YOGA AND NUTRITION: PHILOSOPHICAL
COUNSELLING AMONG NATIVE INDIANS OF AMERICAS
Yoga Sutra 1.15 of Patanjali states:
Disinterestedness is the consciousness of
the mastery in him who has given up the desire for perceptual and visual
objects
While reading the commentary by Dr Jayadeva
Yogendra of Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz, Bombay, I realized how useful it
would be to use this philosophy when counselling American Indians about
Nutrition.
This is in the context that most American
Indian Reservations are food deserts and neighbouring small towns, like most
small towns in USA are nutritionally deficient.
Yoga Sutra 1:15 talks about VAIRAGYA
It means more than Lack of Interest but
mental mastery over objects, which attract us. This applies to all worldly
objects as Food, Drink, Power or unseen objects such as Heaven.
How can I use it when counselling American
Indians? (Also Mexican patients of Dra Rosales in Coahuila in Mexico)
Use Different approaches according to the
Emotional State of the person.
THE FIRST STAGE
STRIVING
Most people are aware of the Malnutrition
provided by sugary drinks, fast food and processed food
People tend to rationalize, in face of the
reality. In Texas, at any McDonalds, it is a parade of Obesity. Apart from
belonging to the Lower Socioeconomic levels of society, these fat Texans have
somehow rationalized their attachment to the “food of the McDonalds”
At this stage, we should help American
Indians understand that the “food” offered is not nutritious and chemically
loaded and unbalanced.
Coca Cola wants us to believe that
exercising a can of Coke (300 ml, 149 Calories) would be a healthy choice!
There are two fallacies here:
It is recommended by all medical
authorities that a minimum of 30 minutes a day of Exercise is necessary to ward
off chronic illnesses. It would take 30 minutes of exercise just to spend the
149 calories of a can of coke!
So an average person who may drink 2 cans
of coke a day is burdened with an extra hour of exercise to ward off
cola-calories? Isn’t it better not to drink the stuff and let the exercise have
added benefits to your metabolic state?
No American Indian, however poor or
isolated their lives have this additional hour to ward off cola-calories. (As I
write this, from an Indian Reservation, the temperature outside is 5 F or minus
15 C)
The second Fallacy is that Not all Calories
are the same. When it comes to their effect on the metabolism of the body
To give some examples
Cane Sugar versus High Fructose Corn Syrup
Truvia (maltodextrin plus stevia) vs.
stevia
Real vs. Diet Coke (one chemical vs.
another)
Processed meat causes damage to your heart
and is not related to their caloric content or carb/protein ingredients.
Awareness comes through knowledge. As
professionals, we have to transfer our knowledge to American Indians that we
encounter. As Professor Ronnie Frankenberg used to say: For Knowledge to be
Knowledge, it has to be transferable.
So, don't fall for a person’s degree or
qualifications but choose a professional whom you can understand and who
understands you and respects you.
THE SECOND STAGE
Learn to distinguish between what one has
been able to control and what one has not.
It is a sign of progress.
My colleagues at the HoCank/Whirling
Thunder Wellness Programme advise me: Don't counsel patients that this or that
is bad for them, if you can’t give them an alternative choice. If the available
food is bad, where are they to go?
We all know that sugary drinks, whether
Real or Diet coke is bad for you, but as my Kikapu sister says: when a patient
has been drinking five or six cans per days it is better to tell her to reduce,
doing it slowly, increasing control over their desires.
Reinforce, saying certain morbid desires
have been reversed, because certain senses or tastes have been conquered.
If at this stage the unconquered craving
sensations are encouraged (that chocolate cheese cake, just this time!) the
mind returns over and over to the craving, the patient trying to improve his or
her nutrition will remain at this stage.
THIRD STAGE
Little by little one has been able to
control and master the sensation regarding “non nutritious food” but a strong
attachment still is present in the mind.
As we advance through this process of
acquiring knowledge we can see that we are able to overcome all types of ordinary
desires. The mind does not stop functioning but it is full of knowledge, which
helps to distinguish between nutritious, and non-nutritious food.
Hope this Helps.
