Umeeta’s Around the Plate in 6 Senses is a book that sheds light on how our senses can assist us in bringing awareness to the body’s signals. Written by Ansari Ori who is a registered psychological counselor and a certified international health and wellness coach. Ori has a double Masters in Holistic Psychology and Coaching and Around the Plate in 6 Senses is her debut book.
She speaks with Gisele Wertheim Aymes about how she hopes to inspire more people to become more aware and mindful of their health-related choices.
“You can eat all the kale in the world, right? But if you are not attending to the other aspects of your life, then it doesn’t really create a sense of well-being for you”.
Learning to use all your senses
She was inspired to write Around the Plate in 6 Senses in 2018. After two years of extensive research, her writing process took a turning point in 2020, when she found herself stuck in South Africa during the Covid-19 lockdown, and unable to return home. She completed her book during her four months stuck in the country.
“In six senses, I added intuition because it has, for me, in my experience, been the one thing that has helped me realize, in many aspects of my life, when something is wrong. It’s not always easy to hone into the intuition factor. But I think it’s again, and I’m saying this over and over again, just more awareness.”
Self-care
The book is a reminder to slow down in your tracks, take a breath, and listen to your body communicating to you via your senses. Living a healthy life definitely involves what is on your plate, but it is not the only factor determining your health and well-being.
“We have so many processes going on at the moment, even though we are not mindful or aware of it. But when something goes wrong in our system, which is the body, it is bound, okay, maybe not 100% of the time, but most of the time, it is bound to give you an alert and alert of some kind”.
Ori emphasizes the need to focus on self-awareness and self-care of the mind and body to make the best decisions to optimize your health.
She says, “So responsibility, to an extent, does lie with us in the sense that we just need to be more mindful of what is going on. Nobody will know what is going on with you, except yourself. You go to a doctor, and you explain to him as well. You know, these are my symptoms and all sorts of things, you know, but everyone is different”.
Music and food
Ori also did research that showed how background noise or music influences eating behavior. For example, slow-tempo music in a restaurant results in customers staying longer and consuming more beverages, while loud music is associated with increased soft drink and alcohol consumption (club scenes).
She adds, “if you read my book, you will understand I’m surrounded by music here. My husband is a musician. He plays instruments and music has been found to also influence how you eat, what you choose to eat, and how fast you eat”.
Photo by Pixabay
The book also looks at how the senses help you make appropriate food choices and make you aware of the signs and signals that your smart-bod continually gives you when there is an imbalance in the system. You will be in awe of the transformation in your health by the awareness of the role the senses play on and around the plate.
“When you are given any kind of health advice, what works for me may not work for you. Depending on many years, depending on your lifestyle, depending on your likes, depending on lots of things. Find out what works for you. That’s important. One size does not fit all. The other thing is, I think we need to teach our children, which, for me, is very critical. And I wish I had been taught this when I was younger, to teach children where food comes”.
Around the Plate in 6 Senses is available for purchase on Amazon. Go on and enjoy this sensory journey of health and well-being.
Watch The Interview
The video interview contains the full dialogue of this interview, and you can watch it below.
View this post on Instagram
/
