Inspiring new book offers practical advice to revolutionize your eating habits

Susan Teton Campbell has had quite a journey searching for answers to the food-related health problems that affect millions of Americans, and now she offers those answers and plenty of practical and inspiring advice in the pages of her new book Eating as a Spiritual Practice. . : Discover your purpose while nurturing your body, mind and soul.

Think of eating as a spiritual practice as a two-for-one deal. First, you get the amazing story of Susan’s life journey, and then you get a whole host of delicious and healthy recipes. But perhaps most importantly, mixed throughout those two sections is a ton of great advice and insightful information about the value of proper nutrition and the dangers of processed and junk foods.

Susan’s journey to focus on what we eat really began when she realized that her son’s body had an intolerance to sugar and how, despite her best efforts, when that got out of control, it also left him open to the much worse substance addiction. Susan embarked on a lifelong mission to discover how to reverse her son’s health problems and, in the process, she became aware of the severe malnutrition that many of us experience due to the packaged and processed foods we eat. .

Instead of just reading about nutrition and changing her and her son’s diet, Susan became very involved in revolutionizing people’s relationship with food. She participated in spiritual retreats and organizations that believed in cultivating both the body and the soul. One organization she became involved with was EarthSave International, founded by John Robbins, the author of Diet for a New America. Part of her involvement with this group was spearheading a program to try to get healthier food served in schools. Soon, Susan was visiting principals and making lunches for them, and she discovered that the café-style lunch menus in our school districts practice the exact opposite of the good nutrition that school health classes preach.

Susan also uncovers her soul in these pages as she discusses her own efforts to eat well and overcome temptation, and most difficult of all, how she learned to set limits and follow her son, Aaron, when he refused to follow the rules. . or do what was best for him, but that turned into years of addiction. Ultimately, the trip made Susan stronger because her son provided her with lessons she desperately needed to learn about herself and her situation fueled her motivation to help others. At one point, Susan describes how she found herself judging people by what they ate, and then she realized how deep:

“From that point on, my job became sharing, rather than having an agenda that required others to change. I learned from Aaron that I couldn’t change it, nor was having an agenda to do so empowering him or me. So, a new evolved, one who would simply share what he knew to be true for me. The depth of this change and how much lighter I felt is beyond my ability to put into words, but it changed me, softened me.”

Susan went on to teach cooking classes and was constantly getting requests to write a cookbook, but she didn’t want to just write a cookbook, she wanted to share her philosophy and deep understanding of our relationship to food and its sacredness. The result: eating as a spiritual practice, a book that doesn’t try to sell us a specific diet, or tell us to pray for our food. Instead, it’s a book full of common sense, a back-to-basics approach, and a reminder to think about what we’re putting in our mouths and the effects it will have on our bodies. As Susan says in the book’s introduction:

“[Y]or you will be inspired to look at food, your body, your life, and the Earth in a new light, a light filled with purpose, gratitude, and promise. Why? Because it is absolutely vital that we all be part of creating a just and sustainable food system for ourselves, our children and the state of our air, water and soil. The deepest motivation, which is alive in me and in many others I know, is, in essence, spiritual. Perhaps, like me, you are a spiritual seeker with a dietary practice that extends far beyond the table.”

Susan makes it clear that we can no longer eat healthy foods as part of a temporary diet or simply to lose weight. It should become part of our daily practice just like exercising or brushing our teeth. It must be integrated as a daily discipline in our lives that is “fueled by love and respect”.

Instead of counting calories or trying to cut down on our portions, we should focus on making nutritious choices that not only heal and maintain our bodies, but also nourish our spirits. Our body and soul’s abilities to function at their best are deeply tied to what we eat, and it’s time we heed that connection and do what we can to nurture all aspects of ourselves. Susan learned how to do it, and in these pages, she’ll help you learn how to do the same.