don’t listen to my body and eat foods that don’t support it, my body is very quick in giving me a message either I get stomach ache or a mouth ulcer or I genuinely start to feel unwell and tired.

56. It brings a deep honor to our body – what it is meant for and how we can treat it from our mind or our heart.. And so we are forever reminded/signalled by our body how to treat it and how it feels treated. Hence the greatest intelligence is our body – and we can turn that back on by living accordingly.

57. This is so common with people, and a pattern I used to indulge in, and still have to watch that it does not try to creep back in at times, ‘To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply.’

58. Its those times of the day usually at the end or close to the end of my working day that I do not want to feel. The pain becomes too much that food is the vice I use to numb it. The pain is me not taking a moment to stop and deeply honour and call out what is not working in the way I’m living in that moment before that lead to that pain. The moment I honour my truth and be honest about how I feel is my own way of nourishing my body.

59. I’ve been gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol-free for a decade and what a difference that has made! But there’s more to unravel as today, I’m discovering my relationship with food now is all about my relationship with awareness. If I don’t want to feel, I use food to dull me down. Now it’s about looking at the details, and quantities, and what it is I’m not wanting to feel.

    1. It is interesting as this awareness and relationship with our body is not the norm when it comes to food. Over the decades food has become more a comfort and enticement and waistlines are showing the result of this. Having a relationship with our bodies does refine our awareness and starts to alter what we choose to eat. This is my experience, and when I honour that my body loves it.

60. It is always our choice whether to eat to numb ourselves or to eat to stay aware and in connection to ourselves. If we eat too much or heavy food, or even sugary or salty food, we lose our connection to our body and it then becomes easier to override what our body is communicating to us and even be disregarding with our body, and the quality and energy in our body from indulging in the above foods does not feel lovely at all.

61. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” So very true and what a great realisation to get to. Food can have such a dramatic effect on the way we are feeling and can perpetuate how we are feeling. Sorting ones diet and food choices out can go along way to claiming our body back for the love that it is.

62. We can either eat to feel or eat not to feel. Thus, it is not so much that we are having a relationship with food as we are having a relationship with awareness, or lack of it. Every morsel of food we eat, depending on what kind and how much (and it is different for everyone with no set rules in place) can either support us to deepen in our clarity or, bludgeon our senses so we remain numb to life and the truth of all things.

63. If anyone had told me a few years ago that it was possible to have another, more loving relationship with food, I would have probably been incredulous and then continued on with my very destructive relationship with what I ate and drank. Thankfully those self-destructive days have gone to be replaced with an evolving relationship with food that is in the main very respectful of my body and my body thanks me for it every day.

64. ‘To stuff myself by eating too much, and with heavy food, destroys the lovely connection I am building with myself.’ I too am realising the same Janina.

65. I realise sometimes I sabotage how amazing I feel by eating to dull down my joy. It relates back to an old habit of mine which stems from childhood hurts. I often experienced being joyful as a child and then feeling crushed by people putting me down or abusing me. Now I don’t experience any abuse from people around me but the thoughts that it’s not safe to be joyful sometimes creep in. It sounds crazy but it makes sense to me why I would sabotage feeling joyful because I still haven’t fully let go of fear. Fear of being attacked, fear of my own power and whenever I feel this way it is a choice to dull down being joyful. Being aware that I use food or create issues to avoid being joyful is a great start to make some different choices, more love choices and by choosing to let go of fear.

66. What I am noticing lately is that even when I have been eating well, if I don’t stop to feel and choose what food would support me at each moment, even a ‘good’ diet becomes just a formula that has no love or truth in and my body tells me so. It is a relationship that I have to be working on constantly.

67. Last night I went to a restaurant where they serve the most amazing gluten free bread. In the past, I have gone straight for it. Last night it didn’t appeal to me. I observed this, no judgement – just an observation in my body – and I could feel the lightness in my body and I knew that for a few seconds of a nice taste, that bread would make me feel heavy, disturb my sleep and then some. So what I realised from this is that I don’t have a food issue, I was just choosing in the past to not sit with and appreciate the lightness I felt in my body.

68. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”

    I love this quote and it’s a perfect reminder and marker. At the moment I can say when I do not feel this deliciousness in me in my body then that is when the four issues can come in. So it’s about me keeping my body in the movements that support me to be in my fullness and allow the true energy to be through my body.

    1. This is a great quote because it is so true. I realise if I am moving already disconnected, the energy I am in drives me to make unloving choices, so learning to strip everything back and keep checking in with myself what energy I am choosing, pranic or firery energy? Then the choices that follows would be aligned to the energy I choose. Being aware of my relationship with food it great but also important to be aware of my relationship with myself and my choice of energy. If I choose a firery energy this will naturally support my food choices.

69. ‘To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply.’ Well said Janina if humanity listened to this wisdom and lived it I am sure diabetes 2 and the obesity levels would not be as high as they currently are.

    1. Hear hear – it’s simple. It is quite crazy that we actually have self inflicted illnesses happening in our bodies.

70. I am joining you in that relationship! How I prepare food, how I eat it, going back further and looking at how I shop and what I buy – from today it all changes to lay a foundation for a more consistent approach. It feels a little like groundhog day, but that is what I love about my body and the larger body of God or Love I am held in, it hasn’t given up on me and neither should I. I will go round and round this sun till I learn how to let go of all the patterns of behaviour that take me away from being all that I am here to be.

71. Food is one of our biggest traps to our wellbeing. There are many layers of beliefs with foods. One of mine was “a little bit of everything won’t hurt” and so it was a little bit of everything I had. My body as a result became over weight and bloated, I looked dull and not full of life. So I too started doing some of my own experiments with food that showed me that my body felt lighter with more vitality without certain foods. If I had them again my body would respond immediately and I could feel the effects of them really clearly, confirming that a) I didn’t deed them but also B) that effect was not an enjoyable feeling either. I would not have got to that understanding if I hadn’t have clearly felt that in my body.

72. When we begin to really listen to our bodies, there is a level of self honouring that goes hand in hand with it. We feel more deeply connected, so we then feel good about ourselves and invariably make more loving food choices.

    1. This is key. To be with our fuller selves then we keep making choices that continue to nourish us. There is no greater nourishment for the body than being with and living with our Soul.

73. The relationship we have with ourselves, will govern the relationship we have with food. The more we know, understand and appreciate about ourselves the less need we have of food and the more we make nourishing food choices.

74. Sure Janina, there is another way of being, a way that is in appreciation of the preciousness and delicateness our bodies are. Therefore choosing to become more aware of what life is doing to us and in understanding that we have created mechanisms for not having to feel the impact of how we conduct life in our bodies, by eating foods that numb the body we can change our way of living and stop to numb the body and with that allow ourselves to reconnect with the reality of life again.

75. Beautiful, it is the way we do things; in this matter about eating foods. The poweful aspect of it is that once we use our intelligence of our body : so the signals and responding to for example certain foods, and we trust that and follow those signs, we are actually better of healthwise than ignoring and listening to our heads. Thinking we think we are clever whilst actually we are not! Ha, what a bummer! But one of truth is always stronger. Hence our body is stronger than our mind when it comes down to showing us the truth.

76. Janina I like what you share about having a true relationship with food in the way we deal with it, prepare it and eat it, this is something I have began to become aware of. I just use to eat because I had to for energy, but the way I was preparing or having it prepared was not in the supporting energy, so no matter how nutritious the meal was, it was still leaving me low in vitality and energy.

77. We can cut certain foods out, eat a certain way and tick many boxes but until we look at our relationship with food we may still have food “issues”.

78. Thank you Janina, there is no food in the world that can compare to the yumminess of feeling who we truly are and it is only through appreciation of ourselves that we can never accept anything else which can make us feel less than that.

79. Realising that food may not be the issue but the after effect of something more subtle can allow a lot of space to understand what is behind the want and desire for certain foods.

80. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me”. This is a sign that needs to be on every fridge; I would certainly love one on mine. What you have written here is so true, but sadly not yet understood by many, as food has become a way to numb the stresses and strains of the world, burying the wonderful beings that we are under an avalanche of products that our bodies simply cannot cope with. I found that by building a new relationship with me naturally lead to a new relationship with food and my body thanks me every day.

81. By eating foods that don’t agree with our bodies we turn our back on developing and/or deepening a relationship with the love that we are. Thank you for this reminder Janina.

82. It is a great revelation you share Janina – that the food we eat for comfort, relief or reward is only perpetuating the need to eat the food we think will give us comfort, relief or reward. But in fact it is this choice of food that is actually hindering our sense of clarity to know and feel the truth of what is truly needed in honor of our bodies. Instead we are adding to our exhaustion, unease in the body, and to us feeling un-well therefore needing relief or an escape. You have highlighted the power that comes when we choose to discern the energy of what we are eating and why we are choosing it. For food may seem appealing to our taste buds, but the result is far from appealing in our bodies, if we are choosing foods without being aware of what we are craving and why.

83. It is through our commitment to connecting with our bodies that we get to know our quality within, and the more we choose, appreciate and accept this the more we will realise there can be no food in the world that can compromise this gem within us all.

84. When it comes to food choices, discipline never worked for me. What is effective is asking myself why I want to eat a certain thing and realising that it’s not about the food but that Ii’m choosing it instead of expressing how I feel about something – to myself or another.

85. Making choices to listen to our body is so key and also what you point out “It’s a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am.” This is so true, I have found this to be the case for myself. When I over eat, it does stop me from feeling my tenderness and it does stop me from being in my awareness.

86. I love the concept of choosing to treat our bodies with love, preciousness and respect by committing to being aware of and listening to what will truly nourish it… rather than the harm that can be caused by just feeding it whatever we fancy. The rewards of this kind of relationship as you have shared, are profound and a testament to making loving and supportive choices around food.

87. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” I will endeavour to remember to say this to my spirit every time it presents me with any tempting foods (which is quite regularly).

88. I agree with you 100% Janina “I feel this is super-important to say all of this, as it is normal for us to abuse ourselves with drink or food. Most people do it.” Despite knowing this I still haven’t mastered it but will continue to build my awareness and relationship with myself and it will only be a matter of time.

89. Thanks Janina for the lovely invitation to consider our bodies as part of the choices when we are feeling something from our day that food or drink may distract us from. Choosing us over a consumable item is a far more honnouring and a long term supportive choice rather than the very instant/temporary relief that leaves a dull – possibly hung-over residual

90. We have learnt to use food as a way to sabotage our own divinity and connection to God, once we start to develop a foundation of appreciation and value in our bodies it becomes easier to be honest with our relationship with food and make changes accordingly.

    1. So true Francisco. We have learnt to use food as a way to escape the unease we feel, the unease of not living in connection to our Soul. When we begin to develop a loving relationship with our bodies we then come to know that honoring our truth is honoring our bodies with love, and anything less that this is simply an abusive choice which does not support us to deepen our connection to love, to our Soul and with God.

91. I love how the more you listen to your body the more you hear; the messages become much easier to read so you are less likely to ignore them. As a result of years of ignoring the continual stream of messages that my body was giving me about the food I was eating, I finally listened and it was so worth it. Removing gluten, dairy, sugar and a few other things from my diet has given me a whole new lease on life, with lots more energy, way less weight and a hugely improved quality of living.

92. In my experience the mind will nearly always advocate for more food and at all and every occasion – once we learn to listen to the body, the message changes completely.

    1. I have experienced this many times, the mind’s answer for ‘more food’ never really addressing the life before us (as the tension comes back or never truly goes away) but the body’s messages to life does make more sense and often isn’t just about eating something. We are more than the act of eating.

93. I love how you bring us all to a very deep level of personal responsibility here.

94. “Now, I can start to treat my body with love, preciousness and respect.” what a lovely line to complete on. We all have choices when it comes to our food and body. A lot of the time we let go of feeling the body, but allow ourselves to go with what our mind wants, but when we make loving choices, our body feels it and very much appreciates it too.

95. Janina, eating my way out of tiredness never works and yet I keep trying to do it!

96. If we are not aware – we do not have to feel what is there and so we do not have to take responsibility for how we feel. Therefore the best thing to do is to numb our ability to be aware with food and most of us are specialists in that. We know exactly what and how much we have to eat to numb this awareness in each situation!

97. Our relationship with food is not separate from the relationship with everything else in our lives. Therefore before we have a problem with food we have another area in our lives where truth is not being lived. When we are living all we are then our bodies will choose foods to nourish over foods that can alter our state of being.

98. “I can start to treat my body with love, preciousness and respect.” When we are truly connected and feel the beauty of who we truly are, why would we want to numb that with food that doesn’t support us? I also know the self-sabotage (and eat foods that no longer support me) after feeling so yummy – time to put an end to that one.

99. The thing is that it does matter – because the depth of our awareness is affected by how much we eat, and that awareness is so super important to everything that we do.

100. Well said Janina, “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”. So many of us, (I would have to say all of us) have used food to not feel what is going on for us or to avoid feeling a hurt or pain of some sort. It is amazing how when something happens that I do not like how much auto-pilot kicks in wanting some sort of food/snack. Yet when I do not give into the desire to not feel what has happened the situation becomes much clearer and I get to understand and resolve it rather then it stay lingering with me. Sure food can stop the immediacy of the feeling but it only stops it coming up for a while and then when it comes back up it feels even worse.

101. I feel what you have written here is super-important, Janina, and know for myself the truth of what you share. However I have also taken it to the extreme that I have given myself a really hard time over eating something that I know doesn’t support me to build that lovely connection with myself, or when I’ve overeaten for comfort, or to not feel something or for whatever reason. This behaviour too does not support connection with ourselves. Any ‘shoulds’ or expectations we have of ourselves are instantly a disconnection from our loveliness.

102. There is a different way to be with food, and yet it is as if its tendrils are wrapped around our psyche deep inside, and it takes such vigilance and awareness and indeed a willingness to feel what we had given over to inside of us to even start to address this particular addiction.

103. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” Thank you Janina for this tasty reminder that feeling the loveliness of who we are is so much more fulfilling than food.

104. I can so relate to eating to relieve tension and as a reward. But my body tells me loud and clear when what and how much I’m eating is not truly nourishing for me.

105. Thank you Janina for bringing awareness to the relationship we can have with food. To see it as a relationship is already a great start and to see it as a relationship that we can determine how it is going to be, that we are the key factor in it, is even grander. It is so easy to make it about food, what to eat and what not, how much or how little, which diet to follow, when to eat, how often, the list can go on, but what you present here, how you feel and how you are with and in your body, is the missing link that we often do not consider. Working on the connection we have with our body can answer us many questions.

106. ‘There is no joy in doing that, even if the food tastes nice. The energy does not feel nice in the body, either during or after eating.’ I agree completely Janina. There is no joy in over indulging, yet at the time it can appear that there is an excitement or stimulation with eating certain foods, especially if they are a treat! But do the treats, rewards or stimulation ever last long? No. It is not sustainable and ultimately does not confirm who we are within, the Love we are from or the connection we hold to everything around us.

107. The over indulgence of food is completely normal and we even have events that champion how many hot dogs one can shove in their mouth within a certain time frame. Yet, this is a normal thing! This may sound radicle, but image if that was happening with drug taking or other known harmful substances, would we be championing that too or be a little more quick to say ‘something is very wrong with this picture’…? We can use food to really harm ourselves, and like Janina, a global reassessment needs to happen where our relationship with food is explored – but it starts with ourselves first.

108. It is very interesting how much we can abuse ourselves with food whilst we are under the perception that we are rewarding ourselves.

109. Janina, food is for me also something I’ve used like a drug when I don’t want to feel what is going on in and around me. I could feel very strongly when you said ‘It’s a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am’ that this is what we do when we dishonour the body, and the more I’m listening to my body the more I’m finding those places where I still do so, so it’s a constant refining without any perfection. and reading this now I’m reminded that each time I over ride my body it tells me loud and clear that this is not working.

110. I am realising now how much over-eating or eating what doesn’t feel true for my body can drop the quality of my connection, also how when there is something that I don’t want to feel, how food is something that can be used to dull, numb or take me out of my presence.

111. As I sit here feeling rather bloated having just overeaten I am left asking myself the question “Do I care enough to listen to my body and not overeat simply because I want comfort, dulling, reward etc.?” Clearly tonight the answer is ‘no’, which is pretty hard to feel. But what I do feel from this being exposed is that i do not want to continue not caring because I am in truth a deeply caring person, but this care has to be for myself before it can be for any other and this starts with listening to my body and not overriding anything – particularly how much and what I feel to eat.

112. Thank you Janina, I love the simplicity of what you share here and see that it offers a potential for us all to reassess the when the why and the how we eat and prepare our food

113. Janina you have presented many great aspects on this subject of food and our relationship with it. I can follow in your steps completely and am deepening my relationship with food. It can be our medicine or poison depending on the intent of why we are eating it. To nourish our beautiful respectful bodies or dull, numb.and abuse with disregard to our bodies.

114. My personal relationship with food has changed enormously over the years, and our food intake needs to adjust accordingly to the changes we make in our lives for when I don’t my body speaks loud and clear letting me know I have gone too far.

115. Food never destroys the connection we have with ourselves, it just dulls it just like it dulls our awareness of the ugliness of the situations around us that we do not want to feel. Sensitivity and vulnerability are definitely super important in allowing us to remain steady with feeling everything and not choosing to abuse our bodies using food in this way

116. The message you have conveyed in this blog Janina is so important, that being, to treat your body with love, preciousness and respect. If this is our foundation we will not abuse our bodies with food but listen deeply to what is required. For me food can still be an indication that I am not honouring or listening to my body.
     Your blog is a timely reminder thank you.

117. The use of food as a reward is a big deal – it’s like an epidemic amongst man really. What other species does such a thing, expect of course dogs and other domestic pets that have picked up on our habits..? Why do we need the reward? Is our life that flat and miserable that we look for excitement in a meal? I know if I’ve had a disconnected day at work, I certainly look forward to a good dinner to fix things, which is really harmful and already a set up for abuse (to over eat). Food will never connect me back to myself, that is why we breath, my breath and movements and understanding will allow connection.

118. A new relationship with food, I love this and feel really inspired to go deeper with the invitation. Even though the food I eat is not classed as ‘bad’ food, I can still over eat . I can see pretty clearly that for me, what the food is doesn’t matter as much now but the way I eat and why I want to eat is what affects my connection within. Of course, if I was to eat a donut I would most probably get much more sick then I would eating a gluten free pasta – but why I am eating those foods is the focus now. Too long I’ve played the puppet to my thoughts and just gone for whatever I’ve felt like. Now I am taking the lead and having a say in what I put in my mouth.

119. We usually aren’t taught to understand that food is not meant to be a reward. It is common to see right from the early years that parents give their children sweets etc as a reward for doing something that pleases the adult. What a trap! As the years progress it’s no wonder that food becomes associated with reward, pleasure and a way of not facing up to things. Great sharing Janina and it’s obvious from the comments that there are many of us who can relate to what you have written.

120. We are told when we are young to eat everything on our plate, whether we feel to or not, and if we do we are allowed to play or watch TV. Could this be where we start stuffing down food as a reward or because of the reward that will come next? Also I remember, as I’m sure many would, saying that I had two stomachs, even if I was full, one for dinner and one for desert. The awful feeling of being bilious means that the whole moment is then made about food and not about connection with ourselves or others around. Staying connected with ourselves and each other than allows us to make wise decisions from our bodies of what food to eat.

121. Very appropriate today that I have read your sharing with us Janina. Its taken some while (how many lifetimes?) to finally get to the point of really feeling and listening to my body. It is so clear in giving the signals to what foods harm and what foods heal/nourish. Those many mind numbing ‘tricks’ that are given a free way to manipulate those inbuilt signals can be a ‘mind field’ and, only yesterday the full force of those tricks became so apparent with the help of another student as we were sharing our food habits. Your blog sums this up so well/clearly. “Its a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am”. Interestingly when this happens my whole being is affected and this in turns affects all my choices thereafter and my relationship with others. I do feel a corner has been turned and these highly tuned up bodies are so wise – now to listen, constantly having an awareness when wisdom is given for free.

122. Brilliant to re-read your blog Janina at a time when I am discovering even more the effects of the choices I am making around food. When you consider the reason why you are eating and actually stop to feel if what your mind ‘wants’ is actually true often you can track back to a feeling such as overwhelm or exhaustion. When we stop and actually feel this it becomes evident that food is being used to not feel and to some extent mask the truth of what is really going on. It is something I am beginning to notice and be aware of and I feel it is going to allow me to truly feel how it is I am actually eating.

123. If we do not live in a way that is open to connect to other people, communicate how we feel and also if something does not feel right, listen to our body and honor and appreciate who we are than we need things to make up for not feeling in harmony with ourselves and life. Food is a welcome way of filling, rewarding and distracting us.

124. A great message here about how over-eating causes a heaviness, lethargy and disinclination to deal with with what is really going on in our lives and what we’re using food to mask. There’s a world of difference in how I feel in and about my body when I honour not just what it wants to eat but also when and how much. For me, less is definitely becoming more – more vitality, more energy and more resilience.

     1. Yesterday at work I was eating in the morning already too much because I did want to deal with what is going on and how I felt. So at lunch time I nominated what was going on which helped me not simply run and eat my lunch even though I wasn’t hungry just to fill myself up. So I did not have lunch instead lay down, rested and felt very supported, present and powerful.

125. The other day i did not have breakfast. What i observed is that i was able to feel how tender and delicate i am and was able to let myself be seen in that quality. In eating more than needed we dull our level of sensitivity.

     1. Absolutely beautiful Janina. Lately I am seeing that I have used almost everything I have ever eaten to dull myself. I have started eating food that my body truly wants and it is a huge adjustment as the ‘hook’ of the food that dulls me is what I have equated with enjoyment. Your blog allows me to feel that true enjoyment is being connected to myself.

        1. The body actually doesn’t need much food at all. We often eat not because we are hungry but because we want to eat or think we have to eat something. So there are still a lot ideals and beliefs and images around the subject of food we need to nominate and look at.

126. Definite yes to treating ‘my body with love, preciousness and respect’. Getting honest about the ways that I abuse my body with food has been a slow process but the more I build my appreciation for me the less need I have to fill the emptiness of missing me with overeating. Love how you expose that it is the energy we are in way before we put the food in our mouth that dictates our food choices and building this awareness supports us to feel what is true for us in each instance.

127. Thank you Janina for this awesome blog. Our relationship with food is a important topic to discuss as it is something I realise not many people are willing to look at. I was one to overeat too a few years ago and not realising it was a form of abuse. Is it possible that we are slowly killing our body with food? Not just by overeating but with our food choices. When we eat for comfort the types of food we choose are often loaded with sugar, salt and fat. What we put into our body affects how it functions and the type of energy we allow in to run us causes us to disconnect from ourselves and from others.

128. How often are we actually eating because we are hungry? How much food do we really need? How often are we eating because we don’t want to feel what is actually going on. How often are we eating because we are exhausted and need stimulation? How often are we eating because we feel disconnected from ourselves?
     Is it possible that once we build a deeper connection with ourselves that food/drink loses the importance it has for many people? That we start eating in a way that support this connection.

129. Thankyou Michelle for the reminder that to feel deeply in our bodies what is really going on is the key to understanding our relationship with food. I can really relate to what you are saying as I too have a very intimate relationship with the nut jar!

130. Thanks Janine, this topic about food and overeating is something that is something that i’m becoming very aware of at the moment. I feel that the over eating for me is a dulling down, a creating of a feeling of numbness so i’m not aware of how i’m feeling.

131. It is essential for me to realise that allowing myself to be irresponsible with food and therefore abusive to my body is allowing an energy that is not love, to rule my body. Thank you Janina for pointing this out. This is not something to beat myself up with, but something to be strongly aware of so that I can change a pattern.

132. The other day after a Sacred Movement Dance class, with Karin Becker from Australia, I felt so deeply connected within my body, that day my connection was so strong that food was of no interest and i did not each much at all.

     1. I know this feeling Janina, being filled from the inside out is so nourishing.

133. Exactly Linda, and as soon I have allowed the unloving energy in, I want more of the food that is destroying the loving connection with myself and with others.

134. It is rediculous sometimes when I eat too much, even if it is healthy food, it does destroy the lovely connection that I know that I am. You are right Janina; that moment I am letting a unloving energy rule my life.

135. Thank you Janina for such an awesome blog. This is perfect timing for me to read this as I have a strong feeling to change my relationship with food and to eat to support me not to dull me and exhaust me. Even though my diet can be very healthy I can see there are still areas I need to look at with the amounts I am eating or eating when I am not hungry – a constant learning and refining worth committing to.

     1. I agree Anna our relationship with food is a “constant learning” to become more aware, more honest and to listen to our body. And even I eat much less and have reduced my diet to very healthy food I still choose to eat in a way to stimulate my nervous system and therefore I feel less of me. With the underlying belief that the world would be too much to feel when I am not filled with a certain amount of food. But really it shows that I am still reacting to a lot of things around me instead of observing and holding myself steady.

136. Driving on my way home from work i was wondering How much food do i really need to eat every day. How much is my way of eating still determined by ideas about how much, how often i should be eating and the pleasure of wanting to eat or the need to dull, numb not to feel myself and what is going on.

137. “I also still have cravings and sometimes fall back with certains foods. This has nothing to do with the foods, but with me, my connection and my own relationship.” Exactly Mariette! So if we struggle with food it is not about discipline but focus back on our connection and relationship to ourselves. If we build a stronger loving foundation with ourselves it supports us to build a loving relationship with food.

     1. ‘If we build a stronger loving foundation with ourselves it supports us to build a loving relationship with food.’ Absolutely Janina it’s about committing to our connection with ourselves and that is then reflected in our relationship with food.

138. I can relate to changing your diet and not eating certain foods any more. But like you, I have reached a point where it is no longer about what I do eat or don’t, but to truly establish a loving relationship with food. I also still have cravings and sometimes fall backs with certains foods. This has nothing to do with the foods, but with me, my connection and my own relationship. Learning every day!

     1. Yes the issue is never really with the food, what comes before we make the choice to eat this or that is our relationship with ourselves, what we are willing or not to feel. If we are tired do we go for the coffee and sugar, if feeling an upset do we go for a comfort food, if we are bored do we go for stimulation? Quite a science the way we can use food, and it seems it is getting more ‘creative’ by the day.

139. At the end you say, Janina, it also has to do with the way we eat and that is something I am focussing on. When I eat on my own I have noticed that I seek distraction while I am eating, for instance listening to an audio , going through the post, or texting someone – you get the picture? So I make myself a lovely meal and then it is as if I say to myself, ‘you are not worth this meal and the time it takes to eat it.’ I understood (clocked) this the other day (with the support of a lovely friend). Now I sit down to eat, connect to me and my worth and enjoy me and my food. That feels like an important work in progress for me.

     1. It’s super interesting how we do things differently when other people are involved, I notice that in myself all the time, and find it super easy to distract myself when alone, but as an amazing friend pointed out to me this morning, you are actually never alone, and there are no moments that do not count.

        1. I really felt this strongly this morning Meg, that I have a responsibility to everyone in every moment. ( even when I am alone) It doesn’t feel like a burden or something too big to handle, it is just a simple fact. When I simply honour this fact I honour myself and in turn my body and my desire to fill myself up with food, or to seek tastiness, has no sway.

     2. And when you eat and honour yourself it is nourishing your body from the inside out.

        1. Yes true nourishment for the whole body.

140. Funny Janina, like you I have refined what I eat but still get those cravings but this time its for nuts, nuts and nuts! However, the major benefit of changing my diet is that I can feel the difference more quickly. No longer is there no association, on the contrary it is finely tuned and my body tells me very quickly when I’m doing something it does not agree with.

141. Janina,
     It is timely that I find myself reading your blog this evening. I have just today had the understanding that it is time to deepen my relationship with food and your blog flags all of the reasons as to why I have been putting off truly claiming this. Thank you.

142. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” I love this simple and profound truth, on this planet we are all crazy about food – it’s all about stimulation, taste and comfort – we eat things that are so unnatural because they taste good, and forget that food is primarily there for our nourishment and nutrition.

     1. Totally agree Meg – we’re all focussed on the taste, and ignore the much more fundamental role food has to play in our stomach, intestines, blood, health, nutrition etc. etc. There is so much more going on than taste alone, yet we override that for a brief bit of stimulation.

        1. I know! It’s crazy just how obsessed we are with the taste and sensation of food, it really shows just how wayward we are that we put pleasure before our health.

        2. Yes so true Simon, for that brief moment of stimulation we actually suffer for much longer afterwards from feeling tired, bloated, headaches and even feeling sick. Often my mind conjures up these amazing taste sensations to entice me to eat foods that are not supportive for my body but when I listen to my body it will always lovingly guide me to eat to nourish not for comfort.

143. Our bodies love simplicity. When we consume a meal that is rich, heavy and indulgent it may give you the sensation that you are being rewarded and indulged – but what is the consequence on our body? It makes sense to me that if you fill your body with poor quality empty calories, your metabolism must correspondingly struggle with breaking down the abundant and variety of substances laden in that meal. This leaves your body feeling a heavy sluggish sensation as it works hard to digest that meal. And if that is what happens with one meal, we must also consider how challenging it is for the human body to be constantly inundated with an actual entire ‘diet’ that is rich, heavy and indulgent – so meal after meal the bodies metabolism is constantly being overwhelmed and challenged, and the bodies systems is constantly being overtaxed. With societies current escalating health statistics and rates of obesity maybe we need to consider that our actual diet is a major contributing factor to feeding these statistics (among other variables) and our bodies nutritional requirements is actually simpler that what we think we need. As you say Janina, it would be wise for us all to start a new relationship with food.

     1. Great comment Suse, thank you for sharing here just how much it taxes our bodies when we eat foods that are heavy, rich and complex. This is something that we all as a humanity need to begin to see and to understand. Thank you

        1. It is a strategy i know very well from myself to overeat or to eat food that makes you feel heavy., like eating a whole pizza or lots of pasta (which i did for many years) . The body is only busy dealing with the food and less focus on what is going on and how you feel, really a way to distract from what is truly going on.

144. I caved in for the desire for food yesterday to relieve the tension I was feeling and I didn’t sleep well last night. I was wired, feeling sick and didn’t deeply rest then woke up feeling tired still. My body is showing, this isn’t the way to go.

     1. I can totally relate – when I eat to relieve tension, or to stop myself feeling something I feel so sick afterwards. Our bodies are so quick to tell us the truth!

     2. So honest Kristy, this helps us make wiser choices when we become aware of the ill affects of our previous choices.

145. Wow Janina this blog and all the sharings are amazing. I can relate to many of these. I often still eat food when I am feeling tired or nervous and overeating or conscious presence during eating is really something I choose to take more care of now as I know there is another way.

146. Yes Janina, I had certainly carried the idea and loved to have this idea : that taking care of yourself is choosing to eat whatever you like, even if this was in the expense of how my body felt after.. I mean from saying this now, I can feel the disgrace, that I was before never aware of feeling (I did not want to feel). You are spot on with this blog, your truth is true and this captures for me the fact that I am still eating away, more then my body asks for and instead following the tempting mind (who seemingly does not care a lot about the consequences for the body). It is time to take some action, and notice what feels really supportive of our body when we eat it, at least I will bring more focus to this and commitment. Truth is love and love is taking care of your body all of the time:)

     1. Spot on Danna, the mind does not care about the body at all. And the body has to suffer the consequences until we make wiser choices.

        1. Yes, this is so true. I have experienced this, my mind doesn’t care how my body feels as long as I follow its enticing images of how amazing something is going to taste.

        2. So true Danna and Janina, our minds quite simply override the body conveniently forgetting how certain foods have felt in the body til it is too late. I find the effects of eating this way quicker than ever before and agree it is time to bring more focus and commitment to the way we choose to eat. Time to let go of the images and open up to eating in a way that truly reflects the love and support we have for our bodies.

147. Food is for me a constant redefining theme. It it not only about what to eat and if my mind or my body’s telling me what to eat. But also the amount and how I eat. Lately I noticed that I eat a lot. Before I would have judged myself about it, but now I allow myself to eat as much as my body wants. As I am writing this I actually feel how much Trust I have regained by listening to my body around food. The relationship is completely different. And my body speaks very loud what it wants and what it doesn’t want. Or it’s actually not a want. It’s more a knowing what it needs to serve best there-after. What an Amazing intelligence. Even writing this comment is learning me more about me and my relationship with food.

148. I realized how obsessed i have been with the subject of food and to eat what is really healthy and also being a good student (even nobody asked me to be that). And criticizing myself for not getting it right when i overeat. But this is just a simple game i played for too long avoiding my potential, to claim and live the powerful women that i am, also in relationships.

     1. Spot on Janina – I can absolutely relate to this game. In my obsession over food I am blind to the bigger picture and that there is so much more to what I am choosing to eat. It’s all a cover up and a game my spirit plays to keep itself hidden in self-criticism and loathing which is ultimately comfort. I can feel the key to free myself from the self-improsoned bind is to accept and appreciate the package of Joy and Light I am and what I bring to the world. In this acceptance there is no way I would want to choose comfort, as the full-ness felt in purpose wipes out the need to distract or escape.

149. “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me” What a lovely acknowledgment of appreciation for yourself and who you truly are, and an inspiring reminder for me. Thank-you Janina.

150. It is no coincidence that I have read this blog today – When reading your words “But – there is a different way to be” there most certainly is and I know it, my body is constantly showing me this. SO a new beginning of really listening to my body and to eat the foods that nourishes not feeding a need or comfort. Thank you Janina a very welcome reminder.

151. Great blog Janina, this is a lovely reminder that food can either be supportive or destructive!

     1. Exactly Alexandre!

        1. Yes Alexandre, Food can support to be the Amazing light that we are or it can destruct it.

152. Absolutely Janina, it does have to do with the relationship we’re having with food, how we nourish ourselves, and the worth we hold for ourselves. Getting to know what drives us to reach for a slice of ‘instant relief’, rather than connecting and staying connected to the true call of want our body is asking for. With this understanding there is no need to accept less than absolute love in the choices we make, be it with food or anything else that we nourish ourselves with.

153. Yesterday I spent an amazing time picking up a friend from the airport and having a beautiful conversation during our trip.
     When we arrive at the house and started to eat. I could feel that there is a strong momentum to check out while I eat, eat things I don’t want to eat which tastes nice or overeat. And I could feel how my powerful connection and presence reduced with this habit of overeating and eating the wrong food which does not support me anymore.

154. I love what you share, Janina. When I was overeating, I was numbing myself from feeling that awesome ‘yumminess’ within, so I didn’t have that to compare with the sluggishness felt. The ‘yumminess’ definitely feels better than any food tastes!

155. Thanks Janina. You present the truth here. Overeating is a form of abuse that I have accepted to not feel. In truth this choice to numb myself affects many other people around me not just myself. It affects the quality of my sleep, my day, the way I relate to me and to others. If we treat our body with love, preciousness and respect and ate only to nourish our body, what a different world we would live in.

156. Very true Janina, I too, have altered my diet but have realised I now substitute nuts and salty food, and will eat when I am not hungry. Time to go deeper 🙂

157. I have recently discovered that the behaviour I eat in is like I haven’t eaten for a week and I don’t know when I’ll eat again. So I have a constant supply of snacks in my handbag, I am always making sure I have lunch ready for the next day and I keep a constant eye on my bank balance to make sure I can still buy food. I also discovered because of this behaviour when I wanted a sugar hit I couldn’t just stop at one or two biscuits/lollies I would have to eat the whole packet. Now that I am aware of this I am more in tune with my body and feeling if I am hungry or if something has thrown me out.

158. This morning I talked to a friend and he shared with me the importance of the way you cook your food for yourself is so important and not only what you actually eat. And also to be more open feeling the quality of the food and which energy certain food companies have some supportive, some harming.
     I realize to be more open to energetic factor concerning the whole area of eating.

159. I agree Janina that this is super-important to share. Even if we are eating foods that are in a way more supportive for us it still comes does to the quality of our presence when and why we are eating or preparing food. And I find that the more I am honest and honor what is truly going on the more I am truly supporting me and my connection to what is true. I am still refining this for myself and this blog is a wonderful and inspiring confirmation – thank you.

160. No food is greater than feeling who we are. Wow! That turns dieting on its head if we choose to live to this truth.

161. Awesome blog Janina, this feels very timely for me to read as I am in the process of looking at my eating patterns as I tend to overeat and snack when I am not even hungary. It feels like time for me to also begin a new relationship with food and to eat to support and nourish my body – thanks for the inspiration!

162. It was a wonderful moment of revelation when I realised that my mind is a trickster and was always tempting me into eating something that I actually knew wasn’t good for me – it made so much sense of my previous and very destructive relationship to food and how I used it to numb what I didn’t want to feel. These days I choose to listen to my body and what it wants to eat and in return it says thank you in so many ways. There are still quite a few moments when I can feel the trickster trying to con me again, but when I do I stop and check in with my body and usually I find that I am actually tired not hungry, and a rest is all that I need.

     1. I agree Ingrid Ward i have observed the same that i often eat food when my body actually needs a stop and rest.

163. Well said Brendan – I feel that point comes for most with illness or physical pain, when our body is so overloaded that it’s communication gets louder and louder so we cannot help but hear it’s plea for respect and care. For me, when I get sick with a cold I will re-think how I’ve been treating myself and make a yummy chicken soup and nurture myself with food as intended for the body.

164. ‘There is no joy in doing that, even if the food tastes nice. The energy does not feel nice in the body, either during or after eating.’
     I love the honesty you express here Janina. It’s absolutely true, when I eat something that is too sugary, salty, heavy or rich the enjoyment is so short lived and there is no real Joy in the process. It’s like the mind sensationalises it as the amazing thing that’s going to take all the pain away and make you feel so yummy inside… well this I know is a lie.
     Food is nourishment and the true nature of it is to survive in a physical body, yet it can be used to kill and deplete our vitality instead. Crazy!

165. Completely agree Janina, feeling my body, it’s really great at telling me what to eat and what not to eat. It’s as simple as bringing awareness to my torso area and asking myself, do I really need that? It’s a cool feeling when I listen to it.

166. I observed that i as soon as there is tension for example in my relationship with my partner i tend to eat, instead of taking the responsibility to address what is going on, to communicate or to connect to my partner. This is harming myself and my partner and keeps me stuck in the way i used to live which doesn’t feel right anymore. So i used food to numb and dull myself in doing that i avoid taking responsibility ouch!

167. Its not about saying I’ll stop eating this food because its not good for me. This hasn’t worked for anyone in the long run and those that it has only find other vices.

     Food has been a long road for me and still continues to be.
     Some days I’m really good and some days really bad.
     What is going on?

     What I have found the most useful tool is the reason why I eat food that aren’t good for me. It is about addressing the reason why I am eating to not feel how I am. Once I address that the eating will sort it self out. Well lets put it into practice shall we…

168. Thank you Janina, I am slowly developing a relationship with food, it is a different matter to develop a relationship with how the body feels after I have eaten. For a large part of my life I have considered I have eaten healthily, eating mainly what I thought was good for me. Now it is time for me to feel more deeply and listen to my body.

169. I can so relate to you blog Janina, my relationship with food many years ago also was one of numbing and reward, what i realised was that even though my food choices have gotten better, the relationship i have with food had not. It is still a work in progress, but bringing more awareness to how i eat, the energy i eat in etc. is beginning to change. It is allowing me to feel more into what to eat and when, without perfection, but it really is making a huge difference. Not making it about the food but what i am feeling in my body.

     1. Yes Raegan, I have found the same with HOW I continue to eat food even though my food choices are more refined I can still be bloated by gluten free things and greens! I love how you say.. ‘Not making it about the food but what i am feeling in my body.’
        This takes the constant ‘thinking’ and obsession out of the food choices for me and back into my body where the true choices come from.

170. Food is huge aspect of the way we can choose to check out. But it not really to master not to eat certain food but to look closer what is underneath that i want food not to feel or deal with what i going on in my life.

171. Such a great blog Janina. I know the feeling you describe of eating healthy but still eating in a way that is unloving. That is eating to not feel something or as a reward after a full day of work. I am changing this too at the moment and I love getting more honest about how I really feel after eating certain foods. For instance a particular food always made me feel energized at first but would leave me feeling like falling asleep after an hour I ate it. Because it made me feel more energetic at first it took me a while to let it go, but I did and I feel so much better overall without this food.

172. Well said Janina: To stuff myself by eating too much, and with heavy food, destroys the lovely connection I am building with myself. It’s a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am.
     This is gold, we know this. The question I would raise is: Why are we thinking that we can make ourselves out of there, just making these choices while we know that are not good for us? Where does this attitude come from? Interesting point to ponder on. Is this behaviour truly us? I do not reckon that. So there must be some point more clever within us , that knows a way how to deal with this , and life a true and loving way.. Let our journey begin..

173. Janina your powerful article has inspired a deeper understanding of my relationship with food. Thank you.

174. Janina, thank you for this great blog and especially: ” I didn’t want to deal with my relationship with food, or understand that the way I was eating was connected to my exhaustion, lack of vitality and commitment to life.” I have had to sit with this very deeply today as I acknowledge this truth in my life.

     1. Yes, Anne the effect food can have on our well being and or lack of well-being is massive.

175. Love this Janina “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”
     When I feel from my body what food it needs to support me continually feeling great, it changes what I normally “think” I should be eating. As Miranda Benhayon says something like this “feel what to eat not eat what you feel”. This has changed, and constantly changes, my relationship with food and everything to do with it.

176. I wanted to say it again and celebrate this wonderful quote “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” This is so true. I know I used to ‘defend’ my choices in food and drink and thought they where an essential part of society, my life in it and also a reward for feeling like I had been ‘trying’ hard in this life. And yet when I truly stopped and considered what I was doing this attitude did not add up. Living who we are more fully brings deep joy, which yes is always going to be more ‘yummy’ than any food. Thank you for sharing.

     1. Absolutely Samantha, – “Living who we are more fully brings deep joy, which yes is always going to be more ‘yummy’ than any food.” – When I am feeling great within myself I crave less and eat less and so don’t overeat and numb myself.

        1. “Living who we are more fully brings deep joy, which yes is always going to be more ‘yummy’ than any food” love it Samantha!

     2. Beautiful point Samantha – and when we are ourselves in full there is no need to fill our bodies to not feel the emptiness of not being who we are.

177. The changes I have made to my diet have helped me understand my body and feel its connection to food. I still have the occasional mishap when I am not connected to myself, not prepared to stop and feel, wanting a quick fix for whatever issue is at hand. Janina you mention our movements towards the fridge that reverberate throughout our body and impact on what we choose to take out. I now have a picture of me preparing my breakfast, starting with how I walk to the fridge. A detail but of such importance. Thank you for adding a layer of refinement to my day.

     1. “Janina you mention our movements towards the fridge that reverberate throughout our body and impact on what we choose to take out.” – Yes Patricia this stood out for me too, great to clock the way we are in all our movements and not just when we arrive at our destination.

178. Great blog, Janina, such a deep observation of the tiniest, trickiest detail of our mind’s ways. I am experiencing lately very tangible that the substance of our body is made by God, like all of nature, that can feel and know what is in harmony with it and what is not.
     I still override it regularly, numb it and disregard it, get carried away by my stubbornly habitual mind many times a day, but when I’m connected to that love and harmony that I feel deep inside my body and let that guide my next move, I just know what and how much to eat, and I love the lightness, joy and vitality in my body when I eat just that and no more. So, I am inspired, and joyfully feel supported by your blog and all the comments, to be more connected to this beautiful, magical body of mine.

     1. Beautiful to read your comment Regina and that our body is divine and that we have the choice to connect and deepen the harmony, love and joy it offers through supporting it with nourishing food.

     2. That is an inspired comment Regina, it’s a blog in itself.

179. It is strange to think of eating when not hungry or overeating as harming ourselves deeply but that is exactly what we are doing…. damaging the gorgeous connection we have with ourselves by bludgeoning ourselves with food.

180. Thank you for sharing Brendan. To eat to support our body has a huge effect on our wellbeing and how energetic we are throughout the day. To eat too much or food which the body doesn’t want slows down the body in a big way and than we need stimulants to keep going.

181. What I realise now, through a presentation by Serge and Natalie Benhayon, that even food is an obvious aspect which we can indulge in, numb ourselves or overeat but really, what we will decide to eat starts not at the fridge door, but in the way we walk to the fridge. The movements we make, magnify throughout our body and will determine what food we will have. Do we walk in a loving appreciative way or do we walk checked out and critical.

     1. So true Janina, it is not about choosing what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. Those choices are already determined for us by the way we walk to the fridge, by the way we were before we walked to the fridge, by the way we got out of bed that morning, by the rhythms we establish and our consistency in living our rhythm. How important is it then to live each moment lovingly and in connection to our true self…then we could only choose food to nurture our body and soul.

     2. Love this Janina, you’re saying choose the energy you are in first and then the food choice will reflect that energy. Great point!

     3. You can take it back a step further Janina. How do we go to the supermarket to purchase the food, pay for the food and cook the food. The more checked out you are the more sensation of taste you need in your mouth to taste food, hence the sugary and salty foods.

        1. I agree lindellparlour with what intention do i go shopping to the supermarket to support and nourish myself or for comfort and numbing myself.

        2. Dear Lindellparlour,
           I had not before considered that the more checked out we live, the more ‘taste’ we are looking for. Such a great point and an awesome understanding. Thank you.

182. Thanks Janina for highlighting the way in which the mind can still rule food choices and how it’s often referred to first instead of being with the body. Something for me to be more aware of!

     1. Yes Melinda, i have observed myself going to the supermarket and at some point have strange ideas about buying food i usually don’t eat anymore or ideas i need to buy more food, this will be not enough i will be starving. For me examples to let my mind rule the way and not to stay in touch and connected with my body. To let an energy in which wants to take over and rule the way-which is coming through my mind but which is not supportive and loving.

183. Ah yes, the nuts ! Nuts are my chips now..

184. Thank you Janina, this is the perfect blog for me this evening. I love that even though it was written close to 2yrs ago it has a living wisdom that will forever be relevant. Thank you for sharing the truth of your lived experience and for being super inspiring :).

185. I’m finding that my relationship with food is ongoing in refining and looking at not just what I eat, but how I eat it, if I am eating because that is the usual meal time, or if I am eating because I am hungry. Am I eating from reaction or to numb something that I am feeling or am I eating to support my body for the day. It is a constant reflection that I need to build and feel into every day. Often I go on autopilot with food and have to really come back to reconnecting with my body and listen to what it is showing me.

     1. So true Donna, to not only review and refine what we are eating but the quality in how we eat and prepare food is super important as well. All our movements count and make a difference to the way we eat.

186. I couldn’t agree more with every word Janina. Why IS it so easy to kid ourselves that we’re not self-abusing with food? It just shows how much we use food as a remedy/prop to how we are feeling, and haven’t gone the ‘extra mile’ you are talking about, in regards to truly being responsible in our relationship with food. (An ‘extra mile’, mind you, that could actually become our ‘normal’, should we really go there and feel the amazing benefits that a responsible relationship with food can bring.)

187. No one, except Universal Medicine has taught us to appreciate that indeed we do have a relationship with food that also has to be deepened, refined as we go. We know that we have a physical relationship with it and an energetic one. The latter is the key. And of course, we cannot go onto this path too far unless we start developing a relationship with our body and being. So, by all means, developing a relationship with food is crucial for evolution.

     1. Yes Eduardo, well said “developing a relationship with food is crucial for evolution.” Yes, if we choose to eat the wrong food which does not support the body we delaying and saying no to evolution.

     2. I love the way you have said that. It’s true, no one I know but Universal Medicine teaches about our relationship with food and how it’s constantly refining.

     3. Great comment Eduardo – our relationship with food and what we eat is a constant evolution. What is right for us today is not necessarily going to be right in a week or a year’s time. There is always room for growth, and that includes looking at how we eat.

188. This is very recognizable and, as you say, it is very important to build a new relationship with food. Because I recognize how much joy I can have in my body while eating supporting foods, but when I don’t feel well I often don’t choose the supporting foods but the opposite, to numb my self. Thank you for inspiring me to build a new relationship with food.

     1. Mmm, me too Benkt. When eating supporting foods I feel so great. I choose foods to numb myself when I don’t feel good as well… Must definitely be something I don’t want to look at as it would be a no brainer to eat what makes me feel great, right?… Time to get a new relationship with what’s underneith that eating. So instead of just eating we can look at what’s really going on instead.

        1. yes, that is a very important point. I can feel how I went into this again lately, I chose to not feel that was there to be felt, and really struggled with my diet and eating foods I had not eaten for quite some time, which I know only make me feel worse, as they did.. it is time to be honest and really feel what is going on, to get out of this cycle and move on.

189. I too am feeling the difficulty of truly listening to my body and honouring what it is that it truly would like and needs. And the amount that it wants and needs too. I am finding that I don’t need to eat very much to feel full these days but more often than not I continue to eat. I was having a meal the other evening and the taste sensation of the first few mouth fulls were heavenly ~ so tastey so delicious and so heightened in texture and taste. I was amazed and just how incredible they tasted. I ate three of four bites and was totally 100 % satisfied and to say the least pleasured, extremely pleasured. This might sound funny, after only 3 or four bites, but I got the feeling I was full. I most likely ate quite a lot this day in the morning. I stopped and felt into having only had three bites and said to myself ‘there is no way I’m full from three bites’ and continued to eat the rest of my meal. The taste sensation went, the food became almost tasteless and could only feel the texture. Compared to what I had just experienced it was bland, lifeless, tasteless.
     How can this of happened when it was the same meal? How could one moment the meal be the most incredible tasting dish on the planet and then the next moments it be horrible and bland?
     What went on here?
     What went on was that I over rode my feelings. I disconnected from how I was feeling and in that disconnection lost all sensation. This made me understand that I have been living my life in disconnection because how can I say that I am connected when the pleasure that comes from my body when I am truly honouring what I feel to eat and the amount that I choose to eat is so rich.

     1. Natasha I can relate to this feeling of disconnection. Sometimes I am satisfied with very little food but I override the feeling thinking I won’t be able to eat for many hours, or I’ll be too lazy to prepare another meal so I try to kill 2 meals in one go. How absurd. Why fill up my stomach when it is telling me it is satisfied. I do not live in a state of scarcity so what am I afraid of, what is this telling me? A lot for me to ponder.

190. As you say Janina Koch, there is another way to go about food. Instead of using food to numb myself, as I did in the past, and in a way sometime still do, because it is the energy we are in that dictates how and what we eat and how this affects our wellbeing and vitality in life, I am now choosing to build a new relation with food, a relation that supports me in being the beautiful and tender man I naturally am and to not numb it away by the way I eat and the food I choose to eat.

191. Good point Brendan!

192. Janina I am coming to realize that our relationship with ourselves sets the field of God in motion. It is the impulse that impulses life to be. Any self harm of any amount is registered and matters. This is not to get crazy about where we are at but to understand the magnitude of what is going on.

193. I can relate to what you say here Janina, this is a great reminder as I have been overeating on nuts and salty foods – time to look deeper at what feelings are hiding there. As you say ‘there is a different way to be.’

194. Janina food is such a hot topic isn’t it? I will often use food to reward, distract or even numb myself if there is something going on that I am challenged with. The key for me is to slow down, feel what to eat and to be prepared. It all makes a huge difference to how lovely I feel in my body.

195. I’d love to see this line “To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply”….on a billboard on a major highway/intersection and then see what reactions come from that. It would be a much needed conversation starter about what is truly going on.

     1. Wow Sarah
        That would be such a powerful message ✨

     2. Yes Sarah, I agree, this is a conversation that all of humanity needs to be a part of.

196. There are many ideals and beliefs around food which keep us eating more and eating things which are not really supportive to our body. But the body speaks loud. The question is: why are we not listening?

197. Treating the body with love, preciousness and respect eventually does whittle down the foods we are prepared to eat that we know are going to numb what we love to have – awareness. It is a constant and ongoing refinement for me, and that’s fine – as long as I remain honest about the choices I make and understand the result that eating certain food will have on my body and therefore my connection to myself.

198. An absolutely inspiring article Janina, I particularly like when you said:
     “So now, it’s about starting a new relationship with food and myself. It’s in the way I deal with food, in the way I prepare and eat it – and in what I choose to eat to actually nourish my body. Now, I can start to treat my body with love, preciousness and respect.”
     I am starting to build a new relationship with food when I prepare it, bringing more presence to what I’m doing and making it an expression of me – rather than quickly throwing something together, out of a necessity to eat, in a functional but disconnected manner.

199. Gosh Janina this is so important, I am glad you have shared this. You are bringing a new perspective to the word abuse. So often we can be abusing ourselves and not be aware or be dishonest about it because it seems small or normal. This is definitely a work in progress for me, as I don’t always like to be honest about how I abuse myself in the way you have described.

200. That is awesome, so well shared. I think every persons body would need to go through it’s own process of finding what foods work for them and what foods don’t and it’s all about bringing in that honesty and then starting the process!

201. What a great post, yes Janina, most of us don’t want to see or acknowledge that things like over eating, or eating foods that make us feel heavy, is actually abusive, or is us in self-abuse. And that eating in a self-abusing way, dulls our awareness and our ability to feel. But not feel or be aware of what exactly is the question?! So what I take from your post is that there is a very distinct relationship between food and our awareness – that it can either abuse or nourish this, and us.

     1. Yes this is important to understand Zofia: “what I take from your post is that there is a very distinct relationship between food and our awareness” – so the way we eat can support us to feel and become more aware what is going on in our life or it can stop and delay us.

202. It’s amazing how we choose to numb ourselves with food, when we simply don’t want to be with us and our stuff.

203. Thank you Janina for this beautiful blog :o)

204. Thank you Janina, food as a way to treat your body, as you say “with love, preciousness and respect.” Brings a whole new perspective to eating. I really appreciate the reminder!

205. Wonderful blog Janina, I’m still building this relationship with food – your blog is words of encouragement!

206. Yes Mary ” No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me”; 16 months after writing this blog have embodied this to a deeper level. When I choose the connection to me as my main focus and priority – food looses its importance. If I let myself go and indulge and numb with food not to feel me and what is going on, food becomes my main focus and priority. This feels so very awful because this is not ME anymore, and an anxiousness and nervous tension takes over and takes me away from my essence.
     It is important to look at our relationship with food to understand what lies underneath the fact that I need food to keep me going, to reward or numb.
     What I have nominated recently is that I did not feel safe in this world and afraid and powerless towards the terrible things which we have to face in our society. This was the way I have lived for a long long time. This has stopped me feeling and appreciate my own love and power.
     The moment we commit to be the amazingness and beauty that we are, food becomes second best.

207. This is a very relevant article for me. I am aware that eating too many nuts is nuts and shows me that I wanting a reward or comfort. Your sentence “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” is very inspiring and one I will remember when I find myself wanting a nutty treat.

208. I continue to be amazed by how so many are affected by their relationship with food. I thought it was just me. But with an activity we have to do several times every day and with the plethora of offerings available to entice us down a path of socially acceptable ‘abuse’, I suppose it’s a ripe playground for dysfunctionality. You highlight the difference between that mild form of abuse and true nurturing and the challenges in getting it right. Whether it’s nuts or soya simulations, we can delude ourselves that we’re making healthy changes when in fact we’re just using them as surrogates, masking that same behaviour we enacted before. Our relationship with food requires utmost dedication and an ability to listen deeply to the feedback our body gives us on hunger and satiety. It’s a life’s work.

     1. This is a great point you are making Cathy.
        “Whether it’s nuts or soya simulations, we can delude ourselves that we’re making healthy changes when in fact we’re just using them as surrogates, masking that same behaviour we enacted before”.
        Yesterday after a team meeting – I went to get a slice of apple, and in college, I went to get a biscuit. I could feel that this was exactly the same thing in both, wanting something sweet.

209. You are so right Janina when we used food to numb our feelings or to compensate for being exhausted how we dull the natural vibrancy and light inside. If I am having an “off day” and have lost connection to myself I can still feel hungry even though I am full… I realise I am hungry for “myself” and this manifests in the physical body by not feeling full. In those moments if I do take time to stop and reconnect the feeling of being hungry magically goes.

210. Great to re-visit your blog Janina much to ponder for me and feel into deeper.

211. Taking time to prepare food lovingly and with great care makes such a difference to the enjoyment of a meal.

212. Food choices can feel like a bit of a minefield sometimes, because of the seemingly constant changes about what I feel is good to eat or not – but no matter what, I still have to eat! So I need to keep checking it and tweaking it, and to go with what feels truly right. Sometimes I can still overeat when I’m not feeling into what I’m eating. Nothing I’ve read sums it better than, “no food in this world is more yummy than feeling the delicious me.” Thank you Janina, I will remember that.

213. Reading this this time around I felt a very solid ‘yes I know this to be true’ – a great marker for myself in that my relationship with food has changed recently and is something I can sit here and appreciate. Removing the foods that very obviously upset my body was hard at first, but now it is normal to not eat them; my next step, like you have shared, is the how, when and why I eat what I eat. What feelings am I trying to crush when I do overeat or eat the wrong foods? because that lovely feeling of me also suffers and gets squashed, even though it is that lovely feeling that I want to return to…

     1. Beautiful comment Leigh; spot on, your last line: “What feelings am I trying to crush when I do overeat or eat the wrong foods? because that lovely feeling of me also suffers and gets squashed, even though it is that lovely feeling that I want to return to…”

214. Lovely to read your blog again Janina – a great inspiration for me as I am still working with overeating and using food as a reward at times.

215. I can never hear or read enough about our relationship with food. This is an area that can forever trip me up and the relationship is one that can also forever be taken to a deeper more loving level. There are loads of diets out there and most people feel uncomfortable talking about their food habits so a great blog for everyone.

216. Beautiful, Michelle. Your comment captures a key-part for me; When I disconnect from my body and what I truly feel it needs, I can end up eating in a very unloving way – either this means over-eating, eating when not truly hungry, eating quickly, or eating the wrong foods for that moment… all of this further numbs me from what I am feeling – for example, overwhelm, nervous tension, or sadness, (or also my loveliness, beauty, or joy when I deny this as being too good to be true) – and this keeps me in the cycle of self-loathing – when all I have to do is stop and re-connect, which is actually becoming very simple these days. 😉
     I’m experiencing that deepening my self-love is helping to automatically discard these habits that do not support me, and to live in celebration of my own preciousness . Thank you Michelle, and Janina for the inspiration and support in this.

217. “….as it is normal for us to abuse ourselves with drink or food. Most people do it.”
     This is huge. Is it not time for us to ask ourselves why self abuse with food is society’s accepted norm, covered up by calling it binge eating or over eating?

218. Hi Janina, thank you for your deeply inspiring blog about your relationship with food. A topic very relevant to me for I have used food as a reward, to keep me going, to numb myself to not feel how much I felt during the day/how sensitive I am and that some things hurt. Most of these I let go off. There is one thing that is still very challenging for me: I can use food to consciously sabotage myself. When things are going very well, are flowing, are simple and there are no issues I create an issue for myself by eating food I don’t want/need to eat. And then have a reason to be hard on myself. I get more and more awareness on this behaviour and start to accept that I don’t have issues and I am worthy of a loving and simple life.

219. Hi Janina, I have been pondering on my relationship with food lately and why I overeat, because immediately I feel like I have a heavy bag of potatoes on my back when I eat too much. So I agree with you especially when I read: ‘To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply’. Lately, I am finding I need less food, but still give into temptation, and is something I am working on in order to let go of all my beliefs and comfort around food.

220. Thanks for the reminder to reconnect to our yummy selves. I have been choosing to connect to myself before I eat and breathe between bites, focusing on every aspect of my food. Thank you Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for inspiring me to make changes in my life.

     1. Awesome. I’ve also experienced this way to be when eating and it feels so much more like the true me. When I catch myself not giving that space I actually know that another energy is running my body in an old still familiar pattern.
        It’s time to let that go completely and claim my true way to be in full. Thank you for your confirming comment Ken.

221. Janina, thank you for this blog, it’s bringing home for me to look at my relationship with food more deeply. As I do find myself now and again slipping and eating foods that I know will make me tired or bloated at times – to then recover from this takes weeks.

222. I realized that when I use nuts as a filler and not eat them lovingly it brings a nervous energy in, which keeps me going when I am actually feeling tired. Also that I have used food like this either to stimulate or to dull on long working days and not taking loving care to look at how I can work in a rhythm which is not draining and exhausting myself.

223. Thanks for this inspiring blog Janina. I can relate to a lot of what you say, especially the nuts. It’s very easy to fall back into those indulgent patterns so this is a timely reminder to listen to what our bodies are saying and increase our awareness if we start to pull for foods that don’t truly support us.

224. Why we eat what we eat is such a vast subject and you have brought an awareness to this subject with much to consider. Thank you, Janina.

225. This line says it all:
     “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling the delicious me!”

     How simply true!
     I am certainly on the same path of really looking at how food and my body work. There is a fine line of indulgence that I can bring into eating to not feel what’s going on and I’m a pro at substituting. No more coffee but much more salt 😉
     It’s great to hear you’re looking behind the cravings – as am I. A journey indeed!

226. Janina, I came to this blog and it’s perfect and a big reflection to me right now. Food has been my medicine and can still be when I allow it, and I can feel it’s something for me to look more deeply at, as when things gets stressed I can still binge on food, healthy food, not over-eating much but still over-eating. But I know and can feel that no matter how much, it’s taking me away from me, and from feeling what is really going on around me in the world. So a good reminder to keep exploring and being honest about how I use food.

     1. Even I wrote this blog over a year ago and I could feel this truthfully in my body with what I wrote – I still did not really change my relationship with food. It is important to look at our relationship with food, really it is not about the food but the way I choose to live and how much responsibility I am ready to take.
        Do I allow myself to live lovingly and to be open to love and let love in on a deeper level? To hold myself back from loving hurts, and this hurt needs to be numbed and food is an easy way – but really it doesn’t work, the hurt doesn’t go away, as it adds more hurt to treat myself in disregard with overeating.
        I realized that the hurt under my strong tendency to numb myself (daily) with food was the fact that I kept myself away from love.

        1. Janina, thank you for deepening this, indeed it hurts to feel the hurt of not being love and yes food can numb this, but it doesn’t work – not ultimately. I love how you’ve uncovered what was the true hurt, rather than staying with the symptoms and reactions with which food are. I’m asking myself right now – what hurts so much that I have to hurt myself by over-eating?

     2. I relate to what you say, Monica. Bingeing on healthy food looks very much like bingeing on other food as the energy behind it is feels the same.

        1. Yes Maryline, I too am finding this that the energy is the same no matter what we are bingeing on. I also liken the feeling of bingeing on food to that of a drug addiction, maybe less harmful on our bodies but the energy feels similar.

227. Janina, This caught my attention:
     “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”

     I and SO many others have been terrified to look at our relationship to food…For me, it was a fear that all that comfort and niceness would have to go… but now I know that looking at it with honesty can bring the true yumminess we are missing back into our lives!

     Now I know that, “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”

228. Beautiful blog Janina. I can say that until recently I always had issues with food. I have never been overweight and I was certainly underweight as a child and young teenager. But it is not about weight for me it is that I had always the tendency to overeat, even when I was not particularly hungry – as a habit (my parents always force fed me as a young child). It took me 6 years (with the support of Universal Medicine) to cut that habit. I now feel that I need far less food and I feel what I eat, listening to what my body has to say about it.

     Feeding habits change continually and it is like a barometer: the more love, stillness, harmony and joy I have in my body the less food you need and the more “appropriate” food for my body to enjoy.
     Thank you for a very thought provoking blog.

229. Such an awesome point about how we use food as a reward even if we are not hungry. Thank you for sharing.

     1. It’s quite the contradiction isn’t it Anna.

230. An absolutely brilliant blog, one that I can relate to very strongly. Even though I have changed my diet and when asked why I changed I say ”It doesn’t agree with my body” my relationship with food has only started to change. I love your quote at the start “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!” and I feel inspired to look deeper into my relationship with food. When I actually pause and feel what to eat I feel even more yummy as I haven’t weighed myself down and have allowed myself to eat what I wanted to keep that awesome feeling.

231. Thank you Janina, food is such an issue for so many with all the tempting tasty treats out there but as you say the why of eating and the affects on our bodies have to be considered. I used to eat without considering what happened to my body after the 10 seconds the food was in my mouth, being oblivious to the feelings from my body over the next 24 hours as my body was having to deal with the substances I was choosing to consume. No wonder I felt so tired all the time as a lot of energy was being used by my digestive system.
     “To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply.”
     A great point to consider deeply.

232. Janina, I absolutely agree with all you have shared. I have been so ‘tricky’ with myself as I have made food changes over the years as I have learnt it is not always simply removing a food that is key, as quite often it is replaced with something else which would appear to be ‘healthy’ Eg. no more sugar, but more fruit or lovely slow roasted vegetables which become very sweet. All very clever and leaves it a bit longer till I take responsibility and look at what’s really go on in my body. Thank you. 🙂

233. Thanks for your beautiful blog Janina… Like the others I can definitely associate the previous way I overrode what my body was attempting to tell me, choosing instead to use food to numb feelings and not claim me. Like Rod, I enjoyed and felt the truth in your statement “I choose to eat to actually nourish my body”. This is not only a healing act but a choice that brings many blessings including feeling more of your truth, increased energetic clarity and increased vitality… Loved all of your blog as it inspires us all to remember as you beautifully stated it… “No food in this world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”.

234. Hi Janina, I enjoyed your blog and I really really relate to your comments about your adventures with food. I liked your meaningful words: “I choose to eat to actually nourish my body”.

235. Wow… I could so relate to your blog Janina. You just nominated so clearly the patterns of how we can sabotage that amazing loving connection one can develop with oneself, then so quickly disconnect it with food choices. This is something I am acutely aware of at the moment. It is like I feel amazing, then I say, “how can I possibly feel this amazing?!” and eat accordingly to not feel that. Your line “To eat when I am not hungry, or to override feelings of being tired with food, is a way of harming myself deeply” – this is so true and I can feel how much this harms not only ourselves but all others as well, based on how it can impact on our moods and way of being with people. Thank you for your wonderful blog, much food for thought… pun intended. 🙂

236. Thank you! A really timely confirmation of the need to listen to my body and re-evaluate my relationship with food as I have noticed I have allowed some overeating again recently… it makes me feel so heavy and does destroy my connection to self… so foolish! It IS abusive!

237. Because food is a basic necessity of life and we have taken on so many of the cultural and family ways of eating since birth, our responses are usually on automatic drive until we start truly connecting to what is going on for us around food.

     Food also has a ‘siren call’. So much effort is put into creating ‘visually, aromatically and taste-bud tantalising’ dishes to tempt us all to eat to satisfy the taste-buds, but not support the body with the nutrition it truly needs.

     I have found it easy to leave a lot of the unsupportive and unloving habits behind me, however I know food still has me in its thrall. Everyone knows chocolate is not a food, yet it wasn’t until I saw I was using it to ‘sweeten my view of life’ that I was able to let it go. I still have a way to go with developing a true relationship with food, but I know my body is there guiding me and letting me know the quality of my food choices from how it feels afterwards. This blog has helped me see it’s time to look even more closely at what is going on for me around food… Thanks, Janina.

238. Food is such a huge way in which we can undermine ourselves. In society we hold a belief that celebrating involves over eating and drinking, yet from my experience these are two things that hinder my ability to celebrate and love myself. Food can be a huge support to our body or very detrimental, it just depends on how we choose to use it.

     1. Yes Toni, I too feel that we can have a relationship with food where it is used to deeply nourish ourselves so our bodies can hold more love, or on the the other hand can be used as a drug for checking out, numbing and not dealing with what needs to be dealt with. This comes down to our choice how we use it.

239. Thank you Janina for your inspiring blog regarding the relationship to food. I can relate to everything you express here. My mind certainly still tricks me… then I numb out from feeling my body. With coming back to more stillness within, there is more awareness to listen to the wisdom of my body and make different choices. As your last paragraph says so beautifully – “it’s about starting a new relationship with food and myself. It’s in the way I deal with food, in the way I prepare and eat it – and in what I choose to eat to actually nourish my body. Now, I can start to treat my body with love, preciousness and respect.”

240. Thank you Janina. I could totally relate to all you have shared. The mind can be very tricky in how we can end up replacing certain behaviours or solutions with other ones. They may appear to be healthier or better for us but if the reason for doing that has not changed then the issue of why we are doing that, has not been dealt with. I find myself slipping or falling for this occasionally but also like you I am redeveloping my relationship with food. The big thing for me is how I am preparing and eating the supportive food I choose for myself. I find if I bring it back to this, then it is about supporting the divine-ness of me and the body I am expressing with. Allowing a more fuller expression of me with others.

241. Perfect timing Janina as my taste buds have been way out of control lately and my eyes way too big for my stomach!! Huge reminder that we can eat to abuse our bodies for whatever reason, and override/ignore the heaviness/discomfort that food choice brings.

     This is the BOMB and says it ALL!!

     “To stuff myself by eating too much, and with heavy food, destroys the lovely connection I am building with myself. It’s a way of giving up and letting an energy rule me which is not loving, destroying the tender loving me that I am.”

     Thank you so much for the timely reminder. 😊

242. What a deliciously, yummy blog that exposes how abusive we can be with food and like you say Janina, is super important.

     I will definitely be using your beautiful, loving quote as a reminder when I am tempted to use food to not feel me that – “No food in the world is more yummy than feeling delicious me!”.

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