When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.

Food as Medicine

Society has always acknowledged the health benefits of food. However, with the development of chemical drugs and pills, we have forgotten that the food we eat is directly linked to our health. Foods, in fact, are the best medicine and therefore we should take into account carefully how we perceive and use them. This is an active effort in Auroville.

Food Among Other Nutriments

Feeding oneself with good food is one of the primary needs one should fulfil in order for the physical body to survive and remain healthy. On the other hand, we should not neglect all the other kinds of nutriments that nourish and possibly reinforce our subtle bodies, for example, the emotional, mental, and spiritual sheaths. Music is a type of food just as are images in the form of movies. Our thoughts have the same effect. Compare thoughts of joy and openness with thoughts of anger and resentment.

Depending on one’s natural inclination or current mood, all kinds of nutriments require to be digested and after being ingested they have then to be assimilated. The long-term effects may continue for some time. Listening to music with a low vibration can reverberate in one’s subtle body holding the disharmonious vibration long afterwards. Violent images create thought forms which make us restless and agitated for some time before they fade away. Similarly, observers can be ‘infected’ by unhappy or worrying thoughts which tend to recur and have a hypnotic effect realigning our inner psychological makeup, disturbing our sleep patterns, and detracting from our enjoyment of life.

Food as a Main Component of Health

The two factors which affect the food we eat are first, the quality of the food and the consciousness with which we absorb our meal. These 2 factors contribute not only to our overall health but also to our energy levels, our joy and our outlook on life. One element of the quality of our food is its freshness. Food which is dry or stale is more ‘tamasic’ and lacking in vitality. The atmosphere and manner in which we ingest our food have a subtle effect on our mood and attitude to life and indirectly have an influence on relationships with others and how we see the world.

Food is Part of a Healthy Lifestyle in Auroville

Eating is a daily necessity and what we eat and how we eat quickly becomes a habit. But occasionally we have a flash of insight that then affects the whole process.

For example, we could embark on a specific mono-diet or juices-diet that detoxes our body so profoundly that it affects our mental clarity. Certain combinations of fruits and vegetables can contribute to repairing the body and eliminating the sensation of dis"ease". Other options are a 3-day complete fast, together with enemas and pranayama (a specific practice that takes pure air as food) enhancing the immune system etc.

Food as Medicine in Auroville

Feeding oneself is a topic that needs serious attention. Eating is part of a healthy lifestyle in which all its aspects contribute to supporting one’s spiritual path. More than 5 long-term initiatives are currently being trialled to help Aurovilians and increase their physical health for their own benefit and indirectly for the whole community and the wider world. Let us discover together.