Cooking for self love: find joy each day

Is eating for health really about juicing, salads and superfoods?

When cooking for good health becomes complicated, it quickly becomes a chore.

We want to eat well, but when healthy choices don’t leave us feeling satiated or satisfied, we develop a habituated resistance and lack of enthusiasm as we get through our ‘healthy meals’.

The stress, effort and procrastination during cooking and eating can negate any benefits we might get from the food, because our emotions are deeply connected to our digestion. This is the gut-brain connection that recent discoveries into the vagus nerve - those elusive pathways between our stomachs and brains - have taught us. Ayurveda recognised this early on, and I want to challenge some of our perceived “healthy food” ideas. Wholesome, joyful cooking is possible, but as with all things in Ayurveda, it starts from the inside out, and the first thing is always our beliefs.

Will you consider a different belief about what healthy food is? Let me walk you through a recipe from my Ayurvedic cooking guide.

An Ayurvedic staple: kind kichadi and some key spices.

Now that you’ve observed some practices, how can you start to change your beliefs around cooking for real health? Start with these reflections:

Can you stock your kitchen with a variety of fresh, seasonal ingredients?

Can you set aside a regular time each day for cooking?

Will you include a few spice combinations for health and wellbeing?

Will you replace resistance and fear with openness and creativity while cooking?

If you say yes to these questions, I invite you to use my Ayurvedic recipe template to bring intuition and joy back into cooking, and replace the mundane with the inspiring. We are never more alive than when we are creating, especially for our health and wellbeing, as well as for family and friends. There is an additional deliciousness to food that is cooked with enthusiasm and love which nourishes the soul. My template includes all the recipes featured in this video, and the fundamental principles and practices to bring health and wellbeing into your home and hearth.

Impressions are everything. Curate and adjust your impressions of everyday life, and watch life expand into something beautiful (just like your cooking!).