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A post shared by ecofolks (@ecofolks) on Oct 17, 2018 at 5:15pm PDT

Nature’s bounty comes in a beautiful palette of colors.

The richer the color, the more antioxidant-rich the food.

Each season, we see the color palette change, seemingly before our eyes. The jewel-tone hues of summer berries change to the softer colors of pears, apples, and persimmons. The reds, greens, and purples of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant switch to softer tones of orange and yellow seen in sweet potatoes and corn.

There is also an energetic difference in the foods we eat in the summer and the fall. Summer foods are light, filled with water, crisp, refreshing. Fall foods are heartier, nourishing, more grounding.

Reflect on your eating habits.

How often do you pause before you eat and take note of the nourishment you are about to put into your body? How often is food looked at as something that just needs to be done to survive? Shifting the way we view our food can shift the way we view taking care of our bodies.

My mindful challenges for you this week are:

>> Take time and examine your food, noticing the colors and details before eating. Too many of us eat quickly, barely tasting, let alone truly seeing, smelling, and thus enjoying our food. Bonus points for consciously trying to add more variety of color to your plate.

>> During your weekly grocery store run, pause in each aisle of produce and truly look around. Notice the palette of colors around you. Take a moment of gratitude for the abundance of fresh food we are blessed to be provided with.

>> At the end of the week, after a week of slowing down and noticing the colors, textures, smells, and flavors of your food, reflect on the above question further. Journal about your relationship to food and how often you eat mindfully. Reflect on ways you can incorporate gratitude and mindfulness into your eating as a practice of self-care.

When most of us think of taking care of our bodies, we think of eating healthy and working out. Rarely do we stop to notice the “how” in our eating, or use it as a moment of pause and gratitude. Our relationship with food can be a wealth of information around our relationship to the self.

Be well, be grateful, and take in all the colors and tastes.