I have been overeating! I can have a perfectly healthy delicious meal. But I can’t stop snacking afterwards. There is a craving. I have been wondering about ‘what am I really craving’!
This morning I discovered the sanskrit word – purya in my meditation text Radiance Sutras*. Purya means to be filled or satisfied. Reading this I realise I have been craving satisfaction. With the word purya, I feel I have discovered the doorway to fulfill the longing for satisfaction. The meditation technique with purya is quite simple – ‘lingering for a moment at the end of an inhalation and enjoying the sensations of being filled to overflowing’. I shall be practising this whenever I find myself longing for satisfaction. It would be so much better for my body to get this sensation from the breath than from trying to fill the belly with food.
The text suggests ‘going to a place of beauty, whatever inspires awe in you and inhaling the wonderfulness in your body. Or recall a memory that delights you.’
This reminds me of recent experiences of sensing the vibrancy of colours of food – red of tomatoes/strawberries, orange of sweet peppers/carrots, yellow of lemons, green of cucumbers, white of turnips, blue of blueberries, purple of red onions/red cabbage/radioccio….
I cannot help wondering if this longing for satisfaction drives all sorts of over consumption. Perhaps this longing for satisfaction is a deeper layer to addictions too. Addictions are everywhere. So many of us are addicted to screens these days. And there are so many addictions that can be much more harmful. After the meditation this morning I cannot help wondering if the solution can be simpler than we can imagine.
The technique is rather simple. Please do try it if you need it. And do let me know how you get on. If you would like a guided meditation to deepen the journey on this path of feeling fulfilled, please let me know. I am a certified Instinctive Meditation teacher. I offer meditation sessions, both in-person or online.
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*Radiance Sutras is Dr. Lorin Roche’s meditative and poetic interpretation of the teachings from the ancient sanskrit text Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.