We Are What We Eat
Our mission at Balanced Rock is to inspire health and wellbeing through a deep connection to nature and spirit. What better way to achieve this in an evolving and ongoing way than through the food we eat! We need food to survive and we can create a relationship with food that helps us to thrive. Below I share some ideas to inspire your connection to the very things that literally make you who you are.
All of these points can be employed simply by signing up for a local CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In this relationship the consumer pays a local farmer money up front to produce crops that are harvested and directly delivered to the consumer over the course of the season. Read on for some ideas about new and exciting ways you might relate to the food you eat!
Trust
We support our local farmers no matter what hardships may come. By investing money before receiving food we are making a commitment to another person’s dream and livelihood. Regardless of the weather, crop failure or pest problem the farmer is encouraged and empowered, always knowing that a large community of people is supporting them.
Eat Locally
The positive effects and joy of receiving food that is produced locally are quadrupled when we consider the fossil fuel savings that we are enacting by reducing the transport of food over long distances. The food is as fresh as one could hope for; it never sits in a warehouse and is often harvested the day before it is delivered to us. This insures that we are eating food at the height of its capacity for nourishment. Oxidation has not set in and we receive more nutrients and minerals when we eat locally grown foods.
Allow Rather Than Control
I have control issues. Do you? I want everything to be just so. Yet when I receive my weekly food share I have no control over what will arrive. I can only control what I do with the bountiful gift. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that is life. We can only do the best we can with what we are given. My CSA membership helps me practice this yogic truth regularly.
One Less Decision
Adults make approximately 35,000 decisions everyday. Each of these requires mental and emotional energy. Have you ever found yourself standing in a supermarket overwhelmed by the variety presented to you? Problem solved with CSA! The share arrives and you have one less decision to make, and a whole bunch of yummy beautiful produce to consume.
Easting Seasonally
Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science) suggests that we eat with the seasons in order to align our rhythms with the natural rhythms of the earth. That is why soups are so yummy in winter (they are warm and moist) and salads delight in summer (they are cool and crisp). Nature has a tremendous intelligence in that summer crops include lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes: juicy foods that replenish a body dehydrated by increased sun and heat. In the same way nature offers us root vegetables in the winter to nourish our capacity to go deep into the darkness of the season and discover the fertility there. We are a part of nature, yet our culture and society attempts to convince us we are above, or better than nature. Much of our suffering can be attributed to this disconnect, and by eating with the seasons we have one more opportunity to reconnect with who we truly are.
Creative Juice
Do you ever get into a rut where you buy and prepare the same things over and over again? I guarantee this will cease if you enroll in a CSA. Every week there is a different variety of produce and with the help of the internet we can explore new and interesting ways to prepare it. Spice up your life on a daily basis through the food you prepare and eat.
Variety
We receive different food every week. This keeps us healthy by providing a balanced diet without the effort of researching every little thing. As Michael Pollan states in the beginning of his book “In Defense of Food”: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. The guesswork is taken out of dieting and we are left to delight in the culinary creations that are possible with a constant flow of fresh local produce.
Digesting It All
As human beings we not only digest our food, we also digest our experiences. In a fast-paced world we don’t often take the time to truly nourish our nervous system by pausing long enough the “smell the roses”. Making a commitment to cooking and more slowly eating your food will support the nervous system in regulating itself so that you can be more connected to your body, your environment, your relationships, and your life as a whole!
Gratitude On The Ground
What do you do once the food is on the table, everyone is present and it is time to eat? I strongly suggest you try taking a moment to pause and verbally express gratitude before digging in. Keep it simple. Whatever you feel grateful for, speak it. I have found that with a CSA it is even easier because instead of generally saying I am grateful for the people and land that produced this food I can picture the actual human beings who worked so hard to get it to my table. Gratitude is a powerful practice, made even more potent when we concretize it in time and space.
If you reside in the Mariposa/Yosemite community...
We can recommend Raw Roots Farm and Mountain Meadow Farms as wonderful choices for CSA membership. We use their products as often as possible on our courses striving to serve our participants the very best nourishment under the sun. Invest in your community, invest in your health, invest in yourself. The return is magic!Inspired by our local bounty, I have begun offering a yoga class right before the Mariposa Farmers Market, just a 2 minute walk away. Come join me on Wednesdays May-Nov 4:00-5:15pm for Fresh Local Yoga at Studio M!
Bon Appetit!
Paula Wild
Paula Wild, E-RYT 500, is honored to serve as Director of Operations, Instructor and Guide for Balanced Rock. She is a masterful yoga instructor and therapist who most deeply enjoys practicing and teaching in nature’s outdoor studio. She believes that the tools yoga and time in nature offer are the most effective ways to connect with our own inner wisdom and expand our potential in the world. Access Paula’s latest musings and offerings on her blog and website: wildawakewellness.com