“Bless the Food Before Us. The Family Beside us, & The Love between us”
Sitting down for a meal to eat is more than a necessity to fuel the body. It is a time to refuel ourselves, slow down, and reflect with family and friends. But, in today’s modern-day society, we often neglect to take this time to enjoy the food in front of us because we are so distracted with our daily lives. Taking the time to acknowledge our food using dinner prayers is a great way to improve your health, but many of us neglect this sacred time.
You may often find yourself pushing meals off and ignoring your hunger cues to complete work and get things done. In doing so, you are starving your body, upsetting hormones, and going against your natural system. This action can often lead to overindulging and forgetting to enjoy the important time of eating a meal.
Sometimes, we even get so hungry that we eat too fast and leave behind the opportunity to take a rest and enjoy these precious moments of the day.
Many of us eat our meals while watching TV, preoccupied with the actual process of eating. Don’t feel ashamed of this, but have you ever wondered if the food would taste different if you would pay more attention to it? For example, when was the last time you cut into a tropical fruit such as papaya and enjoyed the natural flavors? Would your body feel satisfied faster if you were more present eating?
One great way to learn how to appreciate our food is to take the time to bless our meals. Appreciating what we have in front of us, who we are with and the food sitting before us. If you are someone who often forgets to eat, eats too fast, and consumes without thinking, then this article is for you.
Fueling the Body With Food
In yoga history, some believe that you should only eat what you need and fill your stomach up to 70 percent. Gandhi once said that one should not enjoy their food, but rather eat enough not to be hungry. But for many, this belief is too extreme.
Food is something to enjoy, as it not only fuels your body but your soul. There are so many different kinds of food around the world, tastes to experience, and flavors to try. Think about Spanish food. Within this culture, there are hundreds of different recipes to try. So, there should be an utmost appreciation shown in every meal. The Yogi’s 70 percent rule is a great guideline to follow. It allows you to appreciate the scarce resources of food on Earth and the limits of your body.
But it is also okay to overindulge once in a while. Especially when presented with a great opportunity to enjoy new flavors and spend time with loved ones.
One way to become more in tune with yourself is to practice meditation. There are many scientifically proven benefits of the practice. If you are interested, you can even look into trying out one of Blue Osa’s meditation courses!
By taking a few moments before eating to bless your meal, you are drawing a focus to the food in front of you. As well as the people around you. Even if you are eating alone, it’s important to take a minute to reflect on what you have. This will help the mind and body better connect with the meal in front of you.
The Energy of The Universe
We all consist of different vibrations of energy drawn from the universe to give us power. This is pure physics. In the movie, I AM, by Tom Shadyac, there was a message that said, the emotions and thoughts we have actually have an effect on everything around us. They did an experiment on yogurt where evil thoughts made the yogurt vibrate. Amazing right? By seeing this experiment, it can make you consider the importance of blessed nutrition.
The food that nurtures your body provides you with energy that resonates within your body while digesting. Positive vibrations attached to your food after blessing a meal can leave you feeling happy. In contrast, negative vibrations can leave you hungry, bloated, or with digestion issues.
If you are nervous about a new adventure, upcoming meeting or even a presentation you need to give, try seeking out comfort and security in energy. Enhanced through objects like crystals and mala beads. These objects strengthen the positive energy around you while also helping to bless the food in front of you. By blessing your meal, you are encouraging your food to have a positive effect on the body.
Benefits of Dinner Prayers and Blessing Your Meals
One way to bless your meal is to come up with a mantra – a small ritual where you focus your thoughts and positive thinking around the meal in front of you. Practice this by draping your palms around your plate, sealing the plate and focusing the subject of your blessing on the food. An example of a mantra is: “Universe, Let the beauty and the energy of nature nourish me and be blessed with energy within me”.
With full focus on the food and the moment, try to take your first bites in silence. Appreciate the taste and smell and see if you feel any changes within your energy and the way you eat. In some yoga retreats, students may often sit in silence for the first five minutes of a meal. This can be challenging for some but can make you realize the value of food in a new way. By taking the time to bless your food, you become more aware of the present moment. Then, when you are more aware of the process of eating, you can find yourself fulfilled faster – becoming more in tune with your body.
The Science Behind Our Thoughts and Energy
Japanese researcher, Masuro Emoto conducted a study about “thoughts affecting water”. This study revealed that the crystal structure of water changed once exposed to negative words. In contrast, when replaced with positive words, such as I love you and thank you, the water changed to crystallized structures. This experiment makes you wonder what similar effects blessings can have on our bodies, made of a lot of water.
Positive thinking and surrounding yourself with positive energy is a great practice for the yogi mind. Positive things happen to positive people. Smile returns. So why not tap this positive thinking into your nutrition?
The Blessed Nutrition at Blue Osa
At Blue Osa, we are grateful to enjoy the blessings from our kitchen. Our farm-to-table cuisine provides guests with the proper nutrition needed for a productive and happy life. It not only nourishes the soul but is tasty as well! A lot of the food comes straight from Blue Osa’s gardens where plants are grown with love and care. Our team of gardeners manages all the greens around Blue Osa. Working to ensure that all plants are well taken care of.
By growing our own vegetables we can ensure the food served at Blue Osa is as local as it can be, sustainably sourced, and organic. Tasty veggies are an end result of love and care.
The positive energy makes the plants grow, the love of the chef makes the food tasty. At Blue Osa, we enjoy three well-balanced meals daily in family-style. We eat blessed meals, with our universal family, embraced by nature and love. The personal blessing makes the meal vibrate the universal energy to better digest in your stomach and your body.
But don’t take my word for it. Come and taste, or get a preview of some of the amazing dishes here. Many of our yogis state: “I must get the recipes for this stuff”. Well, now you can! Many of the meals we eat are from Marie’s signature cookbook.
5 Benefits of Blessing Your Food Using Dinner Prayers
1. Prepares the Body: Blessing food before a meal brings your attention to the present moment. A practice learned through meditation. When in the present moment, your physical body becomes prepared to eat. At the same time, your physiological body gets ready to digest the meal. This is because salivation increases as well as digestion enzymes.
2. Increased Mindfulness: Before meals, practice mindfulness. This will release hormones and set your brain to the mode for enjoyment.
3. More Fulfillment: Taking the moment to focus before the meal prepares your physiological body. As well as your emotional body. This allows you to enjoy the meal and feel fulfillment afterward as well.
4. Improved Digestion: The positive thinking and blessing of the food change the molecular structure of water. This influences the fluid cells in food and the way they affect your body and digestion.
5. Improved Taste: Blessing your meal brings your attention to the moment. This makes you more conscious of what you are eating and consuming. Awakening your body to all the senses and allowing the greatest enjoyment of flavors and tastes.
Steps To Begin Enhancing Your Meal
With so many benefits of blessing your meal, it’s definitely worth a try…at least to see what happens. If this is a new practice to you, try and follow the steps below to begin incorporating blessing your meal into your daily life.
- Consider your perception towards each meal. Try to approach each meal with a positive attitude and good energy.
- Be present in the moment: forget TV, Phone, newspapers and drop conversation for a while. If a digital detox is something you would like to try even further, consider a retreat that will help you realign your focus.
- Bless or think about the food in front of you. Let it nurture you.
- Take the first bites to taste and feel the texture of your food. Chew.
- Practice silence, at least for the first few minutes of each meal
- Become connected to Mother Earth. Think about becoming raw and naked with nature.
And above all, remember that some of the things we take for granted, someone else is praying for. Be blessed with what you have and you will find that life may become a little more enjoyable.
7 Short Dinner Prayers We Use at Blue Osa
We then take a moment to bow our heads as a prayer of gratitude is read aloud to the group. These prayers were written specifically for Blue Osa by one of our guest teachers Karina Mirsky:
Day 1
Today we celebrate the PRESENT MOMENT. We are grateful for everything that has happened in our lives which led up to THIS moment, where we gather together in the HERE and NOW. Breathing in, let’s fully arrive in the present moment… Breathing out, let’s be grateful for this moment… May this moment be a delightful one. – Namaste
Day 2
Today we are thankful for THIS LAND. Blessed with green earth, warm air, sunrise, and ocean song. We honor the native plants, animals, and insects here who share their home with us. We are grateful to the people who built the structures which allow us to inhabit this little piece of paradise. May this land and all who come here be blessed. – Amen.
Day 3
Today we honor the CIRCLE OF LIFE. We are grateful for the plants and animals that give up their lives to sustain ours. May this food nourish our bodies, minds, and hearts. May it also enrich our time together as we learn more about what it means to be alive. – Namaste
Day 4
Today we bow to our ANCESTORS. We are thankful to those who came before us. The relatives, community members, teachers, and leaders who worked hard for us to live the way we do today. We honor their wisdom, efforts, and sacrifices. May we make our ancestors proud by treating each other and the earth well. – Amen
Day 5
Today, and every day, we honor the CREATOR: The architect of love, wisdom, beauty, and guidance. We humble ourselves to this sacred source. May we serve it every day in our thoughts, speech, and actions. – Amen
Day 6
Today we are thankful for ALL THAT SUSTAINS US: Healthy food, fresh air, and clean water. Spiritual practices like yoga and meditation. The support we receive from teachers, family, and friends. Our careers and creative passions. May all that sustains our lives be blessed in thankfulness. – Namaste
Day 7
Today we are grateful for our BLUE OSA FAMILY and for ALL OF YOU. It is our joy to work together to serve you. We pray that your time here has filled up your hearts, souls, and stomachs! May you be blessed on your journey and travel safely back to us someday soon. – Namaste
