by Laura Sauer-Ziemba
Whether cooking is your thing or not, you have some type of relationship with food — we all do. We've all heard "you are what you eat," and a basic philosophy I learned from macrobiotics is that "food is spirit." It is obvious that there is a link between the quality of food we choose and its effects on our bodies, minds, and spirits. Growing food, preparing food, and eating food can all be spiritual practices.
Eating healthy food will also have a positive effect on the quality of Reiki energy you are able to channel. Healthy food keeps your body free of toxins and raises your vibration, thus providing a more open and harmonious channel for Reiki energy to flow through. In addition, the healthier you are, the less the Reiki energy will try to work on you as it flows through you, and so more will end up coming out your hands and going into the client. Being free of toxins allows you to be more sensitive to subtle energy and to be better able to "read" a client and know where to place your hands. You will also be more open to spiritual guidance in other areas of your life as well. Obviously, the purpose of being a Reiki practitioner is to improve your health along with helping others do the same, so focusing on a healthy diet for yourself is a natural part of developing your Reiki lifestyle.
Before I became a mother, I was an art student with a great interest in eating healthfully. After my daughter was born, creating meals with whole foods became my art and eventually my livelihood. I consider that path opening up to me to have been more than a blessing...
...Reiki can be used to raise the vibration of your food, whether you are able to buy organic or must eat conventionally grown food. The following techniques are especially important to use with conventionally grown food. Whether vegetable, fruit, grain, or animal, each food type has its own angel. Using the distance symbol, we can connect with the angels or devas of our food and ask their assistance in returning the foods to the quality and purity intended by nature. (Reiki One practitioners can do this with their intention or through their higher selves.) When unpacking groceries, we can simply take a few minutes to use Reiki to clear them and ask that the nutrition that Mother Earth and the Divine intended be restored and any toxins be cleared. You'll be surprised how the energy clears and becomes harmonized, just as if you were working on a client. I also like to use the distant symbol to send Reiki to the soil the plants were grown in and to the farms and people who helped produce them. Blessing our meals and the people who prepared them with Reiki is also very beneficial. Gratitude is a great healer...
Recipes
Miso Soup
5 cups water
¼ cup bonita flakes (optional)
1 3-inch piece of wakame (dried sea vegetable)
8 oz. block of tofu, diced into small cubes
2 Tbs. barley miso
½ cup sliced scallions
Cover wakame with water and soak until softened. Bring the 5 cups of water to a boil. Add bonita flakes, let simmer briefly, and then strain out all flakes; this will impart a smoky rich flavor. Slice wakame into small pieces, add to water, and simmer 5-10 minutes. Add tofu cubes. Dilute miso with a little of the soup water, add to the soup, and simmer 3 minutes longer. Add scallions and serve.
Barley Salad
2 cups hulled barley
4 cups water
pinch of sea salt
½ cup onion, diced
½ cup carrot, diced
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup fresh or frozen peas
¼ cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
½ cup seitan, cubed and pan fried (optional-available in most health food stores)
¼ cup parsley, chopped
umeboshi plum parsley dressing (see below)
Rinse barley and add to 4 cups of boiling water with a pinch of sea salt. Bring back to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer one hour. When finished, transfer to a large bowl or pan and fluff with a fork to maintain individual grains. Blanch the next four ingredients briefly in boiling water.
Soak the shiitake mushroom caps for 3 hours, slice thin, and simmer with a little soaking water and tamari for 10 minutes. If using fresh shiitake caps, slice thin and sauté with a little tamari and sesame oil. Toss all ingredients with umeboshi plum parsley dressing.
Any leftovers can easily be made into soup by covering with water, bringing to a boil, adding tamari soy sauce to taste, and simmering for five minutes.
This is an excerpt from an article in the Spring 2004 issue of Reiki News Magazine.
