The Frequency of food
Introduction
I have been in a relationship with food all my life. I fell in love with food at a young age. Romantic memories such as the first time I licked the bowl after my mom made chocolate fudge, and the smells of sage during Thanksgiving come into my consciousness. I can feel the dopamine and serotonin rise, my belly becomes warm, and I smile. This relationship has had its ups and downs. The toxic moments also exist in my memory banks; when I weighed 250 pounds and every single moment that I can’t stop myself from eating what I know is unhealthy for me. Collaborating with food is perhaps the highlight. Preparing food for my family is my greatest joy. In the past ten years I have been exploring my relationship with food. Food has served as the bridge to my body. During this time of culinary study, I have noticed that eating has become an unconscious activity for most of us. We do not consider what we eat, nor do we sit quietly when we eat.
From 2011 – 2016 I experienced health challenges that required my focused attention on food. Every time I went to the grocery store, I had to read labels and understand where my whole foods came from, and what was sprayed on them. Food preparation shifted from a fast-food purchase to home cooked meals. My culinary education took on new value as I utilized healthy cooking techniques and learned how to bake with unique flours free of gluten and breads without dairy. I would put on various chants and sing in Sanskrit as I cooked. I began to look forward to meals and took notice of how different my body felt after I ate. This was a process of learning to eat consciously.
It is this exploration that inspired me to create a container for the frequency of food. I do not consider myself a teacher of this concept. Instead, I consider myself a space-keeper. The frequency of food is a Sacred Space where food and consciousness meet. This is an invitation for human beings to collaborate with food, understand each ingredient, and build a healthy relationship with nutrition. One of our basic developmental learnings is to understand how to feed ourselves. Learning to eat properly is an individual journey. You must discover what foods resonate with your body and what ingredients do not. Understanding your constitution, blood type, and genetic make-up is part of the exploration. Consciousness binds the understanding, the food, and the body together and creates the physical vessel for Soul.
As we connect with individual ingredients and learn the art of sacred food preparation, there are key terms/concepts that we want to understand: frequency, vibration, dissonance, and resonance. We also want to understand basic spiritual practice: meditation, contemplation, self-inquiry, and journaling. We have a relationship with food our entire lives. While the relationship itself is unique to each individual, we can explore together and gain a new understanding of nutrition and its part in biotransformation.
Key Terms/Concepts
In physics, frequency is defined as the number of waves, cycles, or vibrations undergone during one unit of time by a body in periodic motion. For example, the frequency with which the moon revolves around the Earth is 12 cycles per year. Frequency is expressed in the hertz unit, one hertz being equal to one cycle per second. Hertz is named after the German physicist, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz and is abbreviated Hz.
The periodic back-and-forth motion of the particles of an elastic body, commonly resulting when almost any physical system is displaced from its equilibrium condition and allowed to respond to the forces that tend to restore equilibrium is defined as vibration. Take a spring for example. When a spring is at rest it is using minimal energy. If you pull or add weight to one end of the spring it will respond to the disturbance by vibrating vertically.
“Everything in life is vibration.” Albert Einstein
In Metaphysics, everything in the universe is vibrating at a frequency. Metaphysics is simply an expansion to the laws of physics. The law of nature states that everything is vibration. Light is an excellent example of this. Light vibrates and the varying frequencies create color. Human beings have 5 senses. We are sensing vibration through our touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Our senses are the technology in which we experience frequency. We can limit ourselves to these five senses or we can explore beyond this technology by opening our sixth sense or Clair senses: clairvoyance, clairgustance, clairaudience and so on. There have been many studies on vibration and human experience. The conclusion of these studies has determined that a higher vibration creates an experience that is lighter, happier, and more at peace. A lower vibration can generate confusion, low self-esteem, and even depression.
As I started to put together my thoughts on the subject of food and its frequency, I remembered Masaru Emoto’s study on human consciousness and its effect on water. Through his experiments he was able to draw a correlation between the shapes of frozen water crystals and the thought forms they were exposed to. Would the same not be true for food? Because food is made of energy, it has a vibration. When I was chanting Sanskrit and singing to my food during preparation, I imagine that the ingredients were filled with shakti. Purchasing high quality ingredients, grown locally by farmers who love their land means their product is filled with love.
What is resonance?
When something resonates with you, it relates in a harmonious way. Recall the saying, ‘to strike a chord’. All forms in our world are vibrating at various frequencies. Science has documented a phenomenon when different forms come into proximity to one another. The frequency synchronizes. This relates to the law of attraction. What we surround ourselves with creates more of the same frequency. If we take into account Emoto’s water experiment and apply it to food we can hypothesize that if you eat foods of a high vibration then your body will go into sympathetic resonance, meaning that your vibration will raise because of the foods you eat. Simply put, you are what you eat.
Dissonance
Merriam-Webster defines dissonance as a lack of agreement, an instance of such inconsistency, and a mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly. Dissonance is sometimes compared to chaos. When we experience dissonance, we will feel uncomfortable and can experience destructive emotions like anger and sadness. If a particular food is dissonant with us, we may be allergic to the food, or the ingredient could trigger an uncomfortable symptom. Let’s look at what are low vibrational foods. Processed sugar is a low vibrational food. When we eat processed sugar, we may experience dissonance in the form of fatigue. Over time, sympathetic resonance will still occur. Your body will lower its vibration to meet the processed sugar and begin to attract dis-ease that matches the frequency of your vibration.
Spiritual Practice
*These practices are taken from my book; Enlightenment Pie.
When you begin to make a crust, you first cut sticks of butter into flour. You can do this with a fork, with a pastry cutter, or your fingers. The goal is to create small pea sized balls of flour and butter. You then add milk or water until it becomes a dough. You are taking three forms; liquid, fat, and wheat, and making it into one form that is stronger and able to withstand the baking process while holding in a filling. It is important not to overwork the dough or it will become stiff and will not be the flaky crust you want; but instead become hard and chewy. Although there are only 3 ingredients in a pie crust, it can be very easy to ruin it: by adding too much of one ingredient or by mixing too much or too little.
The process of making pie crust can be likened to the process of bringing your health into balance. You begin with simple ingredients that together can build a spiritual foundation. Step One of the Enlightenment Pie processes is to become aware. Awareness rises from spiritual practices that bring you into the present moment. Your personal exploration with food is your crust. If you overwork yourself in this process your energy will become static, and the work will become hard. Giving just the right amount of time and energy into building your foundation will bring about the desired result.
Just like there are ingredients in a pie crust; there are tools that provide the foundation for self-exploration. As we discussed earlier, a human has 5 senses. If we want to expand our technology beyond these five senses, we will want to cultivate awareness via these tools. The five practices for your spiritual foundation are: Sacred Space, Meditation, Contemplation, Journaling, and Self-Inquiry.
Sacred Space
A sacred space is defined as a space distinguished from all other spaces. A space where all the actions, thoughts and intentions within this space can bear spiritual meaning. However, it is not necessary to create sacred space; you carry it within you. Sacred Space is that place where you feel one with God and ultimately connected to yourself, the heart center where Soul resides. The environment in which you prepare food also wants to become a sacred space. Perhaps you create a small kitchen altar. Keep your kitchen environment clean. Allow your kitchen to become a house for God/Goddess. The space should inspire you and carry the colors and energy of all five elements: space, earth, air, fire, and water.
Meditation
Meditation is the act of coming into the present moment through breath and focused intention. Meditation is where we connect to our Truth. Truth with a capital T is defined by one of the Yamas in the Yoga Sutra, Satya. Satya encourages us to always live and speak our truth. This idea of truth is about understanding the difference between making a judgment through one’s own perception and actual observation of reality or the facts of a situation through growing self-awareness. Meditation brings self-awareness by coming into a present state called mindfulness. Mindfulness is focused awareness in the present moment to accept your feelings, thoughts, and sensations in a calm state. Meditation and mindfulness practice are the actions that lead to consciousness.
The practice of meditation can take a lifetime of practice and still not be perfected. And perfection should not be the goal. Instead strive to connect with your Self, become neutral and listen to your inner voice. Remove the notion that the mind will be totally clear after a few deep breaths. Meditation is less about clearing the mind and instead, watching the mind. You may find that when you first clear your mind then the inner world begins to speak, filling you with all sorts of new pictures and ideas, your shopping list or anything else your mind wants reviewing. Are you staring into a blank space? No, of course not. You are just listening and becoming aware of what is there deep inside you vs. the chatter from the outside world.
Meditation practice begins with breathing exercises. The first thing that may come to mind when you think of meditation is a picture of a person sitting in lotus position with their eyes closed and their mind clear. There is no need for this. Sit in a comfortable chair, lie on the floor…the only thing I don’t recommend is lying in bed. You are sure to fall asleep! Now, if you do fall asleep when trying to meditate; give yourself permission! You are obviously tired. I once had a student that fell asleep every time she meditated for the first 3 months! She finally caught up on the rest her body needed from years of working long hours and was able to hold a concentrated meditation. Whatever you do, as you go through the process; do NOT beat yourself up for doing something ‘wrong’. The beauty of this work is that nothing is ‘wrong’. Everything happens exactly as it should. Being aware of your experience is the process.
Once you are comfortably situated begin to breathe. Just begin by breathing normally. Notice your belly. When you breathe in, your belly should fill with air. When you breathe out, it should go in. Most Americans breathe incorrectly. You may find right away that you are not filling up the lungs and diaphragm area properly. A great technique is to lay flat on a flat surface, such as the floor or even a table. Breathe in and out. Feel your stomach. Where is the air going? How does it feel? How deep does the breath go? Ideally you want to fill up the diaphragm in the lower abdomen first, then the lungs, and then as your release; you release the lungs first, then the diaphragm. It takes practice just to breathe. You would be surprised at how much work that can take. The diaphragm is a muscle just like any other and you will need to ‘work it out’ for a while before you feel you can take deep breaths. I read a statistic once that we only have about 40% fresh air in our lungs at a time. If you can get yourself to a point where you breathe in for 8 counts, out for 8 counts, 8 times in a row; you will then 100% fresh air in your lungs. You may also be dizzy, but it is great for refreshing the lungs and releasing toxins.
A great breathing technique is ‘in and out’ breathing. It is the process of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. The purpose of this is that the nose provides a natural filter so the air you are bringing in is more concentrated and is cleaner. When you release from the mouth you are truly releasing and relaxing the body. Spend some quality time with your breath. Notice how your lungs and diaphragm feel and notice how clear your mind is when you are thinking so hard about breathing and nothing else.
Once you have practiced your breathing technique; the next piece of meditation is clearing the mind to come into the present moment. First go back to your breathing to begin the process of clearing the mind and body. The next practice you can add to this is mindfulness of the physical body. Notice your body. Have you ever had a bruise just show up and you don’t remember how it got there? Being aware of your physical body can be a real eye opener. Notice where you hurt or have aches. Notice where you feel good. Notice how you are sitting or lying down. Just notice. You can also do this with your emotional and energy bodies. How do you feel? How does your energy feel? You do not need to know anything about energy to do this exercise. You inherently ‘know’ what is energetically blocked or stuck in your field. Just ask yourself and it will come to you. Mindfulness and breathing are two great ways to get started with your meditation. It will automatically clear a lot of thoughts that were running through your mind before you sat down.
The next thing that you can do is notice your thoughts. You might be thinking - I hope I can get my mind clear while I try this meditation thing. Or I hope my dog doesn’t start barking while I am trying to be quiet. Recognize the thought and watch it as though it did not belong to you. A favorite visualization technique to clear the mind I recommend using is the balloon technique. Imagine the thought in a balloon. Then float it away. This sends the energy and the thought away bringing your mind back to the present. You can also flush these thoughts down the toilet or various other visualization techniques you may wish to use. The idea is to clear it from your mind, so you come back to the present moment.
Becoming mindful of your body in the present moment and clearing your thoughts are the basics of beginning meditation. Utilize the practice of meditation when you are completing mindfulness practices or working on self-inquiry questions. Meditation will help you become centered and your responses to the questions will be more neutral and less from an egoic state.
Contemplation
Whenever I hear the word contemplation; I think of the Monty Python skit where philosophers are playing soccer. As soon as the whistle blows; instead of playing they all put their hands to their chin and begin contemplating. Finally, one of them gets an idea and kicks the ball and scores. While this is a comedy skit, it accurately portrays the practice of contemplation. Rather than ‘reacting’ to a situation in your life, you think about it instead. Contemplation is the choice to take the time to ‘hold’ a situation or an idea in your mind before you act. This not only prevents you from doing something stupid but can also provide you with an answer or a solution totally different than what you expected. It is really a process of slowing down and taking stock rather than acting rashly or from an emotional space. How many times have you done something out of fear, worry or stress, rather than out of a peaceful state of the heart? How many times have you gone to bed and awoke in the morning realizing that you would have done something totally different than you did the night before?
I’d like to use a pie analogy to further explain contemplation. If you make a pie and serve it before it’s cooked…it is just not going to be good. You put a pie in the oven, and it bakes. The oven ‘holds’ it for an hour or so. It keeps it in a safe space where it takes everything that you put together and solidifies it. When you take it out, it has been fully cooked. You then set the pie on a rack and let it cool. Again, another resting period. Finally, it is time to cut into it and serve it. Contemplation represents that baking period. You begin with an idea or a situation; a question or an issue that needs resolution. You take it and ‘hold’ it. Just like the oven holds the pie. The issue will sit in your consciousness for an hour, a day or even a week or month depending on what it is. There is no need to think about it all the time or even to write about it all the time. Just by choosing to ‘hold’ it, you are doing just that. You may have dreams about it. You may journal about it. You may wake up one morning and know the answer. The idea behind it is that when it is ‘cooked’ you will become totally clear on what to do. Once you know what to do there is again a ‘cooling’ or resting period. You write down what it is that you are to do and leave it yet again. You allow it to manifest in the right time with right action. Then you act on the information you received. Let’s say you have a fight with a friend. Our natural reaction is to try and fix it right away. Can you imagine waiting and instead contemplating your next step? Once you know what that is can you imagine waiting just a bit longer before acting on it? You will not react the way you would have in the moment, and you will not solve it the way you originally intended. By waiting you also eliminated much of the drama that may have occurred had you continued to push the situation.
When you are completing self-inquiry exercises you will want to use contemplation to gather information. You ask yourself a question and then you think about it. Our first reaction to a question asked of oneself is usually reactionary and from the egoic mind. Allowing the question to simmer in your consciousness for a period can benefit you because you will push past your own ego and Truth will rise revealing what is really behind these tough questions. Journaling your thoughts through the contemplative process is an important action because you will want to note all your thoughts so you can begin to identify the patterns of your egoic mind and begin to separate those from your inherent Truth.
Journaling
Do you keep a diary or write in a journal? You may have two or three journals you have either bought, or been given, just lying around your house. A percentage of those journals just lying around may have writing in the first two or three pages and the rest is left blank. There are a small percentage of people who write in a journal every day and are diligent in this practice. Journaling can feel like a chore. It can be tough to create a journaling routine and carving time out for it with our busy schedules can be a challenge. Just like meditation, journaling is an important tool to generate awareness and creative flow. Morning is the best time to write. You experience more of a stream of consciousness when you first wake up. That said, how and when you journal is up to you. I have one student who has a different journal for each thing she writes, one for homework, one for dreams, one for books she is reading and so on. I have another student who has the most beautiful journals, and she writes fluidly in them until they are full. Then there is me, who has notepads on her desk, journals in her bed, computers on her lap, and a small notebook in my kitchen. My husband journals on an app called Day One. It is an excellent mobile app if you are looking to switch to a digital version of journaling. I still prefer my composition notebooks and mechanical pencils, but I am working on making the technology switch.
Journaling can provide a deep connection within yourself. Writing can also move energy. If you are sad and you write it all down, it will not only aid in clearing what triggered the emotion from your mind, but it has also been proven that it can release blocks from your energy field. If you are mad, writing it out can diffuse the anger and even provide a solution to your problem.
Steps to Journaling
1. Identify your preferred journaling device, app, notebook, diary
2. Identify your preferred space for journaling and time of day
3. Write and stick to it. Remember it takes 30 days to build a behavior so practice writing daily for 30 days and note in your journal how you feel as you begin to add this practice to your daily life.
Self-Inquiry
Learning to meditate, although challenging for some, brings peace and tranquility during our busy lives. To practice contemplation and write in a journal brings answers we were not expecting and clarity to our current issues. On the other hand, self-inquiry can create tension, frustration, anger, and static energy.
Self-Inquiry is one of the Niyamas from the Yoga Sutra; Svadhyaya. Svadhyaya means self-study. Self-inquiry is the act of studying yourself. This requires the act of asking yourself the questions necessary to work through your blocks such as why am I so angry? The process of self-inquiry is the most challenging of any practice that generates awareness. It is certainly the most uncomfortable.
Self-Inquiry Steps
1. Identify the area in which you wish to work on yourself. Ie. Anger, relationship patterns, financial etc.
2. Ask yourself; how is this pattern/experience serving me? What is it teaching me?
3. Identify what you have learned from this experience or pattern and write down actionable steps you can take to honor what you have learned.
I will use a specific example. I have a temper. I used the process of self-inquiry to identify how anger was serving me. I wrote down in my journal what happened when I got angry, why I got angry and asked the question; what was anger providing for me that I could not provide for myself? The response from my ego was that anger serves no one. Anger is bad. However, after meditation and contemplation I realized that when I got angry, I pushed everyone away. Why was I doing this? Anger was serving me. Anger was providing a boundary for me when I could not. It was a major insight into my life patterns. I chose to honor my anger by learning how to say no and create functional boundaries in my life. Eventually my temper waned. Now when I get frustrated and notice my temper rising; I am aware, almost instantly, that I have allowed my boundaries to be overstepped and it was time to look at my commitments.
The art of self-study can help you understand the patterns in your life; why you need them and how to break the pattern. Once you can overcome the ‘destructive emotions’ that arise with self-inquiry; you will find release, acceptance and forgiveness.
Exploration Begins
Understanding the key concepts and spiritual practices provides a foundation to explore your relationship with food and its effect on your vibration. As I researched frequency and food, I came across a teaching channeled via Abraham Hicks:
We have a brilliant cellular mass which is our body, and our cells know how to compensate for anything that is not in harmony with the body by immediately adjusting and compensating to maintain balance. However, this adjustment then translates to the body as a craving because the body has compensated and adjusted and now wants more of that substance. Three days without that substance and the body will have readjusted to life without it. Though the craving can persist because we are focusing on a memory of how we felt when we ingested that substance and feeling lack. When we are coming from a place of lack, our system will be a match for lower vibrational foods and substances. The craving is not actually for the substance but rather for alignment. When not in alignment, we sometimes try to shift via foods and substances, but we can only fill the void with alignment.
Discord in our vibration will show up as cravings for detrimental food faster than it will show up as an illness. Then we get sick and blame it on the food. The detrimental vibration of lack is responsible for both the craving and the illness. Poor eating habits are not necessarily responsible for the illness. Which brings us to the point that some people can eat anything for long periods of time and maintain great health. Their body transmits everything into great nourishment due to their lack of fear and positive belief that they are nourishing themselves well. They are in alignment.
The concepts in this teaching align with my own personal experience and understanding of resonance. The frequency of food is an exploration tool. As we share sacred space with each ingredient and contemplate its frequency, our relationship with food will deepen. I anticipate old patterns will arise and transmutation will begin. Healing happens in profound ways and with the simplest ingredients.
References:
https://www.britannica.com/science/frequency-physics
https://www.britannica.com/science/vibration
https://esotericempyre.com/metaphysics-the-vibratory-nature-of-the-universe-2/
