Moving The Spirit

What does paleo, vegan, raw, gluten-free, vegetarian, specific carbohydrate, weight watchers, and other diets all have in common? They all invite change. Change is the catalyst for moving Spirit.

In August I took part in a week-long retreat in the mountains of Vermont working with spirit, ritual, and magic. I was reminded of how spiritual we are as a people - naturally, without even trying. It reminded me how every one of us and everything we do are just expressions of Spirit. Plastic factories, lush meadows, oceans, paintings - all the ugly and all the beautiful just expressions of Spirit.

As a nutritionist, this led me to a very profound understanding that food is not our answer to balanced health. If it was, whole food diets would be silver bullets but they're not. It all depends on the individual's Spirit and what they're dealing with. What's being repressed must be expressed and will be expressed via rashes, tumors, joy, and love.

Now. don't get me wrong and think that I'm dismissing whole foods, or healthful eating. It's beyond important to eat healthfully and balanced - whatever that means to you. I feel that food moves the Spirit through the body, but if the issue is an emotion/psychological issue, which it usually is, food will only act as a sage smudge. It won't completely do away with the root cause it will just facilitate it and keep it from getting stuck and repressed.

I have recently begun integrating this Spirit philosophy into my work and the results are tremendous. Chips are not the problem, they're just a symptom. The real work and the real art is to find out why the emotional/spiritual self wants the chips and what they're feeding. The symptom of the chips is the cholesterol, weight gain, etc. The cause is the Spiritual/emotional issue. Is this making sense?

It's not just about a regimen to quit smoking or to lose weight. It's about going to a deep, dark place that's kept alive by the foods and thoughts. It's about confronting and working with the pain - which must be done with love and patience.

It is then that you learn to love and understand a whole new part of yourself. With that new wisdom comes a fantastic balance where you find yourself free of cravings, destructive thoughts, and physical pain. It is a state in which the Spirit is moving through you, rather than getting stuck and colliding within you.

What ways do you allow Spirit to express through you?