Sit Down. Be Quiet. And Eat.

The other night my daughter wanted to eat dinner standing up at the table.

“Pick your battles” I thought to myself, and held my tongue.

But when she wanted to also alternate reading AND talking non-stop I couldn’t resist.

“Do you know why it’s not great to stand or walk while you eat? Or to read or have intense conversations?”

“No, why?”

“Because the Spleen is in charge of digestion. Which means it needs its strength to focus on breaking down the food we eat to turn it into energy. But it’s also in charge of the muscles. So if you are also using your muscles while you eat then it will have less strength to devote to digesting, and won’t produce as much energy from our food. And it’s ALSO in charge of thinking, so if your mind is super busy then you also won’t have as much energy to digest. And if you are eating AND walking AND thinking intensely then you’re hooped!”

It’s also why we shouldn’t eat lunch while working at our desks surrounded by the mental business of the day! Or, translated to the current era, I suppose it means don’t set up your home office on the kitchen table…

Sit down. Be quiet. And eat.

Artist: Alice Edy (http://alice-edy.squarespace.com/)