There exists additional information which is not part of established food guidelines we are used to seeing on a day to day basis when we purchase items pre packaged. Some considerations of things which make a difference to the value of what we are eating include when we eat it, what season it is, where it is grown, harvested or processed, what other foods may interact with another.
Food items and their pranic value is huge. The time from growth to consumption plays a very important role in how we choose and pick food to eat. If we had a life scale or pranic value to assign maybe we would think twice before eating some of the things we do. I we explain what a pranic value of something one is about to ingest, maybe they would choose an alternate option. But at least there would be a choice. Inherently, it seems to me something right out of the ground is probably healthier than a frozen version or a vacuum packed shelf version. The ratio of liveliness (prana) to a piece of cardboard in relation to other foods could be helpful.
Listing major food interactions bring up the idea of the rasas. Being one myself who was never one to cook, when I look at and examine the six tastes, it forces me to look more elementally at the food I eat and how I may prepare it. Having a way to express to the public what rasa pacify particular physical or psychological needs may be helpful to force us as the public to look at the current state we are in, assess where we are at that moment and then choose foods that may pacify imbalances.
The question is HOW can we bring to world into such an awareness, personal responsibility and self insight as to make better, healthier more informed choices?
Western medicine may be beginning to tout the need for people to live healthy and thrive. I think this is new slogan of today. Ayurveda innately is about your life. Ayurveda has always been within us, we just have to slow down and reveal it within us. Society is not about slowing down or taking time. We are known culturally as a rush in and out society, more is better, a society of convenience or a throw away society. The good optimism is we have such cultural diversity that some different viewpoints and ways to look at and analyze have been brought from other countries.
Ayurveda has been brought to us from India. As more and more influence has begun to integrate into our society, many Westerners have been able to meet, work and be around those who may approach problems with a different mindset. By default, when some of the problem solving abilities become constrained, we see some of the other approaches or options which may serve to solve in a way we had not thought possible. More and more Westerners have begun to see the stress brought on by societal norms are unhealthy.
Ayurveda is a lifestyle which serves as the answer to traditional Western way of dealing with dis-ease. To live healthy and thrive is a way of life. The integration of more and more true practitioners into our educational systems as well as out medical environments has been slowly accepting more and more of the fine qualities and philosophies that Ayurveda has to offer. Moksa is available to us all. Despite this spiritual offering Ayurveda provides, Ayurveda encourages the individual to look into themselves as well as looking out and where they fit within the world. Western medicine has been recently trying to integrate prevention and personal responsibility into health care. The tenets Ayurveda offers can only help and improve society as a whole. The caveat, we have to slow down.
