Dear Reader,

Ah it’s Thanksgiving weekend, which means that I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude. The people and things I’m grateful for, but also the value of practicing gratitude. It seems like such a simple thing, but it can bring more calm, more peace.

Maybe a bit more happiness.

There’s a lot that can be said about gratitude, but today I’d like to talk about how to find freedom from food stress through gratitude.

The holidays used to be a very complicated time for me. It’s a confusing time where we are simultaneously encouraged to indulge in desserts and treats, but warned to watch what we eat.

Even if the people around us aren’t saying these things, it can be a tough inner voice to shake off. Eating can feel stressful during this time.

But when navigating the worry we sometimes feel around food (especially “non-healthy” holiday food), instead of just trying to ignore the inner voice, maybe we can try practicing gratitude–

a solution I found effective after learning about the seven gods inside my grain of rice.

Finding freedom from food stress through Japanese gratitude

There is a Japanese proverb that translates to “in a grain of rice lives seven gods”. It’s a proverb someone may admonish you with, should you leave a plate with food still on it or a particularly messy bowl of rice.

When my grandmother first used this on me, I thought it was such a strange expression. My young brain would imagine seven tiny gods living inside a tiny grain of rice, and that somehow, the gods inside that rice would be happier if I ate them. Or maybe the gods inside the rice made it more valuable to eat?

I didn’t quite understand, but my grandmother intimidated me so I would obediently clean off my bowl.

But I later learned the real meaning of that proverb. And understanding it had turned out to help me change the way I approached and thought about food.

First, let’s look at the Japanese character for rice 「米」.

The Japanese character for rice 「米」 is actually composed of the characters 8, 10, 8 or「八十八」. This is because it was said that to harvest rice, there were 88 steps involved in the process— it’s a very small, seemingly simple grain, but there is a lot involved to grow it.

Then, there is the part about the seven gods 「七人の神様」.

The seven gods is actually not a reference to a deity or figure, but refers to water, soil, wind, bugs, clouds, the sun, and the people involved in growing the rice. Forces in our everyday lives.

Water and soil provide nutrients, and wind helps the crop pollinate. Bugs like dragonflies and spiders eat harmful pests and protect the plant. The sun provides energy, and the clouds protect the crop from too much heat. And then there are the people involved throughout to help grow the rice.

Without these seven forces, there is no rice and there is no harvest. It is only possible with harmony and joint effort.

Mindfulness towards the way we think about food

It was such a different way to look at rice than what I was used to. No talk about calories, refined carbohydrates, sugars, metabolism, or anything of that sort. Instead it was a lens that helped me see food as something heartening not just to the stomach, but to the soul.

When I would find myself stressing about eating or worrying about how the food on my plate would affect my body, I would try to shift my focus away from these fears and towards the details I could be grateful for.

There are seven gods in my grain of rice, forces in my everyday life have worked a miracle to make that grain.

Gratitude as a form of self-care

Gratitude is a practice of checking in with your ego, which might seem like a practice of a self-disciplined stoic, but I have learned to see it as a form of self-care: it can ease anxiety and stress, and instead let ourselves be mindful in the moment.

Focus less on the calories, and more on the joy of food. Focus less on the clothing size, and more on the value of a filling meal.

If you struggle to feel confident around food, know that you’re not alone. But with a little bit of gratitude, perhaps you can shift your perspective towards food so you feel more in control of what you eat, rather than controlled by it.

It’s a simple lens shift, but it can do wonders to our sense of joy.

How else has the practice of gratitude brought joy into your life?

Warm regards,

Kaki

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