Good Belly, Good Mind

At the centre of our systems - between respiratory and eliminatory - exists the engine room of our life force. The processing department of the first building block of good health - food. Here in this intricate space, all that can be taken from our food is extracted and the waste sent on for removal. The processes of this system, do literally determine that we are what we eat.

In yoga all of the physical component of the body, all of the matter that makes us us, is called the anamayam. ‘Ana’ translating directly to ‘food’. The physical body is nothing but food. Of course there are different things that animate the matter but the matter itself is born from food and food alone. This understanding can enormously impact the choices we make around what we put into our mouth. We can ask ourselves directly when we are looking at something we may be tempted to eat - ‘do I really want to be that?’. Of course the mind will come up with a million reasons to tell us exactly why we should eat even that which is awful for our own constitution but that’s a different article all together. What we’re really interested in discussing here is what happens after the food journeys beyond the mouth, from the context of yoga.

Yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda, tells of many ‘fires’ or agnis in the body. These fires play different roles to ensure the complete breakdown and subsequent transportation of essential components to all seven dhatus (tissue types) of the body. Jathara Agni is the main Agni and therefore most focus is on the health of this particular fire, in the context of yoga, as it will effect all others. Jathara Agni (JA) is said to reside behind the navel. Its role is not just to digest but to discern; to see what it is we should be keeping and what should be going. And of course, through all understanding of yoga we know that there is no separation between any of the layers of the constitution - the digestive system not only process the physical but so to the psychological. When the JA is running too hot or too low, this discernment of what should stay and what should go - including thoughts - is disrupted.

When we eat in the way that is right for us as an individual, we should not feel heavy, nor manic, the mind will feel settled and clear. There should be a feeling of ease within the body and contentment in the mind. When we overindulge or eat things that our constitution finds strenuous to digest, we can feel very tired, bloated and foggy of mind (tamasic). When we eat too little or things that are over-stimulating for our digestive fire we can feel unsteady, hyperactive and wake up the horror of the drunken, distressed monkey mind (rajas).

Jathara agni, holds the most important role of converting food into prana (lifeforce), if we promoted ourselves to the role of primary caretaker of just our own Jathara Agni and only Jathara Agni our life would already change beyond our imaginings. Our capacity to fulfil so many of life’s actions vastly increased. Generally we don’t even know what our potential is until we arrive there, this could not be more true in the way that we so casually treat our digestive system and its effect on every other component on our entire constitution. Try starting with just three guidelines - right amount (half the belly for food, quarter for water and a quarter empty), right time (eating only when the feeling of hunger is present) and creating the space for eating to sit down and be present.