ABOUT EATING AND THE BODY

Food for the offerings, which has been cooked in the early hours of the morning, must be set aside before the people eat. The Balinese believe that food must be shared with the spirits so that harm and bad fortune will not come your way. You should wash and tidy the kitchen in preparation for the first meal of the day. The Balinese sit close to the ground at mealtimes, most of the time, preferring contact with the earth, rather than the comfort of tables and chairs. Unlike in Western cultures there is little talk as spiritual nourishment is received from the soul of the food (rice). The food on the plate is like an offering and given to share, a gift of God's bounty, and deserves great respect. Like praying, you have to prepare yourself for the food that provides fuel for the body. Eating time is considered a private time and a person must not be disturbed when engaged in a meal. They prefer to eat in quiet places. Food and rice, at mealtimes, is scooped between the fingers on the right hand and placed into the mouth with very little mess being made. This makes for slower eating which results in more thorough digestion. The core of good health is said to be good digestion. By not talking aids the process by allowing the body to steadily assimilate the food. Whilst we as Westerners would think eating with the hands is unhygienic, some Balinese think the same about cutlery. They say that their food tastes more delicious when eaten with the fingers and that cutlery creates an unpleasant steely coolness and interferes with the tongue and tastes of all the spicy flavourings. A meal prepared with loving hands should be eaten with loving hands. In reverence to God, ceremonial food is ALWAYS eaten with the hand.

The idealism of female beauty is a body with a slim hourglass figure with tiny waste and slim arms, just as in many other countries. An overweight body is a sign of imbalance and lack of harmony. It is only people without faith who need to "find themselves." They pay great attention to personal hygiene and cleanliness using an aromatherapy ritual, after washing, as an act of what we call self-care of self-love. The body is the vehicle of the soul.