God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks - his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating. -St. Peter Damian
Culturally eating with hands may seem uncivilized, but when you look beyond the preconceived notions, eating food with your hands feeds the body, mind and soul, all at the same time. Based on Vedic Science, our hands and feet are said to be the channels of the five life energies and each finger is an extension of one of the five elements namely Thumb – Fire, Index Finger – Air, Middle Finger – Space, Ring Finger – Earth and Little Finger – Water. The imbalance between any of the 5 elements leads to diseases. There are several ways the fingers are used while eating food and those actions are derivatives of hand positions known as mudras used in yoga, meditation and Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form. Each mudra has its own way of healing touch that balances the natural elements in tune with our body.
Touching food with your hands stimulates signals between your brain and stomach aiding in easy digestion of food. Nerve endings in your fingers sense the temperature and quality of the food, in that way organizes the brain to prepare for what you will be eating. It also activates and releases required digestive juices and enzymes that aid in digestion.
One of the prominent Zen habits is mindful eating, which promotes eating with intention and attention. It is not just about eating slowly, without distraction but eating with the intention of caring for yourself with the awareness of your physical and emotional cues. This is exactly where eating with hands supports mindful eating which in turn improves the absorption and acclimatization of nutrients. Also, when you are eating with our hands, you can easily gauge the temperature of the food and you are less likely to put hot food into your mouth.
While eating with hands has its own advantages, there are certain guidelines to make the best use of its healing properties on your body.
Keep your hands and nails clean and hygienic
Right Hand is used for consuming food
It is a good idea to bring food to your mouth and not the plate to the mouth
It is good to hold the food with your finger and not your palms
Do not put your fingers into your mouth
Do not lick your fingers
While eating with forks and spoons may be a thing of vanity and style, it has its own disadvantages.
Across a variety of cuisines worldwide, there are several dishes or food that cannot be eaten with spoon and fork.
Eating with spoon and fork does not stimulate an emotional connection between the food and your body.
It is not possible to know the temperature of the food while eating with a spoon and fork unless you actually taste it.
So why don’t you start embracing the magical benefits of eating with your hands for a healthy body, mind and soul. It is sure to make your meal lively and above all a lot more fun.
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