Nicole Groman MS, RDN, CDN, is based in New York City. She received her Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Cornell University, and her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from New York University, where she also completed her dietetic internship. In her private practice, Nicole Groman Nutrition, Nicole helps you reconnect with your body. She encourages prioritizing your body over your mind, having faith that your body will tell you what it needs, what it doesn’t, when it’s had too much, or if it hasn’t had enough. She’s been quoted in Vogue, Women’s Health, and Well+Good. Check out her work and learn more here.
Gratefulness
Now that you’re becoming more excited about eating, and hopefully understanding that being excited about eating is a good thing, we want to continue exploring emotions that can help you enhance your relationship with food and your body.
One of the most profound emotions that we are able to feel is gratefulness. Simply saying “thank you” in your mind can change your whole attitude. It can shift a miserable moment into a euphoric one, a perceived loss into a certain gain. Why is this feeling so powerful?
Well, we believe that behind being grateful is first the feeling of joy, of happiness, some from certain spiritual systems may say, call it bliss.
The late Joseph Campbell – a writer, professor at Sarah Lawrence College, and a world traveling intellectual – is largely credited with bridging the spiritual beliefs of the Western and Eastern religions from an American perspective.
By studying religions from all around the world, Dr. Campbell collected and put together a single phrase that encapsulated the learnings and teaching of thousands of years of human consciousness and existence. This phrase?
“Follow your bliss.”
His study led him to the clarity that comes with the simplicity of this phrase. In following your bliss, you’re listening to what makes you feel good. What makes you feel alive. What heightens your awareness, gives you energy, and creates more thriving in your daily life.
By following your bliss, you are also practicing what we at Way believe is one of the first principles that we’re guiding you to – listen to your body.
When you listen to your body, and your body feels good, you have a really good idea of what will be best for you, what will make you whole, what will help you experience more joy, what will drive you toward more fulfillment.
At Way, we don’t espouse or put forth a belief system, that’s not our place and not in our fondest hopes.
But, we do recognize that no matter what your beliefs are – whether there’s a God or not, whether the universe is expanding or contracting, whether we control our destiny or whether we’re all just floating in the wind, like the feather in Forrest Gump – if you say “thank you” for something that brings you joy, you’re telling yourself, and the world around you, that whatever you’re saying thank you for is something you want more of. That it’s something that you appreciate, that you hold in your mind and heart as valuable.
So, in this early session within Way, we want to take a beat, and ask you to try saying thank you for what you eat. To say thank you for your body (see also, “The Parts of My Body I Like” blog post). Close your eyes if you feel compelled to, imagine all of the people who worked to plant those veggies, water them, harvest them, drive them to your local grocery store, stock the shelves with them, and ring them up and bag them for you. Say thank you to your body for walking you to your car, or bus, or bike, or for your eyes for opening in the morning so you can see.
After you do this statement of gratefulness in your mind or out loud, notice how you feel. Notice how the experience you have changes from when you don’t say thank you. Do you get more enjoyment from what you’re eating? From what you’re doing?
Doing this practice may seem simple, and it is – that’s the whole point. It doesn’t take much to heighten the experience, it just takes the right things.
And saying thank you may be something small that you can do every day to guide you down the path to more peace with food, more appreciation for your body, and more enjoyment and bliss in your life.