As we welcome a new year, many feel the call to re-evaluate intentions and habits, particularly around health and wellness. At Namaspa, we invite you to approach the start of 2025 not with rigid resolutions, but with curiosity and a commitment to conscious exploration – especially when it comes to how you nourish yourself. This month – in our blog, as well as a part of some offerings at the studio – we’re focusing on mindful and conscious eating, encouraging you to explore different ways of eating (not dieting!) to discover what works best for your body, mind, and lifestyle.
Some principles and practices we’ll explore include:
Encouraging curiosity and exploration, with the intention of ‘branching out’ and finding new foods, new nutrition solutions, new ways of eating that feel good in your body/body systems, enhance mental clarity, and/or simply bring enJOYment;
Finding empowerment, rather than overwhelm, in the time, energy, and resources it sometimes takes to explore new ways of eating, paying attention to things that work and don’t, and sustaining the practices that DO work over time;
Shifting your perspective around food and eating from one of rigidity, rules, restriction, and deprivation, to questions and practices that can lead you toward what it means to truly nourish yourself; to enjoy and revel in the sensory experience of food in general, and the foods you love, in particular; and to see the food and nutrition choices you make today as seeds you’re planting for your future health and wellbeing.
With all of this, please note that the information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice or a substitute for professional care. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please consult with your doctor or a trusted healthcare practitioner before making significant changes to your diet, especially if you have pre-existing metabolic or digestive conditions, or other conditions that are affected by what/when you eat. Your health and wellbeing are unique, and personalized guidance is essential.
Let’s dive in!
Over the years, many different “ways of eating” and “trendy diets” have gained (and some have also lost) popularity. From vegetarianism and veganism to Weight Watchers to ketogenic and paleo diets, with each approach offering unique insights and practices. Some ways of eating emphasize nutritional principles, such as ‘eating the rainbow’ (consuming a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables); increasing antioxidants; eating only whole, unprocessed foods (“Whole30”); focusing on anti-inflammatory foods; or eating foods that help ‘heal the gut’. There are also ways of eating that focus on personalized nutrition, based on some aspect of you as an individual, for example: eating for your blood type or eating in line with how your nervous system processes and digests information/food/input/etc (e.g., Human Design). And then there are ancient and holistic ways of eating, like Ayurveda, where individuals have opportunities to apply big-picture principles (like seasonal eating), along with specific practices that support their particular constitution ‘type’ or dosha.
While some of the above listed ways of eating and trends intersect with the realm of what we might call “fad diets” – such as Atkins or South Beach – there is an important distinction to be made. This blog post focuses on exploring conscious and mindful ways of eating, not restrictive dieting. One of the major downfalls of many trendy diets and nutrition programs is their assumption that they are universally good for everyone … ALL. THE. TIME. These approaches are often marketed as magical solutions to all health and wellness challenges in general, and all weight-related challenges, in particular. But the truth is, no single way of eating is perfect for every body type, lifestyle, or nervous system, and trying to perpetually adhere to rigid, one-size-fits-all food plans and rules is one of the fastest ways to suck the life and joy out of eating and nourishing oneself.
In contrast to this one-size-fits-all marketing tactic that many nutrition and diet programs use, our bodies and lives are dynamic – constantly changing as we move through different cycles and phases of life. The foods and eating patterns that worked for us in our twenties may not serve us in our forties, and the demands of a high-stress job may require different nourishment than those of a slower-paced lifestyle. In fact, at least some of the foods you ate just this last summer are probably not the same foods that will help you feel good and nourish you deeply at this time of deep winter.
So, if there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, what this means is that each individual person gers to harness their own journey of finding the broad principles and then more specific practices that best support them and their lifestyle. This invitation to invest time into the journey of finding food and nutrition solutions that work for you, as an individual, can feel daunting at times; but on the other hand, a different perspective to take is that the journey to finding these personalized ‘solutions’ for yourself can also be incredibly empowering and rewarding. By embracing curiosity and a willingness to explore, you can discover what truly supports your health, wellbeing, and vitality at any given stage or phase of life.
Additionally, it’s important to name and acknowledge that most of us already naturally have some or a lot of sense around what works well for our bodies, even if we don’t always act on that wisdom. This blog also invites a shift from the guilt or shame people sometimes feel when we’ve “fallen off” whatever eating intentions, principles, or program we might be following at any given time; and a movement toward reinforcing what we already know feels good and ‘works’ for us. With our inner knowing as a strong foundation, exploring what additional small, sustainable changes could or would support us over time also feels less daunting.
If your mindset around food has been shaped by rules, restriction, or deprivation, consider shifting toward this more strengths-based approach by asking yourself questions like:
What foods make me truly feel good – not the short-term ‘high’ of things like caffeine or sugar (although we are not saying you should never eat those!), but foods that help me feel alive, vital, etc.?
What eating and other practices support my digestion?
What foods/meals/particular ingredients bring joy and connection, whether they’re tied to family traditions, cultural/ancestral heritage, or simply personal preference?
Is there a particular time of day – or multiple times of the day – where eating either feels really good or really bad in my body, digestion, moods/emotions, etc.?
What environment(s) feel the best and most supportive for me to eat my meals or snacks? For example, if you often eat in the car between meetings, or at your desk in front of your computer screen, maybe a couple of times per week you make a point to eat somewhere peaceful and calming for yourself.
By focusing on these strengths and preferences, you can build a positive, enjoyable relationship with food. And studies show that when we are peaceful and enjoying our food, we are more likely to absorb and utilize the nutrients in the foods we are eating.
Another aspect to consider in all of this is what we might call “the long game” of nutrition. If you’ve explored any approaches to holistic eating and nutrition – and especially modern day medical- and scientific-related findings around this topic – you might be somewhat familiar with the idea that a person’s current state of health and vitality is a result not only of their current daily choices, but of the lifestyle, food, and exercise choices that person was making/engaged in 5, 10, and even 20 years ago. Similarly, the choices you make today will profoundly influence how you feel in the years to come, how you age, and how much health, wellness, vitality, mobility, etc. you have in the last decades of life. This perspective invites us to think about food not just as fuel or a way to ‘look’ a certain way, but as seeds we plant to cultivate future health.
While this isn’t a revolutionary idea, it is a profound one. Contemplating the truth of this concept can deepen your relationship with food and inspire you to make choices that align with your goals for energy, wellbeing, and longevity – for the rest of your life. And again, rather than viewing these choices as burdensome, consider them opportunities to create the health reality you desire – not in a restrictive or fear-based way, but with a sense of empowerment and purpose.
If you choose to embark on this journey of exploration around food and ‘branching out’ into different ways of thinking about nutrition and different ways of eating, consider incorporating one or more of the following practices and tools. Remember, we’re not suggesting that everyone should adopt all of these all the time. The goal is to explore, experiment, and discover!
Practice mindful eating: Slow down, chew thoroughly, and pay attention to the sensory experience of eating. This simple practice can enhance not only your enjoyment of foods, it also aids in digestion, and helps you tune into your body’s hunger and fullness signals.
Ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?”: Bring awareness and a learning mindset to exploring the difference between ‘wanting to eat’ (for any number of reasons: mood/emotions, boredom, habit, etc.) and feeling the physiological state and feeling of true hunger. As you’ve maybe heard before, sometimes, we mistake thirst for hunger; so one practice is, when you think you might be feeling hungry, to drink some water, herbal tea, etc., in order to learn experientially if you are thirsty, or truly hungry.
Time-restricted eating & intermittent fasting: These can be sensitive topics because they can conjure extreme caloric deficit diets and even disordered eating. To make all of the relevant and important distinctions and disclaimers, we would need another whole blog post, so for the purposes of this post, including these as possible exploratory practices is not advocating for any level of intense deprivation or starvation. For many people just starting out on a journey toward exploring reducing the number of hours they eat vs. don’t eat in a day, it’s sometimes simplest to talk about time-restricted eating (without having to worry about reaching a certain number/threshold of ‘fasting’ hours). So with this one, take a quick inventory (in your mind or on paper) around when you usually eat your first and last meals/snacks of the day. This reveals your typical eating window (e.g., 8:00am-7:00pm). And rather than making any huge drastic changes initially, see if you can, just once or twice per week to begin, eat your first meal/snack one hour later and/or your last meal/snack one hour earlier. Your new eating window then becomes 9:00am-7:00pm or 8:00am-6:00pm. Lastly, for the sake of long-term success, we encourage you not to disrupt, for example, longstanding dinner plans you have with your partner or family; it might work in the short term, but through the lens of sustainable change, see if you can find other ways of slightly adjusting your eating window that don’t potentially negatively impact other things in your life that you care about.
Increase fiber through increasing leafy greens: Start your meals with leafy greens and other vegetables. This practice can reduce glucose spikes and improve metabolic health. (Learn more from The Glucose Goddess, or join us for our upcoming “40 Days to Health and Vitality” Program where we’ll follow “The Glucose Goddess” method; learn more below).
Add chia and flax seeds to your diet: These superfood seeds are prebiotic (supporting healthy gut bacteria) and help reduce LDL cholesterol and inflammation. They’re also versatile and easy to incorporate into salads, smoothies, yogurt, porridges (oats, quinoa, rice, etc.), and baked goods. Read more here.
Explore Ayurvedic principles and practices: Explore Ayurvedic eating and nutrition in general, and also explore your personal Ayurvedic ‘constitutional type’ or dosha (Vata, Pitta, or Kapha). By learning broad Ayurvedic principles based on things like seasonal eating and balancing elements, and combining those with newly-gained knowledge of your particular dosha, you'll have a supportive framework rooted in ancient wisdom, but that also leaves room for curiosity and trying new foods, ingredients, herbs, spices, and flavors that bring balance to you uniquely. Take this quiz to learn your dosha, and join Suzie for her upcoming Ayurvedic workshop on 1/26 (more information is below).*
Explore the role of the nervous system in digestion in a very practical way through Human Design: Some people digest better in quiet environments, while others thrive eating in loud social settings. Some people love and benefit from eating the same thing every day (around the same time) for a certain phase of life while their body ‘wants/needs/likes’ that particular food(s); while other people thrive having variety and flexibility in what, when, and how they eat. Explore how your Human Design “Determination” can guide your eating habits by inputting your birth information (birth date, time, and location) here, getting your Human Design Chart, and then reading about the 12 different digestion types, including your own!*
*With both the Ayurvedic quiz and the generation of your Human Design Chart (utilizes your birth information because the system is based in a combination of astrology and the ancient Chinese system of the I Ching), a reminder that any and all ‘typing’ systems – especially when done in a few minutes on the internet and not with the guidance and support of a trained and skilled practitioner – will reveal some wisdom and truth, while also probably making you think to yourself, at least once: “This doesn’t apply to me at all.” Again, the theme of exploration applies here, too: see what the quiz outcome and/or your chart and determination type touches, evokes, or inspires in you, and follow those threads that are most alive, exciting, and relevant to your life and lifestyle!
Finally, if you’re eager to dive deeper into mindful eating and holistic wellness in community, consider joining one of our upcoming programs:
6-week program: “40 Days to Health and Vitality” (1/21-3/4, Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:15pm): This program combines yoga, mindfulness, and nutrition- and fitness-based practices to support you and your health, wellness, and vitality goals for the upcoming year. Options to participate in-person at the Bend studio or from anywhere via Zoom.
Workshop: “Harness the Power of Ayurveda - Boost Energy, Optimize Weight, and Feel Your Best” (Sunday, 1/26, 2:00-4:00pm): Learn how to improve your health and wellbeing through Ayurvedic principles and practices related to food, digestion, and detoxification.
As you step into the new year, remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there IS immense value in exploring what works for YOU. By embracing practices that nourish your body, mind, and spirit, you can create a foundation of health and vitality that supports you not only in your current life, but also sows the seeds for health and vitality in years to come.
Here’s to a year of mindful nourishment and vibrant living!
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