Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma

author, poet, teacher, and performer

Food and Freedom: A Kural Conversation with Ellen Kittredge

Digestion, moderation, and eating as spiritual practice.

With my longtime friend Ellen Kittredge I was delighted to explore the insight that food is medicine and that moderation can lead to greater fulfillment and joy.

Here are a few highlights and where in the video you can find them:

  • The possibility of relating to food and to eating as spiritual practices: 7:22
  • Mindful eating and the parasympathetic nervous system: 14:32
  • Finding a balance point in life, transforming addictive tendencies, and discovering equanimity: 24:08
  • A question from Ellen: Where does liberation from the cycle of birth and death fit into the concerns of THE KURAL? 33:23

Ellen Kittredge is a Nutritional Counselor, Minister of Walking Prayer, and practitioner of earth-based healing modalities. While her primary focus is supporting her clients with maintaining optimal health through sound nutritional guidance, she has also has trained in a variety of other healing techniques, including extensive study over the last 10 years in earth-based healing practices with Nature Priests/Mystics in the High Andes of Peru.

Learn more about Ellen on her website:
https://ellenkittredge.com/

Here are the verses we talked about, in both English and Tamil:

945
If one eats with measure what does not disagree
Nothing threatens one’s life

மாறுபா டில்லாத உண்டி மறுத்துண்ணின்
ஊறுபா டில்லை உயிர்க்கு

946
Those who eat knowing moderation know joy—as those
Who devour know disease

இழிவறிந் துண்பான்கண் இன்பம்போல் நிற்கும்
கழிபேர் இரையான்கண் நோய்

947
Those who devour beyond their fire’s limit
Know disease beyond limit

தீயள வன்றித் தெரியான் பெரிதுண்ணின்
நோயள வின்றிப் படும்

From chapter 95, “Medicine.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston