Shared Transformation Issue 13
NUTRITION
"Listen to your body" is the message I've reiterated in many of my articles in Shared Transformation,
and the message that has been stressed again and again in my own process. Despite this, there have been times when
I've had considerable resistance to following my own advice. This has been particularly true when it comes to
nutrition. My problem has been my indoctrinated ideas about what constitutes a healthy diet. When my body has
needed fresh fruits and vegetables, I've had no trouble obliging it, since I was a vegetarian long before my Kundalini
awakening. But when my system violently rejected what I considered to be a good, balanced menu, I was concerned.
During these times, I subsisted on a seemingly non-nutritive mono-diet of nothing but blueberry muffins and cereal
with milk and honey. Yet any deviation from this fare would bring on nearly instantaneous diarrhea. You'd think
I would learn after several bouts of this sort, but no, I kept trying to add "wholesome" foods even while
my body was making it very clear to me that these were not digestible at the time. It did immensely help me that
Gopi Krishna, lacking our own "scientific" cultural bias, regarded milk, butter, dried fruits and "sugary
substances and cereals" as "all nourishing and purifying articles of food," and described how important
these foods were to his own well-being during the purgation period of his awakening (Living with Kundalini). It
dawned on me that these types of foods fall into the category described in yogic literature as sattvic. Dairy
foods, grains, fruits and sweets are all considered highly sattvic. The yogis believe that eating certain types
of food produce specific states of consciousness. Sattvic foods are said to promote the most spiritual level of
bodily vibrations. I think the converse is true: when the bodily vibrations are at a certain level, only sattvic
food can be tolerated. Other people have told me of similar needs for these foods. One woman in the midst of
a Kundalini awakening told me, "I'm hungry all the time. I'm eating tons of cheese and dried fruit and honey..."
She was surprised at her ravenous appetite for these specific foods. At certain phases of my process, I found
myself craving sweets and dairy products -- cheesecake in particular. Another woman told me she was downing gallons
of ice cream and couldn't get enough cheese. A metaphysical teacher who went through a long and severe Kundalini
awakening found that drinking lots of milk is very soothing to the system. She now recommends this for others
going through this process. * The craving for sweets seems to correspond to intense energy vibrations in the body.
Hypoglycemia can occur during these high energy states. I found that if I didn't heed these cravings, I would
experience sudden and acute reactions. I'd become like a diabetic in insulin shock: irritable, dizzy, confused
and rapidly hostile and hysterical until I drank some fruit juice. Having no medical history of such episodes,
these radical behavior shifts were unnerving for both me and my husband. I soon learned never to ignore my hunger.
Cravings for high protein foods are also typical for Kundalini awakenings. I had been a vegetarian for over fifteen
years, but there were times during my Kundalini awakening when I had an insatiable need for fish and poultry.
I haven't had cravings for red meat, but I've heard that this is also common, even for previously devout vegetarians.
I've had periods when I was voraciously hungry and times when I was indifferent to food. There were periods when
I was hungry but could barely eat. When my throat chakra was blocked for three months, I felt strangled all the
time and could swallow nothing but liquid. I also had difficulty eating when the energy was in my mouth, causing
my tongue to spontaneously move in strange and uncontrollable ways.
When Kundalini moves into the face, some people suffer long periods of "lockjaw",
which prohibits eating. When the energy is strongest in the stomach and abdominal area, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
are often a problem. Weight loss is common during these phases of awakening. Weight gain is also frequent during
the voracious eating stages. And those who are prescribed antipsychotic medications generally experience weight
gain as a side effect. This is an especially difficult issue for women in our current anorexic-adoring culture.
When the process makes us insatiably hungry, many women try to fight these urges out of fear of eating too much
and becoming fat. This is as much a mistake as trying to eat what we think is correct rather than what our bodies
are telling us to eat. I have found that any "feast" episodes in which I put on pounds are shortly followed
by "famines" in which I shed weight rapidly. What's more surprising is that weight gain and loss also
occur independently of food intake. A woman who could take nothing but water for several months was amazed to
find that her weight did not change at all. There were periods when my own weight went up and down like a yo-yo,
regardless of how much or what kinds of food I was consuming. At times, I've registered a ten pound difference
from one day to the next. Sometimes, when I've felt sure I must be putting on weight, I've been astonished to
find I was losing it, and vice versa. For awhile, I thought my bathroom scale must be defective. Then I began
hearing from others who reported the same phenomena. Because I've had specific food cravings at many points in
my process, I let myself be led by these in choosing what to eat. The body gives me clear messages about what
nutrients it needs at the moment. I've never yet had digestive or other physical problems when I've succumbed
to my food cravings, no matter how peculiar they've seemed. Conversely, ignoring the craving, or trying to select
an appropriate meal according to my dietary theories of what's good for me, has caused havoc. (Please note that
the body may go through some necessary cleansing periods in which rapid or frequent elimination are not indications
of faulty nutrition!) I've found that my choice in foods, like every other facet of my personality, has undergone
remarkable alterations. Many foods I used to eat regularly before my Kundalini awakening have little appeal to
me now. And foods which are now my staples are those I rarely ate previously. In her book Shakti Woman, Vicki
Noble tells of a similar shift: "I used to be able to abuse my body with alcohol, sugar, and meat without
direct, felt consequences. But once I began the purification process of awakening to the energy, releasing the
toxins and negativity from my past, and channeling greater healing power, it became impossible to eat fast foods
without getting immediate diarrhea or to drink wine without headache or to eat too much sugar without the back
of my neck seizing up in a spasm." In addition to direct intuitive and physical messages, prayers and supplication
to the Spirit for guidance can lead us to the right advisors who can make valuable suggestions about our nutritional
needs. When I had been bedridden for over a year with my spine pain, I became aware that I was at high risk for
osteoporosis (a serious bone disease that can result from prolonged physical inactivity). Frightened by this prospect,
I prayed fervently for help. To my amazement, a few days after I had received Spirit messages and dreams that
I was moving into a definite healing stage, two books appeared to me which outlined a vitamin and mineral supplement
plan to prevent and reverse bone loss! One of these, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, by Christiane Northrup, M.D.,
is such an excellent reference for the mind/body connection that I highly recommend it for all women and healers
who serve women. Even so, I discovered that I could not blindly follow formulas here either (when I tried, my
body responded with increasingly severe intestinal cramps and diarrhea). This taught me to carefully adjust the
recommended amounts and types of supplements to suit my own specific needs. Giving thanks for everything I eat
is, to me, an important spiritual element of nutrition. Some say that blessing food supplements and medications
before taking them will make them more effective. Whether or not this is true, I find this a beautiful idea.
Giving our blessings and gratitude for all that comes to us keeps alive our reverence for life. The alternative
medicine expert, Dr. Andrew Weil, says that "nutrition in its broadest sense has to do with everything taken
into yourself, everything you associate with and what influence that has on you."* When we are being transformed,
we become much more aware of all the things that are nourishing or toxic to us on all levels. Our old routines,
habits, attitudes, activities and associates no longer suffice. In everything we do, in every dimension of our
beings, we are being refined and restored to our Original Wholeness.
-- El Collie
* from "The New Nutrition for the Whole Person" by Andrew Weil, Magical Blend magazine (Issue 27, 1990)
FURTHER READING ON NUTRITION AND CONSCIOUSNESS
Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom of the Goddesses by Dr. David Frawley (Passage Press, Salt Lake City, 1994). Frawley
is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies. "Tantra" he tells us, "presents a whole
yogic and mantric science for developing Kundalini." His book is subtitled "Spiritual Secrets of Ayurveda,"
and in addition to giving spiritual advice regarding the arousal of the Kundalini, Ayurvedic dietary recommendations
are offered to strengthen the body and help balance the flow of spiritual energies. Also advised are specific
rejuvenating herbs, gems, mantras and other practices which can help relieve many of the disorders encountered
during Kundalini awakening.
Spiritual Nutrition and The Rainbow Diet by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. (Cassandra Press, San Rafael, 1986). Cousens
has had a powerful Kundalini awakening himself, and has been an advisor to hundreds of others who have gone through
this process. (This book contains quite a bit of detailed information on the dynamics of the Kundalini.) Vibrational
levels of foods, fasting, Ayurvedic diets, raw v.s. cooked food, and carefully planned purifying dietary changes
are all covered in this remarkably thorough study. Although Cousens makes many specific recommendations, he says
in summary: "The main guideline to developing our diet is our inner experience of the Kundalini or simply
that, while eating or after eating, our body-mind complex should feel energized and good throughout the day. Diet
approached in this way is commonsense personal harmony."
© El Collie 1995