Throughout human history, food has been something immensely valuable – both in the sense of it helping us to survive, but also in the sense of it being used as a way of celebrating and commemorating the beautiful moments in our lives, and consoling us during the sorrowful ones.
Today, many of us have a more or less unconscious relationship with our food. We eat whatever is around – often some highly processed snack – without really paying attention. And, for many others, food is a source of frustration in one sense or another.
Here are several tips for making food a source of joy in your life.
Take the time to consciously express gratitude for, and savour, your meals
There’s a world of difference between downing a cup of instant coffee while running out the door, and sitting down and savouring an artisanal blend that you’ve made with a Jura a1 coffee machine.
One of the best ways of having food be a source of joy in your life, is to actually take the time to savour and appreciate your meals – and not only that, but also to consciously express gratitude for them.
In this context, consciously expressing gratitude for your meals doesn’t necessarily have to have a religious or spiritual basis. But one way or the other, taking the time to feel a bit of gratitude for what you’re about to eat can really impact how you feel – and how your meal makes you feel, too.
Move towards a more mindful and intentional relationship with your food, rather than an impulsive one
Frustration and negativity around food tends to develop as a result of impulsive eating, and the reflexive guilt that tends to come along with it.
Instead of this, if you can take steps to move towards a more mindful and intentional relationship with your food – one when you plan your meals, have them at set times, and enjoy them as fully as you can – your relationship with food should radically improve.
Meals should never be things that you do half-consciously, while trying to multitask something else.
Treat food as an art form, and a form of self-expression
Treating food as an art form, and a form of self-expression, rather than just as “fuel,” creates a lot of room to really appreciate food and view it in its richest and most rewarding context.
If you get into cooking, for example, it will quickly become apparent that there is a lot of difference between a meal that you’ve put genuine time, love, and effort into, and one that you have just put together in the most efficient possible manner so that you can get back to work in a hurry.
In order to really explore and appreciate food as an art form, and a form of self-expression, it can be a very good idea to get a collection of cookbooks and to invest yourself in creating a variety of meals with care and attention to detail.