Why it is Difficult to change our Food Habits?

The food we eat is the result of habitual conditioning. It is not just the issue of individual food preference. It is something that is handed down for generations in a family, caste or community. That is why you cannot change the food habits of people, just by asking them to do so. To be able to shift your choice of food, it requires an enormous shift in  other  areas  of  your  life  also. 

Every person eats because of the level of consciousness he is in - he eats a certain kind of food, in a certain kind of way, and he likes it to  be  the  same. If you give me what I ate as a child, I simply cannot eat it now, because there is a shift in consciousness. And whatever was sweet at that time. 

How does one bring a change in food habits? -  Why are people  able to  shift  their  food  habits in  SSY? It all depends on your state of consciousness. To be able to shift your food habits requires a shift in your consciousness. I have seen many naturopathy practitioners advise their clients to change the kind of food they eat. But the same people eat wholly cooked food at home. What sense does it make to tell others to make a shift, when you  are  incapable of doing the same? Most naturopathy doctors believe that - raw food diet and fasting is a therapy - it need not be a consistent practice. But, we know now, that daily consumption of raw food is essential for good health.  It is something that we must eat and enjoy eating. 

However, people go to naturopathy hospital with no such orientation. And out there, nobody is allowed to bring in any food. They are not allowed to get out  and under very strict conditions and great pressure, they succeed temporarily to  change  the  diet  of  this person. No wonder then, that as soon as this person leaves the hospital, he heads for junk food with a vengeance. This is not natural living - natural living cannot happen through a ten-day stay in a naturopathy hospital. The key is - ‘You must have the freedom to eat, and yet you should not eat unhealthy food. 

The freedom to eat what you want to eat, and what you want itself must change, rather than restricting  the  food.’ Everybody is trying to restrict themselves - they crave for certain foods, but consume something else, and call it a diet. “I am dieting” which means that, “I have changed my food with great difficulty - I am eating something, which I don't want to eat.” When you eat what you don't want to eat, it is called dieting; but, if you  eat what you want to eat, you are eating the food your choice. This is when it is the food that you naturally choose, and, life is set in a new and healthy pattern. It becomes a part of your life and there is no need  to diet. 

So, what you want, and how to shift what you want is important. In the Siddha Samadhi Yoga Program - SSY, a clear understanding takes place about what are the advantages of these natural foods. In addition a change takes place on the Panch Koshas (Our five subtle  bodies) all five levels of our being are cleansed and a shift in our consciousness takes place. Here, one begins to see life in a new light. Thus, it becomes easy to imbibe this new shift in eating healthy foods and it stays with you as  a part of your lifestyle. 

- By Guruji Shri Rishi Prabhakar