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Prana Principles

My favorite room in a house is the kitchen. I’ve spent countless hours cooking, experimenting with different ingredients, and hosting dinner parties. I had grown up with the smell of my mother’s epic cooking, and it didn’t take long to realize I had inherited her wonderful gift of food preparation.

As the years progressed, my cooking got more elaborate, but its main purpose was to fill stomachs and accompany the many bottles of wine that were consumed at my parties. I hadn’t yet tapped into the “medicinal” and “pranic” nature of food. I was still just scratching the surface.

Fast forward more than a decade to my friend’s kitchen in Northern Portugal. I had recently moved to this part of the world and was staying with her for a few days.

I quickly made my way to the kitchen and prepared dinner. My friend sat there, watching what I was doing and asking questions. “I had never thought of that before,” she muttered, as I was talking about the prana (life force) in food and how to maximize it. Her training as a radiologist taught her about the “hard facts” of food: calories and nutrients. These things could be measured and counted. But life force? Prana?

“Prana is the unseen force that comes before all the nutrients and calories. Prana literally animates nutrients.” I held a spoonful of yumminess out for my friend to try. She smiled. “You should do a workshop on this stuff. Seriously.”

That got me thinking: What’s the most important information I could share about pranic nutrition? I quickly jotted down a list off the top of my head. And that became the foundation of my work in pranic nutrition. Below is my “starter” list of helpful tips to help you maximize your prana intake.

SEE ALSO: The Meaning Of Om Mani Padme Hum

1. Plants and More Plants!

The plant kingdom is a wonderful source of prana. Plants are fantastic “condensers” of the prana of the sun and the earth. The more plants you eat, the more prana you’re getting. It’s that simple.

Within the plant category, try to consume a lot of the deep greens. Kale, chard, spinach, arugula. You’ll often find these green leafy vegetables on “superfood” lists, and there’s a reason for it. So much prana!

After you load up on your deep greens, don’t stop there. Your shopping cart should be filled with all sorts of vegetables and fruit. Some of us get a little more exotic in our choices (romanesco, anyone?), while others stick to the basics (lettuce it is!).

Just have fun with your plants and follow this simple rule of thumb when shopping for them: 80 percent of your time in the grocery store should be spent in the produce section!

2. Fresh, As in… Recently Out of The Ground

The less time between harvest and your plate, the better.

There’s nothing quite like walking to your own garden, picking a plant, and heading back to the kitchen to prepare it. But I understand that not all of us have the luxury of a home garden. So the next best thing is to head over to a farmer’s market, where you can find plants that have been harvested that same day.

If you don’t have access to a farmer’s market and can only buy your plants from a grocery store, then simply use your senses to pick out the freshest ones.

Choose plants that look alive and vibrant over plants that are withering away, brownish, and overall… dead.

After a while of working with your plants, you’ll be able to sense which ones have more prana just by looking at their overall state.

3. Roots, Beans, and Bulbs, Oh My!

Yes, for every rule there’s an exception. Some plants do hold their prana for a long time after harvest. And these are very common household staples that you can rely upon: roots and bulbous plants, beans, and some fruit.

The reason these plants hold prana longer is because we’re consuming the “reservoir” part of the plant. This list includes plants like onions, garlic, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, apples, carrots, radishes, and beets (to name only a few).

I have all these plants at home and use them daily, but they are always a complement to my “recently-out of-the-ground” plants. In other words, the foundation of my meals is always fresh vegetables.

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In the winter months, I eat more of the roots/bulbs because they are more easily available, but you’ll quickly learn that fresh plants can be consumed even in the coldest winter months (did someone say “cabbage”?)

4. Raw, Lightly Cooked, and/or Cooked in Low Temperature.

I eat a lot of my plant-based food raw because it’s one of the best ways to retain a high level of prana. When I do cook, I try to keep the skillet or oven on relatively low temperatures.

On the occasions where I use higher temperatures to cook (with appropriate high temperature oils like coconut), I try to keep the time at a minimum (two to three minutes).

This tip may be harder to follow at first because culturally, we’ve made it a habit to overcook food. Or worse: We’ve become accustomed to pre-cooked, microwaved food.

Raw seems more troublesome, but that’s only in the beginning. Once you get creative, you’ll notice that food tastes more wholesome the less it’s cooked (okay, except for pizza!)

5. If You Consume Animal Products, Know How Those Animals Lived

I don’t like to get into debates about whether we should all be vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, carnivores, or anything in between. I find that this topic gets really heated very quickly.

We all have our reasons to eat the way we eat. But I think we can all agree (at least I hope so) that we should eat in a way that diminishes animal suffering overall.

Now, from an energy perspective, if you eat the flesh or product of an animal that has suffered, you are ingesting that pain. And that “dense” prana can be found biochemically in the animal by measuring the levels of cortisol (a stress hormone).

So, what can you do if you’re an omnivore? Try to know where the animal came from and how it was raised/slaughtered. But most importantly: Try to stay away from the consumption of animal products derived from intensive animal farming (called CAFO’s).

These are the places where animals live confined, under constant stress, and completely removed from any natural habitat conditions.

6. Prepare Food with a Loving Intention and Be Present

We are constantly affecting our realities and co-creating our experiences by the force of our electromagnetic fields. Our energy literally affects not only the people around us, but everything else that emits a field, too.

This is why your presence and loving intention are so important when preparing food. The more loving your emanation of energy is, the more prana you imbue on your food.

Yes, you aren’t just a “consumer” of prana; you’re also a “producer” of it. We’re all part of the life force that gives our physical bodies energy. So try to make cooking a type of mindfulness meditation. Who knows?

You may even notice a difference in the way your food tastes!

7. Take a Moment to Be Grateful Before You Eat

This is a continuation of tip 6, really. By pausing for a moment and giving thanks, you’re imbuing your food with loving energy. Not to mention that gratitude brings all sorts of abundance your way!

The list of tips could go on, but I think this is a great way to start maximizing pranic intake overall. If you can master these, you’ll notice remarkable changes in your everyday life. Higher energy, less sick days, and more happiness are just a few of the benefits of increased prana.

If you have any other tips to include in this list, please leave a comment!

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