In the West, we tend to have a food is fuel mentality, reducing what we eat to a collection of numbers, measuring food by what is contains rather than considering the experience of eating itself.

While nutritional science has an important place in understanding our health, somewhere amongst all the counting and measuring, I wonder whether we’ve lost touch with the more expansive meaning of `nourishment´

In Vedic philosophy, food is understood as an expression of the same life force that animates the natural world. The sunshine, the rain, the richness of the soil and the rhythms of the seasons are all present in what we eat, and through the simple act of eating, that living world becomes part of us.

There is a Sanskrit expression – Annamaya, meaning “made of food” which speaks to the understanding that our physical existence is formed and sustained by what we consume.

“Food is awareness. Food is God. Food is consciousness. Food is the creator”

Dr Vasant Lad.

From this perspective, eating becomes an act of participation in life itself, a moment in which we can recognise and honour the extraordinary relationship between the earth and our own existence.

Those of you who have joined me on a Roam Retreat may recognise this image (sometimes I bring the brass goddess) who quietly presides over our meals.

Her name is Annapurna, the Hindu Goddess of food and nourishment, and wherever we find ourselves in the world she takes her place overlooking our dining tables, watching over the food we prepare, the conversations we share and the connections that unfold around her.

Her name comes from the Sanskrit words Anna, meaning food, and Purna, meaning full or complete. Yet Sanskrit is a language of extraordinary depth and Annapurna’s meaning reaches beyond the physical action of being full of food. She represents abundance in its richest sense, the fullness of life, love, gratitude and connection.

Her presence is a gentle reminder that nourishment takes many forms, and that every shared meal offers us an opportunity to experience something beyond the food itself.

The wisdom of Ayurveda can be experienced in the smallest of everyday moments, through the ingredients we choose, the food we prepare and the awareness we bring to our meals.

There is a natural rhythm to everything, our bodies, the days, the seasons and the natural world around us. Nature moves in cycles and we too are part of that same ecosystem.

Just as we change our clothes with the seasons, Ayurveda encourages us to change what food we prepare at any given season, allowing the changing landscape to influence what we prepare and eat.

And if you’re unsure where or how to eat in sync with nature, Mother Earth has a rather ingenious way of showing us. Focus on eating what is being harvested around you at this time. Let the local farmers market be your guide.

In Ayurveda, Prana refers to the vital life force that permeates the natural world. In order to harness this prana we want to be eating food as close as possible to its living origins.

Think of a tomato freshly picked from the vine, or vegetables gathered from the garden and prepared the same day. Traditional, Ayurveda considers these foods rich in Prana, whereas food that has spent weeks in storage, been heavily processed or preserved through freezing is thought to have less of this vital energy.

The invitation, then, is to shorten the journey between earth and plate wherever possible. Choose fresh, seasonal produce, shop local, buy smaller quantities more frequently and prepare meals from ingredients that have spent as little time in storage as possible.

Ayurveda recognises six tastes, known as Rasa: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.

Each has its own qualities, and together they create a more complete and satisfying experience of eating. By including each and every taste in your food we avoid experiencing cravings after meals.

In Western diets, we often gravitate towards the familiar sweet and salty flavours, while the more subtle bitter, pungent and astringent tastes are sometimes avoided.

Have you ever wondered why a traditional Indian meal might arrive with several different dishes accompanied by chutneys and pickles? these accompaniments are often chosen to compliment one another, bringing the six tastes together into one single meal.

Perhaps next time you’re preparing food, notice which tastes are present and which are missing. A squeeze of lime, and handful of bitter greens or a little warming ginger can bring another dimension to even the simplest dish.

In Ayurveda, cooking is traditional regarded as a sacred act, an opportunity to bring awareness, creativity and intention into something that can otherwise be seen as another chore.

There is something deeply human about preparing food for another person, knowing that the time, attention and care we put into a meal will become party of their experience.

And the same generosity can be extended to ourselves.

Perhaps choose one meal this week to prepare without rushing, allowing yourself to enjoy the colors, fragrances and textures of the ingredients, the warmth rising from the pan, the rhythm of your hands and they move through the familiar motions of preparing food.

We spend so much time thanking about what we eat that we often forget to consider how we eat. Between answering emails, scrolling through our phones and rushing from one thing to the next, its easy to consume and entire meal without every really experiencing it.

“This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard and loving work”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Before your next meal take three slow, conscious breaths and allow yourself to fully arrive in the moment. Notice the colours, textured and aromas of the food infant of you, then choose an ingredient on the plate and trace its journey back to its origins. The soil that cradled it, the sunshine and rain that nourished it, the hands that planted, harvested and transported it, perhaps even someone who lovingly prepared it for you.

Consider how many seemingly insignificant moments had to come together to make this meal possible, and silently offer a little gratitude to everyone and everything that played a part.

This meal is a miracle.

You are a miracle.

And we are all part of this extraordinary interconnectedness of life.