You Don't Cook -- I'm Better Than You

I'm back now from the Yoga Journal Boston Conference where I co-taught a class with Bo Forbes on yoga, food, and body image. I was amazed that around 80 people showed up. Just goes to show how much people want information and healing on the topic (me too!)At the end of the class, a woman asked how she can take care of herself around food when a) she doesn't have time to cook and b) she's not really that interested in food but knows she needs to eat well to be healthy. Bo said there are those that eat to live (like this woman) and those that live to eat (me). I said something like, go to Whole Foods or some other healthy store, buy prepared foods and enjoy them.Then another woman in the audience raised her hand and said, "Isn't it interesting that this generation doesn't care about food? How dissociated and disconnected people become from cooking and how food is raised?"I instantly felt tight, and saw other members of the audience visibly stiffen. I looked at Bo, who has many years of yoga teaching under her belt, with pleading eyes, like, "how do we answer this judgmental woman?" Bo took it on and said something like "Isn't it interesting how much judgment we have about other people's food choices. Just goes to show you how loaded this topic is for most people."Amen sister. The woman who asked this seemed to feel superior to the woman who wants to eat well but doesn't have time or inclination to cook. I am always interested in observing how our egos shore us up in order to make us feel superior than others. And, I agree totally with Bo: just goes to show how much healing needs to be done in this arena.