The Mouth is more than just for spouting off

Mouth Hunger Is the Mouth's desire for Pleasure. What constitutes pleasure sensations is different from one person to another. Some like it hot and spicy. Some like it cool as a cucumber. The experience of the mouth sensation is not only taste but the feel of food in the mouth. Does your palette desire smooth creamy feeling food or crunchy, or maybe a fleshy texture is more your style? Do you like to lick things, like your fingers after something sticky and sweet? We are entering into sensual territory here. Many cultures are very sensual in the way they approach food. Some eat with their fingers. Where your ancestry origins come from may play into how your mouth feels about tastes and textures. My ancestors were from Scotland/Ireland and Portugal. I love yams, fresh baked breads (though I only eat sprouted grains), greens, both cooked and raw. But I also love creamy things like avocado, papaya, then there is rice and oatmeal and seeds and nuts. And seaweed I love fried seaweed. These things are not all that I eat but they are really Parties in my mouth. To some people what goes in the mouth goes right to the brain and manifests in emotional experiences. Have you ever seen or heard the advertisements that profess that "Party in the mouth" blast of exciting amped up food sensation. That is a ploy for an emotional mouth response.Most of the time it is items laden with more salt, sugar, fat, and artificial spice or other flavorings. But it is an emotional call to the taste buds and their brain contact that tells the body it is having pleasure. Americans have been fooled into buying unripe fruit, over done products, over fatted, over salted, over sweetened, to the point that many people don't know what a normal ripe piece of fruit tastes like or food that is prepared in it's normal state. The mouth is very connected to awareness. It is not enough to stick food in your mouth chew it up and eat it. The mouth and mind want intelligence. If you want to feel satisfied, truly satisfied when you eat, the mind wants to be invited to the party. Mindless eating is very much part of eating disorders and overeating. Often times the problems lie in not paying attention to what is going on in the mouth that gets us into trouble more so than the actual diet we subscribe to. I am not advocating a junk food plan here but it is important to eat mindfully foremost.

 Try These Exercises:
     During the day notice when something you are eating goes in your mouth, what the first initial reaction is. For instance, what happens in your brain at the very moment the taste buds begin to tickle? Then chew, chew, chew. How does that feel? Has your mind been invited to the party? You might even write a journal of food-mind interaction for a few days.
     If you are suffering from digestive issues do they come up as frequently when you exercise eating awareness? Do you fill up more quickly or less?

Orange Pu-erh

                                                                                                                                                 A great tea to try while we are on the subject of mind and digestion is Orange Pu-erh from Divine Lotus Tea Company. It is an aged tea. The qualities of this tea are earthy and a hint of orange citrus. This tea increases your sense of well being through the release and enhancement of  endorphins as well as the increase of the digestive process due to the aging of the tea. It is said to be of a calming energy nature capable of breaking the fats down early in the digestive process. Which is great for those with high cholesterol issues. You can find this tea at the Shangri-La tea house gift shop. In their dining room and online at www.divine-lotus-tea.com