In these days of conflicting information about food, its hard to know what to eat and what makes a healthy diet. One study says butter is good, one says butter is bad. Another study says go ahead and eat that bacon, and the next says bacon is a death warrant.

So how do we decide what to eat?

We can find the answer within ourselves by applying some yoga principles.

Yoga is about union of mind, body, and spirit. Eating is not merely about a reaction that occurs in the body that is disconnected and separate from mind and soul. Food not only affects the body but our minds and our spirits as well.

Yoga philosophy can be applied to our eating habits so we learn what foods are right for own unique constitution. When we eat what is right for our own unique constitution it leads to lead to health, balanced weight, energy, and a clear mind.

Find Your Healthy Diet by Connecting to Your Body

To maintain a healthy diet, try these tactics for getting in touch with what your body really wants and needs:

1) Eat mindfully . Let your mind be fully present in the moment. Avoid multi-tasking. Make your meal an event. Just like in a yoga class you dont watch TV, or text, or talk on the phone. In yoga class, its just you and your body. At mealtime let it be just you and your food and what is happening in your mind, body, and soul with every bite. {Tweet this}

2) Keep a nourishment journal. Instead of a food diary where you count calories and track portion sizes, use your nourishment journal to track your emotional responses to the foods you eat. Is the food youre eating making you feel a lightness of being or is it making your feel heavy and tired or is it making you hyperactive and edgy? How is the food nourishing you on an energetic level?

3) Say grace. Give thanks for the food that you are about to receive. Whether you are giving thanks to God, the Universe, Mother Earth, or another entity. An attitude of gratitude imbues the food with that much more nourishment. {Tweet this}

4) Choose foods with the highest amount of vital life force. Remember that food is what gives you life. Food is a carrier and a container of prana vital life force. {Tweet this}

Foods that have the most vital life force are:

• Organic foods
• Fresh foods
• Foods high in nutrients
• Foods that are in their whole form (not processed or synthesized in a factory)
• Foods that are high in energy sourced from the earth, sun, and water
  

5) Prepare your mind and body to eat. Your state of mind while eating will effect the way it is assimilated. Eating while you are angry reduces the availability of prana to your system. Your digestion doesn`t work as well when you are upset, angry, or stressed out. {Tweet this}

So its important to set the tone for your meals. Try and eat quietly and calmly and slowly, in a peaceful setting where you can focus on the present moment and what you are doing now: chewing, swallowing, digesting.

Do a minute of deep breathing, or a few minutes of gentle yoga, or just take 30 seconds and tune into how your body feels right now.

It is through a healthy diet that we give love to our bodies. When we give love, kindness, and support to our bodies, minds, and souls, the love is returned swiftly and exponentially in the form of good health, a clear mind, and inner vitality.