"My body is the shrine, my steps footsteps around the temple" - Bhagavad Gita.

My true passion for food began during my first trip to India. Up until then I liked food of course but felt generally disconnected to it. It was when I met a very special friend by the name of Radhe that many things surrounding food and life began to make sense on an intuitive level. By watching this person prepare and cook food and go about his everyday tasks I learnt what is perhaps the most valuable lesson I have so far learnt in my almost 25 years of life. Radhe taught me what I now understand to be living meditation, doing meditation, rather than the kind you do sitting in lotus position, completely still, with your eyes closed. It is the constant practice of consciousness and focus in every little thing you do, whether pouring a glass of water, cooking a meal, speaking, eating, or cleaning the toilet.

When it comes to food, or anything for that matter, it is so easy to do a half-arsed job. Grab some veggies from the fridge that you're not sure how long they've been in there for, quickly chop them any which way, slowing down only to avoid chopping off a finger. Chuck whatever in a fry pan, some rice in a pot and hey presto a meal is ready to get into your stomach so you can get on with whatever is next on your very busy schedule.

In village India, the psychology and philosophy of cooking and eating is deeply ingrained in their culture and everyday life. It comes from the Vedas (Ayurveda), ancient books of knowledge channeled by yogis over four thousand years ago. Ayurveda is 'the science of life' and is grounded in the metaphysics of the five elements and their manifestation in our environment, which includes our bodies and the things we ingest. It focuses on the process of balancing these elements in our mind and body through food, yoga and massage to create inner balance and peace. Indian philosophy goes far beyond the impermanence of the physical, but the reality is that for this life at least, here we are, manifested in these physical bodies. When we create a harmonious environment within, it gives us a much more stable place from which to start our journey to the beyond. To travel from the physical to the spiritual, to feel connected to our subtle body and thus connected to the earth, the moon, the stars, the Gods, and each other... to step in beat with the deeper rhythm of life.