Pamela Miles

Nourishment through Health, Happiness, and Spirituality

Nourishment is so much bigger than healthy eating, but yes, we will talk about food. I love to eat.

Articles on nourishing yourself through health, happiness, and spirituality.

A Teacher’s Blessings

Nourishment, Practice

I climbed the stairs to the roof last night, hoping the full moon would be visible in the overcast sky. It wasn’t, but its radiance was.

The moon itself could not be seen, but neither could the clouds obscure its fullness.

Inspired by the moon’s persistence, I sat down to drink in its soft radiance, hopeful the clouds would part.

Guru Purnima

In India, the full moon is celebrated each month as the fullest, purest, most complete expression of blessing. The full moon in July — Guru Purnima — celebrates the unique blessings of the teacher.

Since living in India decades ago, each July, I reflect on the fullness of my teachers’ blessings, and feel how they continue to nourish me.

Where would I be — who would I be — without my teachers?

Our teachers’ blessings

Teachers see something in us we don’t yet see. Their vision gives us confidence that with consistent, dedicated effort, we can find our gifts and bring them forth.

We hit rocky patches as we strive to express our gifts, and stumble in the darkness more than once.

Like the full moon, our teachers’ radiance shines in us even when we feel more defined by our clouds.

Thanking our teachers

The teacher’s form passes, but the teacher’s blessings are timeless. They live in our memory, fed by our gratitude.

What action can you practice today to thank your teachers by expressing the values they inspired? That practice, done every day, is a living memorial to the blessings that sustain you, and all of us.

How do your teachers’ blessings continue to support you? Please share in a comment.

 

 

A Dose of Farmer

Lifestyle, Nourishment, Self-care

End of summer slows Manhattan’s relentless pace.

Greenmarkets overflowing with produce grace the sidewalks of my neighborhood four days a week. Other days, I venture beyond walking distance just to stroll past the stalls, oogle the veggies, and hang out with the farmers.

Here in the concrete jumble, my family eats the same food the farmers’ families eat. Some of these farmers have been feeding my family for a quarter century.

I love that.

These small farms are not certified organic; that’s an expense only agribusiness can manage. These farmers are heart and soul wholesome, people who choose life close to the earth.

Market conversation adds its own pleasure. Jeff and I commiserate over lost artichokes, then he brings my attention to papalo, his words dripping with care, enthusiasm and humor.

Franca remembers we like romano beans and throws an extra handful into the bag. Pam alerts me the crème fraîche is nearly gone.

A mom notices my voice in the crowd and grabs my arm from behind. We hug and fill in the years. Our kids have grown but somehow we look the same.

Food, hugs and conversation intertwine in a nourishing trifecta.

For a few days, I too slow down to enjoy life’s harvest, pondering nothing more momentous than whether the Yankees can slide into another post season.

Does it make a sound? Does it weigh a pound?

Lifestyle, Nourishment

A popular query asks: If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

Here’s the chronic dieter’s version: If no one sees me eat it, have I really eaten it?

The temptation is not so much in the food we eat, but in the tendency to look away. Even when no one else is looking, we see ourselves eat, and we are who matters most.

Ayurvedic wisdom for a contemporary dilemma

Ayurveda, the ancient system of health and healing indigenous to India, poses a relevant question: If you don’t pay attention to what you eat, why would your body?

According to Ayurveda, since illness starts with indigestion, it makes sense to do what we can to optimize our digestion.

Digestion starts with awareness. If you don’t pay attention, your body doesn’t pay attention, and if your body doesn’t pay attention, it doesn’t digest food effectively.

You know what happens to food you forget to store properly; it rots. The same thing happens to food your body doesn’t digest. Undigested food lingers as toxic waste in your system, impeding the natural functions of the body, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get in the way of your health and happiness.

You could easily change that.

A timeless way to enjoy your food

Next time you are about to put something in your mouth, pause a moment to notice your state, what you’re thinking and how you feel. Pause a moment longer to notice the food. Start enjoying it — and digesting it — with your eyes and your nose, before it enters your mouth.

Once you’ve engaged your attention, you’ll likely savor your food, and actually chew it, making it easier to digest, and more satisfying.

We are nourished not only by what we eat, but by our own attention.

Mindfulness. Awareness. Be. Here. Nowness.

What Peas Taught Me About Changing Behavior

Nourishment

I’m savoring the end of summer, watching the Yankees, shelling peas.

And considering something radical.

These are the last shelling peas of the season. Calculating how far I could stretch this sweet green joy of summer, I asked the farmer how long peas keep in the pod. She suggested I shell them and pop them in the freezer.

I demurred. “I don’t freeze food,” I said. And truly, the freezer is the emptiest space in my home…. Read More

Really? Questioning Conventional Weight Management

Nourishment

Time.com published an article by Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Debunking 10 Myths About Dieting. The first entry: You can eat after 8 PM.

Really?

Dr. Nancy justifies this statement with the conventional understanding of diet: calories in vs. calories expended, anything extra stored as fat. Doesn’t matter what time you eat, only how much. Snyderman looks quite trim, so it seems this works for her…. Read More

Exercise is Not Enough

Lifestyle, Nourishment

According to a recently reported study, lack of exercise has not caused the epidemic of obesity in the US. If anything, American adults are more active now than we used to be.

But it’s not enough to offset how much we overeat.

We eat so much more than we need, that children would have to walk 2 hours a day to walk off the extra food, and adults would have to walk 2.5 hours. Although exercise is important, it’s clearly not the answer to obesity.

So what is the answer? Eat less…. Read More