The Yoga of Cooking

My Food Philosophy

Food is one of the primary ways that we show love to ourselves and love to others.  It is also one of the most potent ways that we experience pleasure, nourish our bodies and express abundant generosity.  It is in this spirit that I offer these monthly installments because growing food, preparing and cooking food, and best of all sharing food, is one of my greatest joys. I hope it may become one of yours as well.  If you have never enjoyed cooking or have lost your enthusiasm for cooking, I hope that these recipes will re-inspire you to enter the kitchen.  

When I was a training yoga teacher I worked in a health food store in San Francisco for seven years and listened to proponents of just about every dietary theory imaginable; from raw food fanatics who looked perpetually hungry (and thin), to macrobiotics who became anxious when their oat porridge was stirred in the wrong direction, to those who shunned certain foods with religious zeal one day, only to be discovered eating an entire block of cheddar cheese the next.

And as a yoga teacher who has led retreats all over the world, I’ve seen how fickle (and fixated) people can be about their diets; insisting they are gluten-free or non-fish eaters on their intake forms only to walk right past the tofu and grab themselves a slice of salmon on the sly.  It seems that things have gotten even worse in recent years with the advent of Vegan Jihadism (ironically often defended in the most violent and aggressive terms), “clean” eating, the paleo diet and a veritable avalanche of food supplementation intended to help us live forever. All of this creates a certain tension around the dinner table and an anxiety about food that can make whatever we eat (no matter how “good”) a source of indigestion!

If these words offend you my monthly column may not be your cup of tea (the preparation and delight of which would require a separate treatise).  After all these years I believe that strict puritanical approaches to food prevent many of us from partaking in simple healthy fare with enjoyment.  It also makes the dining room table a political battlefield instead of a joyous, warm, and celebratory gathering place.  

For food is far more than its nutrient value.  What we eat is an expression of our cultural identity with tastes and smells reconnecting us to our ancestral line, our familial roots and to our most cherished memories. Food is a social dynamic and a daily opportunity to build (or break) connection and community.

Over the many decades that I have led women’s retreats I’ve discovered that the majority of women admit to having a conflictual relationship with food.  This is likely true for men as well.  Stringent diets and avoidance of supposedly “bad” foods can further cloud our bodily intelligence.  This can be remedied by reclaiming delight in a common-sense approach to food that favors seasonal and regional foods and freshly prepared meals rather than takeaways, frozen or pre-packaged foods.  Further, incorporating all six flavors into our daily meals: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent can help us to feel balanced and rid us of uncomfortable cravings.  I learned this early on in my retreat offerings when a macrobiotic cook insisted on no sweets whatsoever.  After a few days, participants were sneaking out under cover of darkness to drive to the local ice cream shop and ordering triple decker cones and secreting giant chocolate bars in their rooms.  Now we offer fish, eggs, and dairy options as well as regular little sweet treats at all our retreats, so people do not need to assuage their cravings elsewhere.

Further.  In full transparency, I am not a vegetarian, although I eat an extraordinary quantity of vegetables, pulses, beans, grains, seeds and nuts every day, many of them grown organically in my garden.  Ethically sourced food is hugely important to me.  I learned many years ago that my body could not thrive on an entirely vegetarian diet and therefore you’ll find some fish, meat, and dairy in some of these recipes.  After living on a 30-acre farm for over twenty years, it is evidently apparent that animals are a crucial part of the wheel of life and more particularly of healthy soil.  If this also bothers you, my monthly recipes, most of which are plant-based, but some of which are not, may not be for you.  Suffice it to say, this is not an invitation for you to write a critique on my dietary choices.  If you’d rather not receive our annual subscribers bonus food subscription, just click here. No hard feelings.

But if these open-hearted offerings sound like you, this is an invitation to roll your sleeves up, put on an apron and sharpen your cooking knives.  Organize your spice drawer so you can find what you need and tidy up your kitchen pantry.  Preparing food (and growing food if you have the privilege of a garden), can be a deep expression of your yoga practice.  Turn off your radio, take out your earbuds, and if others are in the kitchen with you, invite them to focus completely on the process of cooking because it’s only when you enter this deep conversation with the food that you can develop an intuitive approach to cooking.  And who wants to talk about neoliberalism when there are sprightly asparagus to cut, scintillating strawberries to hull or last-minute plating to ensure the table is beautiful to the eye.  Touch and feel the vegetables as you are washing them, taste and smell as you go to adjust seasonings, and listen to what the ingredients are calling for to bring out their innate characteristics.  When this happens, each dish feels balanced not only on the plate but in the body; easily digested and assimilated leading to a feeling of energetic lightness.  

Subscribers will be emailed the current month's release and they'll be updated below.

Sending care,

Donna

February 2024