Digesting your life
While I’ve never been hyper-focused on nutrition, I am totally obsessed with the concept of digestion. I’m personally tired of being told that food is either good or bad, and quite done with this feeling of guilt we’re supposed to feel after consuming something “bad”, or exactly how many minutes of cardio I need to do to negate whatever I consumed. Did you know that the mindset/attitude you have towards your food (think guilt, shame, vs pleasure, enjoyment, satiety) has a direct impact on your ability to digest your food well?
The idea that you can eat the cookie, but if you beat yourself up about it and feel mad or disappointed in yourself, that actually makes it harder to digest. Meanwhile you eat the same cookie and truly appreciate it, taste it fully and feel some sort of satisfaction after- your body will be able to digest it better. For me, it’s all about strong digestion, enough metabolism to break down what we consume, but not too strong that it breaks down beyond any and all nutritional benefit. And we don’t want sluggish digestion, which can’t complete the job and leaves us lethargic and with no appetite. I don’t know about you but I want that hunger, and the energy to live my life to the fullest.
I have all the digestion hacks you’ll ever need, but the biggest game changer for optimal digestion is realizing you aren’t just digesting the food you eat, but everything you consume. So while thinking about how the food you eat impacts your digestion is important, what if you took into consideration not just what you eat but all you consume and experience as factors contributing to your overall digestion?
As you’re probably aware, there are foods that are more digestable than others. Think the amount of chewing alone you need for red meat versus apple sauce. Or a stalk of celery versus a steamed sweet potato. Whether it’s food or a half hour of scrolling the web, a hard conversation with a friend, or sitting in traffic.. These are all things we must digest in our lives, and each of those examples has a unique post digestive affect. Are you paying attention to these symptoms?
You might know the feeling of eating too much, or feeling gassy or bloated after a meal. And we all know the feeling of constipation, or.. the fast and furious opposite of diarhea. These are all symptoms from our digestive system- data points to provide information. One important thing to remember is if you have good, strong digestion, you shouldn’t notice your digestion at all. Now think of sitting in traffic. Perhaps you enlightened soul you, just accept the reality of traffic and surrender- and don’t notice any impact of that experience emotionally. Or perhaps you’re going to be a late for that important meeting..A little harder to accept traffic then, as your frustration builds. How about the hard conversation with a friend? Maybe there’s a subtle heaviness you feel after. Maybe your mind keeps jumping to the hurt or the ways to fix. Again, a bit harder to digest.
Just like with the digestion required for our food consumption, we need to also digest what we experience in our lives. This is where the more internally focused practices come up. Yoga, meditation, journaling, therapy, talking to a friend, giving yourself time and space alone to process your thoughts. There are lots of ways to keep up the emotional digestion. There are also ways to curate the diet of your life a little better. Being mindful of what elements you expose yourself to- limiting doom and gloom news intake, being choosy who you spend your time with, and where you spend your time- indoors versus out, noisy busy spaces or more natural calm environments. Even the colors you wear, and the music or silence you take in. It all impacts your ability to digest your life.
Keep in mind we can only control so much, and life will hand us whatever we are here to experience. But I believe there are ways to set yourself up for optimal digestion, of your food but also your life experiences. Just as gassiness or swelling in the belly give us clues about how our body is handling the food we eat, the emotions give us information about how we are handling our life as well. It’s our job to listen to this feedback, and keep choosing again, but perhaps with a little more clarity and awareness. Ayurveda can help.
