#16. Myra Lewin: Healing your Relationship with Food - the Ayurvedic Way

Join me with Myra Lewin of Hale Pule Ayurveda & Yoga as we explore her book and 12-week workshop, both titled Freedom in your Relationship with Food.  Myra is an Ayurvedic practitioner and Yoga Therapist.  She is the author of two books:  Freedom in your Relationship with Food and Simple Ayurvedic Recipes.  She also produces two podcasts: Everyday Ayurveda & Yoga at Hale Pule and Spark your Intuition with Hale Pule.   The word "freedom" is important.  It leaves a very different imprint than the term "disordered eating."  Myra explains that our relationship with food is very much connected with mother, mother earth and perhaps our birth mother.  Ayurveda believes food is our nourishment, but we need to be able to digest it.  Food reflects our relationship with ourselves and all of nature.  The relationship between how we interact with our world and the food we eat is a direct one, i.e. if we have a scarcity mentality, this will be reflected in our relationship with food.  Changing any relationship starts with practicing self-awareness, giving credence to cause and effect.  Our ability to digest food is directly connected to how we feel.  If we are always moving quickly, we are not attending to our underlying emotions.  Taking pause to look at the whole picture is required.  Only then do we begin to realize it's not about the food, i.e. "that food is unhealthy."  It's about how we eat.   The Western approach to eating disorders emphasizes that control is often a root case.  Myra uses the words “surrender” and “control” as being instrumental in healing our relationship with food.  In most cases, we are confused about what we can control.  As we start to cultivate self-awareness, we become willing to release our old sense of self and inquire:  what is my true self, what kind of actions am I willing to take, can I trust.  We all have impressions, referred to as samskaras, habitual patterns that no longer serve us.  Surrender is the process of letting go, letting go of these impressions and clearing their charge in our lives.  With regard to the mind, Ayurveda goes a step further than Western psychology.  While the Western approach promotes awareness, it doesn’t necessarily have methods that enable prana – the energy in the body to move.  When prana is blocked, i.e. holding resentments can block prana,  an unhealthy relationship with food can develop.  When we work with the breath and mind, we begin to move prana and spark healing.  Ayurvedic principles can be applied to any cuisine.  Myra’s approach to cooking and teaching focus on creating balance and improving agni.  She emphasizes a tri-doshic meal – a balanced meal for all doshas.  Herbs and spices import the six tastes and balance the meal.  When we are out of balance, we tend to eat too much of one taste – which can create more imbalance.  Our linear approach to food presumes that if something is “good for us,” we need more of it.  We don’t need a lot of herbs and spices in one dish.  Myra encourages clients to work with three to start with.  Cooking is an alchemy; the cook is an alchemist.  When we incorporate the six tastes in a meal, we feel well-nourished and unhealthy habits begin to drop away.  In addition to  the upcoming program, Healing your Relationship with Food,  Hale Pule also offers a 21-day Agni Therapy I would love it if you would follow, rate, or write a review for my podcast.  What you think matters and I appreciate all feedback!Get in touch with topic ideas relating to my podcast's categories:The meaning of health and well-being, personal and collective consciousness, and maximizing full human potential.  My email:  [email protected] sincere gratitude, Noreen