Eat Pray Love Health Tips
Eat Pray Love is one of my favorite books, and is a fantastic look into one woman’s journey to find peace and happiness. (Whether or not the movie holds the bar is left to be determined—if you’ve seen it, share your thoughts with the rest of us!) I don’t know one woman who could not relate to at least one aspect of the book, and with a smile and a laugh. Eat Pray Love landed on my lap during a period of immense change in my life; many of the challenges that Gilbert was facing seemed to parallel some of my own struggles at the time. Of course, I was not navigating around the globe at the time, just traveling within my own little world.
What I have been thinking about lately, though, is how the book runs parallel to the concepts of body, mind, and spirit, and how by honoring these three things in our selves we automatically become healthier and happier. Here, my thoughts on why each one of us should eat, pray, and love our way to a better body.
Eat: For those of you who have been following my blogs or know me personally, you know my philosophy is that when you eat better, you feel better; and when you feel better, you live better! Plain and simple, you are what you eat. So if you want to feel happy and alive, don’t eat dead, over-processed foods. Eat real, fresh, whole foods instead! Gilbert experimented with her “no carb left behind” diet in Italy and enjoyed every bite! (Warning: don’t try this at home! Carbs tend to be very different here in the States!)
Pray: As a health coach, I encourage people to find something that they feel connected to, whether that is God, prayer, nature, community—anything. Many of us feel there is something bigger than ourselves. Throughout the history of mankind, people on all continents have practiced different acts of faith and spirituality. For Gilbert, yoga was a huge part of her journey in making herself whole again. (“Yoga” actually translates to “union.”)
Love: All we need is love, right? Right! Each and every one of us, at the end of the day, is really just looking for a little love. Love makes the world go around, indeed. This, my friends, is the food for your soul. When you love yourself, only then can you step into love with others, and I’m not just talking about romantic love. Relationships of all kinds are what make us human beings, but fulfillment must come first from self. And this is when Elizabeth met Felipe…
So this year, vow to eat, pray, love your way to health and happiness. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get to travel the globe, fall in love with a Brazilian, and write a New York Times best-seller about it!
Maura Manzo is the Managing Director of RYAH Yoga and Health in Conshohocken. She is also a certified health coach and yoga teacher. To learn more about her classes and workshops, visit mauramanzo.com or ryahyoga.com. Read her full bio here.
