Eating basics is something that gets lost in translation to the modern world. Digestion really takes a hit in our life when we are busy and trying to get ‘Everything done.’
Eating on the run has a lot to answer for in this modern world. The routine of sitting down to enjoy one solid meal every day is almost a treat for some people, not to mention families! And with all this stuff of processed food, that just sends me into a tizzy, so we won’t go there yet!
So let’s start at the beginning.
Digestion starts in our mouth. In the effort of chewing and the enzymatic process/Agni power that takes place is related to the joy of eating. The comfort of feeling full is hugely related to taking our time to taste, chew, and masticate our food.
Literally eating basics is the simple practice of slowing down our method of eating is the start to cleaning up problems in our body. In a very quick view, we are giving our body time to gear up as we chew. Chewing gets the digestive juices flowing. These enzymes/agni organise into their special processes, putting power into digesting, transforming and assimilating all that we just placed into our body.
“Your stomach doesn’t have teeth,” will ring a bell for some of you!?
With that reminder, from the Ayurvedic perspective, do you know how much one individual should chew and swallow at one sitting?
Well, place your hands together and make fists, as the picture shows. This gives an individual a pretty good idea of the size of their stomach. But keep on reading! 
Stomach size does not mean meal size! In Ayurveda there is the rule of three.
One fist is for chewed food. And the other fist, imagine it split in two parts:
one half is for space and the other half is for tepid to cool liquid during the meal.
We need the space for the action of transformation in the stomach, and we need the liquid for lubrication.
Food for thought for us all, it doesn’t necessarily make change of long term eating patterns easier, but change cannot come full circle with out information and education.
So next meal time? Chew chew chew!
(Please note: there is a slight difference in some schools, where the fists are split into 3 equal parts.)
To find out more about what foods, exercise, meditation, and patterns suit your Dosha,
contact Kelly Marie for an Ayurvedic digestion diagnosis, treatment and recommendations consultation
Phone: 086 1778369
Email: kelly@yogaayurvedaliving.com
Go gently, Kelly
Contemporary Ayuveda