The Purity of Intent In Ayurveda: How Your Intention Matters When You Cook?

A wholesome meal prepared with fresh and seasonal ingredients with a sprinkle of love from the parent or a dish with canned foods or something directly fetched from the refrigerator. Whilst, in today’s day and age, one is more capable of doing the latter after a tiring day, the former is what Ayurveda believes in. “You are what you eat”, has a whole different meaning when it comes to preparing food in Ayurveda. Read on as we answer the query, how your intention matters when you cook?

The 6000-year-old science of Ayurveda suggests cooking and eating with a sane mind, away from the troubles faced during the day as the quality of food you eat defines your state of mind, consciousness and emotions. Foods that are whole, untainted and are cooked with love contain more of the intelligence of nature, and thus create more vivacity and happiness when you eat them – these are known as Sattvic foods. Whereas, foods that create ‘Tamas’ or lethargy are called Tamasic foods in Ayurveda.

If “Cooking is love made visible”, when preparing a meal for one’s beloved, the frame of mind of the person cooking the dish and his/her emotions are of utmost importance as it affects the quality of the food, in Ayurveda. Home-cooked meals are made with a key ingredient – love, which is irreplaceable and unlikely to match by a dish served in a restaurant by strangers. Hence, it is most important to cook often for your children as they food cooked for them should be fresh, made with a pure intent and lots of love.

You could also take some time to pray before eating the food. Use this time as an opportunity to reminisce that food is a living part of creation, and in this process, you are absorbing the boundless vitality of nature. This lends a chance to produce Ojas from the food, our biochemical energy that connects us to nature. Ultimately, eating is a sacred act that endures your actions. Preparing and eating food with love and care is a way pay reverence to that which is responsible for sustaining our lives.

At Forest Essentials, we weave this philosophy in the making of our products, especially that of the Date & Litchi Advanced Eternal Youth Formula. Whilst the fermented Litchi Juice and Date pulp is poured into the hundred times washed pure Cow’s Ghee (Shatt Dhaut Grith) and Ayurvedic herbs, mantras are chanted to soothe the mind of the crafting experts. This is the philosophy of Panchamahabhutas, centric to us as a brand, where the touch, feel, sight, sound and taste, all come together to create effective Ayurvedic products for our discerning customers.