Chakras Foods

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Dietary Guidelines for Nourishing Your Energy Centers
When you think about your chakra system you probably aren't considering the types of foods that you consume. Because our chakras are energy vortexes and invisible to most of us one might well imagine that chakras would thrive on energy, prayer, or other such spiritual stuff... you know, those things that we can't see with the human eye. However, the chakras cannot sustain our human body without our help. It is important to feed and nourish the flesh in order to help support and fuel our chakras. Whenever one or more of your chakras is misaligned you might do well to look and see if you are not eating or possibly overeating the foods that fuel that particular chakra.
Chakra Foods
Check out the foods under each of the seven primary chakras below to help you determine how your current diet might be deficient or over-indulgent. We can do our part in helping bring balance to our chakras by eating a balanced diet.
Feeding Your Root Chakra
Grounding
Root vegetables: carrots, potatoes, parsnips, radishes, beets, onions, garlic, etc.
Protein-rich foods: eggs, meats, beans, tofu, soy products, peanut butter
Spices: horseradish, hot paprika, chives, cayenne, pepper
Feeding Your Sacral Center
Nourishing the Sexual/Creativity Center
Sweet fruits: melons, mangos, strawberries, passion fruit, oranges, coconut, etc.
Honey
Nuts: almonds, walnuts, etc.
Spices: cinnamon, vanilla, carob, sweet paprika, sesame seeds, caraway seeds
Feeding Your Solar Plexus Chakra
Boosting Self-Esteem and Encouraging Self-Love
Granola and Grains: pastas, breads, cereal, rices, flax seed, sunflower seeds, etc.
Dairy: milk, cheeses, yogurt
Spices: ginger, mints (peppermint, spearmint, etc.), melissa, chamomile, turmeric, cumin, fennel
Feeding Your Heart Chakra
Healing Emotional Hurts
Leafy vegetables: spinach, kale, dandelion greens, etc.
Air vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, squash, etc.
Liquids: green teas
Spices: basil, sage, thyme, cilantro, parsley
Feeding Your Throat Chakra
Speaking One's Truth
Liquids in general: water, fruit juices, herbal teas
Tart or tangy fruits: lemons, limes, grapefruit, kiwi
Other tree growing fruits: apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, etc.
Spices: salt, lemon grass
Feeding Your Brow Chakra
Awakening Third Eye Senses
Dark bluish colored fruits: blueberries, red grapes, black berries, raspberries, etc.
Liquids: red wines and grape juice
Spices: lavender, poppy seed, mugwort
Feeding Your Crown Chakra
Opening and Clearing the Spiritual Communication Center
Air: fasting / detoxing
Incense and Smudging Herbs: sage, copal, myrrh, frankincense, and juniper
Incense and smudging herbs are not to be eaten but are ritually inhaled through the nostrils or can be smoked through a ceremony pipe for purification purposes.

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FEEDING THE THROAT CHAKRA
Foods for Communication and Truth: Feeding the Throat Chakra
As human beings, one of our unifying gifts is to express ourselves. We are surrounded with expression in everyday life when we talk on the phone, write an e-mail, listen to the radio, watch the television or have an in-person conversation. The vehicle of the voice is one of the most impactful means of expression we are capable of. After all, we cannot fully release the chaotic, raw thoughts and emotions that arise within us without being able to speak, write or communicate in some way. Therefore, our throat becomes a ‘birth canal’ for the passions and feelings of the heart. Our heart cannot make its feelings known without having an outlet of expression.


The thoughts we think and the words we speak are destined to ultimately become manifest. But how many people realize the power of their words? Do we speak authentically, coming from our true place within? Or do we find ourselves caught up in lies, deceit, or rumors? How do we communicate our feelings and needs about eating? Do we remain silent to issues around the food supply – such as the safety of foods, the adulteration of foods with additives, or the marketing of unhealthy foods – or do we speak out? You may have seen the recent fast food ads showing gorgeous models gorging on greasy burgers. This is clearly a disconnect, and sends a message of inauthenticity to people watching – young children and teenagers are most vulnerable to the subconscious messages these ads are promoting. Eating those fast foods laden in sugar, fat, and salt will not help someone to have a healthy, perfect body. In fact, as we know, quite the opposite.

Therefore, it is important to be true to ourselves in all aspects of our lives, even when it comes to foods and eating. If we can’t say “no”, we may find ourselves in a predicament where we must eat certain foods that don’t benefit our bodies, minds, or spirits. Know exactly where you stand on something like foods and eating so that when you are called into question or in a situation, you can report your truth! And then you will feel good about it – your message will be clear and consistent with who you are.

THE THROAT CHAKRA
The part of our subtle anatomy that connects to communication and the voice is called the throat chakra (in Sanskrit, vishuddha). It holds not only the throat but the ears, mouth, nose, thyroid gland, lips, and cheeks. The ability of the nose to smell, the tongue to taste, and the ears to hear are all contained within the throat chakra vicinity. Thus, the throat chakra is essential for our connection to food. It serves as the gateway for food to enter our physical body. Our intent for that food is set within the throat chakra, and the throat chakra determines and chooses foods that are needed for our highest good.

Like the other chakras, the throat chakra can easily find itself in overdrive by talking incessantly without making sense, chewing mindlessly, or gulping food. However, a healthy, balanced throat chakra can harmonize truth and authenticity within the entire being by speaking clearly and truthfully, eating mindfully, and synchronizing all the activities that take place in this concentrated area: hearing, talking, tasting, chewing, breathing, and swallowing.

WAYS TO EAT TO PROMOTE A HEALTHY THROAT CHAKRA

Chew food: In the age of fast living, we are doing everything fast, including eating. If we are eating on the run, we may tend to shortcut our eating by gulping and swallowing rather than chewing and assimilating. If we are not chewing our food thoroughly, chances are we won’t be able to digest, absorb, and ultimately, assimilate it into our body. Thus, chewing serves an important function. It is also essential that we put our awareness into eating so we get the most from the experience and do not feel like overeating – chewing slowly helps us to accomplish this. Eating with consciousness keeps us in the moment and allows us to savor the flavor and joy of foods!

Eat high-quality foods for your highest self: Every day we are bombarded with food choices – how do we know what is best for us? Nutritionists seem to tell us one thing one day and another thing the next. How do we know how to choose foods? The throat chakra is about choice, decisions, and options – but not just any – the throat chakra, being a higher, resonating chakra than some of the other lower chakras, is calling us to make the best choice for ourselves and our planet. Eat foods that serve your body, mind, and spirit, and that serve the realm of nature – the animals, plants, and water. If we are eating meat from chickens kept in unhealthy, stressful conditions, we may take on the ‘energy’ of those chickens – frenetic, chaotic, stressful. If we are eating foods that were grown using natural elements instead of synthetic, such as organically grown foods, we are taking in healthy, higher-vibratory signals for our soul.


Broaden your food horizon: When we cave into food ruts, we let go of our ability to choose and experience. The throat chakra encourages us to be expansive like the overarching sky – to look wider and broader, to explore and discover. One of the ways we can do this is by eating ethnic foods – foods we may not normally eat, whether Thai, Indian, Middle-Eastern, European, or Ethiopian, to name a few. See what happens when you introduce some variety. It exposes you to an abundance of tradition and culture. It broadens not only your food horizon, but helps you to step out of the box of your everyday living!

Spark alchemy amongst the food elements: On a spiritual level, the throat chakra is about alchemy – transforming the messages of the heart into the language of voice, words, song, poetry. The throat chakra resonates with the alchemy of food elements – bringing together water and earth, fire and water, fire and earth. By eating foods like soups (earth-water elements fused together through fire), we encourage and honor our connection with the elemental nature of foods and our bodies.

FOODS FOR THE THROAT CHAKRA

Sea Plants: Sea plants are not a common food for most Americans, but they have value for our throat chakra because they supply iodine and other minerals for our thyroid gland. When our thyroid gland is properly fueled, we can metabolize our food properly and feel in balance with our body weight. Try sprinkling dry dulse flakes on top of a salad or making a wrap out of a sheet of nori (seaweed)!
Soups/sauces/juices: These foods are moistening and lubricating for the mouth and throat. They help quench our thirst or help us to sustain our bodies with an amalgam of nutrients. Adding a little sauce (like soy sauce or a light dressing) to a vegetable can help it to better mix within our mouths so that we can digest it fully. Eating soups can open up the throat chakra area and create more ease in eating. Eating spoonfuls of soup compared to bites of food may help us to slow down and be more in the moment. And finally, juicing fruits and vegetables can extract the nutrients we need in a liquid base to nourish the body through the conduit of communication.
Fruits: Fruits tend to be high in water content, so they are the perfect food for the throat chakra. Some of them make us pucker, like lemons and limes, which can be good for propelling us into action to say something. Others make us expansive because of their water content and sweet taste, like melons, which can help us to be more communicative when we feel withdrawn.

Read More

SEE RELATED THROAT CHAKRA ARTICLES

The Importance of Chewing Your Food
Healing Soups
Soup Recipes
Deanna Minich, PhD, CN, (www.foodandspirit.com) is a nutritionist who sees more to food than calories and macronutrients. She blends cutting-edge nutrition information, quantum physics, and the ancient chakra system to guide others to use foods and eating as tools for spiritual growth and nourishment for the soul. With her latest book, Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods that can Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit (http://www.amazon.com/Chakra-Foods-Optimum-Health-Creative/dp/1573243736), she opens your heart, unravels your intuition, and guides you on a journey to inner and outer bliss with every bite you take! Her new book, An A to Z Guide to Food Additives: Never Eat What You Can’t Pronounce (http://www.amazon.com/Z-Guide-Food-Additives-Pronounce/dp/1573244031), is a companion guide for your journey to the supermarket to help you make sense of your food!



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While most of us usually associate our chakras with spiritual, mental, and emotional development, they’re also physical places on our bodies that require actual nutritional nourishment. Translation? We can use foods to feed our energy centers and improve chakra health, increasing wellness all around.

Check out the following list to see what foods improve which chakras:

Root Chakra
Located at the base of the spine, this energy center is associated with grounding. In other words, feeling present in your body and in the moment. When it’s out of alignment, we may experience depression, low back pain, or immune system issues (you know, that constant cold that you just can’t kick). To feed your Root Chakra, try root veggies like potatoes, parsnips, and beets or protein-rich foods including eggs, meats, and peanut butter. In addition, you can fire it up with horseradish or cayenne pepper.

Sacral Chakra
Got control issues? Odds are, you’ve got a blocked sacral chakra. Located in your lower abdomen, this is the energy center in charge of creativity, sexuality, and the ever-illusive ability to ‘let go.’ Among others, problems in this area may manifest as decreased (or excessive) libido or sciatica, as well as obsessions related to money or power. To increase energetic flow to your sacral chakra, enjoy sensuous fruits like melon, mango, strawberry, and coconut. Snack on protein-rich nuts (specifically almonds and walnuts), season with sweet spices like vanilla or cinnamon, and enjoy breads with seeds, such as caraway and sesame.

Solar Plexus Chakra
It’s all about ego — the solar plexus, that is. If you’ve got self-esteem issues (and that means being haughty, as much as it does being insecure), your Solar Plexus could probably use some adjusting. This is the chakra of gut instincts — and it’s located right at your center. Eating disorders, indecisiveness, stomach issues, and adrenal imbalances all indicate issues with your Solar Plexus. To improve the health of this chakra, aim for fibrous foods that aid in digestion, like granola, flax seed, and whole grain pastas and breads. In addition, seek out soothing foods like milk and yogurt, and healing spices like ginger, mint, cumin, and fennel.

Heart Chakra
Emotional empowerment is found in this chakra, which is why it is the space affected by heartbreak, hurt, and general emotional upset. All of us have a ‘wounded child’ side at some point, when our Heart Chakra needs healing. Heart conditions, upper back and shoulder problems, and jealousy are all associated with trouble in this energy center. To open your heart chakra (and literally get things flowing — this is the chakra in charge of circulation), sip green tea, enjoy foods seasoned with basil, cilantro, and parsley, load up on iron-rich leafy veggies like spinach, kale, and dandelion greens, and make a squash or broccoli soup.

Throat Chakra
Self-expression is governed by the throat chakra. As such, if you’re not speaking your truth, you may find problems like sore throats, mouth ulcers, thyroid conditions, and addiction rearing their heads. Found exactly where it says it is, this is the chakra associated with self-knowledge and personal truth — two areas in which many people feel stifled. To soothe a tender throat (and throat chakra), express your truth (and remove any penchant for deceit) and increase your intake of all liquids (water, fruit juices, and herbal teas). Snack on tangy fruits like grapefruit and kiwi (get a double dose by adding lemon or lime to your water) and go for foods seasoned with salt or lemongrass.

Brow (Third Eye) Chakra
Wisdom is associated with this, the mind-center chakra located between the eyebrows. When open and healthy, it is the energy center geared toward learning from our experiences and putting them in perspective. Healthy Brow Chakra function allows us to separate reality from fantasy. Brain tumors, strokes, blindness, deafness, seizures, panic, and depression are all indications of blockage in this chakra. To fuel your third eye fire, go for dark-fleshed fruits like blueberries, red grapes, and blackberries, as well as red wine and grape juice. Poppy seeds, lavender, and mugwort are also beneficial.

Crown Chakra
Located at the top of the head, just like a crown, this chakra is used to communicate with our spiritual nature. Often pictured as a lotus flower, the Crown Chakra represents our ability to experience awakening — via our own intuition. Chronic exhaustion, sensitivity to light and sound, and lack of purpose/loss of identity are all associated with blockages here. To decrease difficulty and connect to your highest good via this chakra, consider fasting and detoxing. In addition, look into burning smudging herbs like sage, copal, myrrh, frankincense, and juniper.