E.A.T. (Energy as Truth): Food for the Thoughtful.

By Lizzie Shanks

E.A.T. (Energy as Truth) is a conversation-changer, a highly engaging handbook for becoming well, and reconnecting to what would be beneficial for us in a post-pandemic world. Shanks' unique style–likened to Omnivore's Dilemma meets The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying—inspires unusual dots to connect, making a compelling observation that it is vibrational illiteracy that is behind our confusion over what is good for us to eat. How we might truly nourish ourselves on all fronts going forward is this book's reason for being. Using food as a metaphor for what we are willing to take in, the reader is offered an empowering perspective to help find clarity in the contradictory waters of what is deemed healthy. Merging her knowledge as both teacher and practitioner of energy medicine with her love of all things culinary, Shanks vividly explains what it means to be "vibrational in nature." She outlines what the challenging ramifications are of having been disconnected from this innate nature of ours, while she alludes to the exceptional future that awaits as we begin to understand the innermost workings of vibrational mastery, and act according to its tenets. Going well beyond current "how to raise your vibration" instruction, captivating explanations about how vibration works individually, and collectively in concert with all, are thought-provoking in their careful details. All sentient beings—even seemingly non-sentient things—take on fluctuating energetic qualities that directly match their treatment. Since we are all interconnected, these qualities flavor our shared experiences, affecting us in ways that we may have not yet considered. In our collective unconsciousness we have simply forgotten this truth. If we are wise we'll remember, as E.A.T. provides a bounty of new reasons for making new choices for the good of all.

The point is made and well clarified that since all "things" vibrate, if the treatment of all is aligned with the laws of nature herself, the frequency of the vibration is high, and the connection remains strong between us all. We are not separate from nature, although we have been under the illusion that we can be, and so
have been for some time.

As food production on all fronts has increasingly departed from the ways in which nature intended to feed us, and as we too have become separated from how nature works and of how things grow naturally in healthy eco-systems, we too have become divided from our very nature. This is clearly demonstrated in our growing divisiveness with each other, yet more and more we are also divided from a sense of being well, and of feeling well.

The call to action in E.A.T. is that through individual awareness, we can begin the process of choosing the universal quality of our vibration in the unique ways that are posed, that for some readers may be entirely new food for thought. By detailing our rampant disconnection from the sources of our food, Shanks profoundly illustrates how we are largely unaware of our vibrational nature and the vibrational nature of all beings mutually impacting one another at all times. This vibrational nature of ours is also nature's premier law—that everything and everyone is connected, without exception. We are, indeed, one. This means that what is done to one is done to all, and within E.A.T. a calm voice illuminates this truth in an enlightening, decidedly nonjudgemental manner. Its timely release could not be more instructive and inspirational for the uncertain days that lie ahead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Aug 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780228829843

Lizzie Shanks

As a respected practitioner of energy medicine and long-time contributor to the creative arts, Lizzie Shanks has habitually mined the diversity of multiple paths, gleaning valuable nuggets that aid in the navigation of a meaningful life. Her collective experience provides the unique acumen that enabled the writing of this book, which is in effect a collage — one of a deep-rooted willingness to find beauty, to shine a light on the true cause of our chronic divisiveness, and to bear witness to the undeniable connectivity of all things.In her private energy healing practice, her skills as a Karuna Reiki Master, Holy Fire 3 Reiki Master, and Kore Process practitioner, meld with a fascinating and revealing modality she developed for energy healing in the home called SpaceshiftTM — born of her expertise as an interior designer and an ever-expanding understanding of energy medicine and its vital importance.Shanks has contributed to many Canadian and international publications as a writer and a food/fashion stylist, and has released four internationally acclaimed albums both as the singer/lyricist with the band Besharah: Cereal Suits, Earth School, Heliotrope, and most recently, in 2017, Radio DNA's: Love Thing.Lizzie is the loving partner of 32 years, to fine furniture designer Peter Shanks, the photographer of this book. She's the proud mother to her son, Kiefer, and foster son, Trevor. She's also a culinary enthusiast, avid organic gardener, nature worshipper, people lover, and adorer of Joe and Poppy, her beloved Chihuahuas.E.A.T. (Energy.As.Truth) is Shanks' first book.Heartspacemastery.com (Energy Medicine) Radiodna.us - Radio DNA & Besharah (Music on Spotify)

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Preface

Early in 2019, I was teaching energy medicine online when my student mentioned that it was high time I wrote a book on vibrational mastery, specifically one that would help readers to connect the many disconnected dots that exist around this life-enhancing, very under-utilized, and often unrecognized gift that we, as vibrational beings, have.

That flea put in my ear made me scratch a book-writing itch that had already been there for some time. As you can see, I took my student’s advice to heart, devoting the next fourteen months to sitting before the altar of my laptop. I felt that I was in quarantine before it became official that to stem the pandemic, we all had to be.

Initially, E.A.T. was to be both the book you have in your hands and an adjoining cookbook with more than 75 unique, deliciously high-vibe recipes and how they got that way clearly explained in the text. As things were coming together, I realized that in a two-part book like that, it’s customary to make a beeline to lovely photography and enticing recipes, merely skimming the rest. I didn’t want readers to miss the crucial message of this book. So, a rethink was in order, but not without lament over some loss of visual beauty, and the fact that so much work had already been done. In hindsight, I’m glad that E.A.T. is one book. That is its point, after all. Since we’re vibrational in nature, we’re connected with each other and all sentient beings. Intellectually, most of us know this—that we are ~ ONE ~ with all that is—at least in theory. However, unearthing the nitty-gritty of just what that illusive idea means when put into practice is what I’ve tried to do within these pages. The idea of oneness is not only a message, it’s a skill-set whose time has come to initiate. As a foremost means to achieving wellness, it’s essential that we’re finally aware that it’s here for us to utilize, and always was.

E.A.T. enlists food, our most fundamental form of nourishment, as a metaphor—one that proclaims the state of our connection, or lack thereof, to how well we are, how whole we feel, and how healthy the planet appears to be. My affinity for using food as the backbone of the book also comes from the fact that as a medium for expression, food, in my estimation, is unsurpassed in creative opportunity. Since eating three times a day is what so many of us do, the energetic quality of what we take in during these daily rituals has an astounding effect on us that few realize, and can now contemplate, and hopefully change. Actually, inspiring radical change is the book’s highest aspiration.

For many readers, some of the troubling dots I mention throughout the book will not be new. What is unique about E.A.T. is that these often-familiar dots are connected in a particularly empowering and mostly unfamiliar way — offering a new lens, perhaps, through which to perceive that I hope will be immensely helpful. I can say that looking at life in this way has certainly been of enormous assistance to me, personally.

In choosing to learn the ins and outs of vibrational mastery, I received an assist by way of the diverse vocations I’ve had over the years, and they were instrumental to the book’s conception. In fact, without the wearing of all those hats and the broad frame of reference they provided, there would be no book. I did not, as optics might suggest, have career ADHD, although, at times, I’ve wondered. Yet, given that a wide swath of professional experience is an aid to the prospect of dot-connecting as it turns out, which is what I felt called to do here, my career history has been of great benefit. That’s because wisdom found in accumulated experience has an uncanny habit of always rising like cream to the top no matter how seemingly random are the circumstances that would bring it to the surface.

Yet, as anyone who has ever felt compelled to connect anything knows, such an undertaking is not for the faint of heart.

Very soon into the writing of the book, I realized that I was no longer in charge, if I had ever been under any illusion that I might be. I would be awakened in the middle of the night, my brain alight with insight that had not been there the day before — certain trains of thought that felt collaborative. In the wee hours, lucidly dreamt highlighter pens seemed to appear, with fat, fluorescent purple nibs marking revisions that would be helpful in specific areas, as did explicit orders to approach certain topics from different angles. These suggestions did not go unheard or unheeded. In some places where the topic was contentious, I would be literally taken out as if partially anesthetized for a few days, until I could integrate any of my former biases with what was insisted would be the highest good of the book. A couple of times, I was so uncomfortable with what I was writing, that getting out of my own way was essential to the process of continuing with it. I asked for clarity when needed, and learned to receive it—not necessarily with the immediacy I tend to prefer, but in the book’s own sweet time. With all of this going on, to say I lost a lot of sleep is an understatement. In the life of its own that the manuscript took, I joked with my friends that I had become the book’s bitch, and I was now riding in its back seat full-time. Challenging as it all was, the entire process made me more uniquely aware of myself. I am clearer about who I am as a result, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I wish the same for you, the reader—challenge and expansion, and an insatiable willingness to step into the great I am because you already are.

To be clear, I don’t consider myself a master. I am, as Joan Osborne wrote in one of her songs, a slob on the bus, like everyone else. Yet, I’ve been aboard this form of transit for some time, and having grown accustomed to the route am empowered by what’s behind the scenery from the window, and want that for you too.

For instance, I’m being mastered by vibration as I write this, and you are being mastered by vibration while reading it. Therefore, you might appreciate the level of challenge involved in connecting even those two rudimentary dots. In other words, even though I’m attempting to welcome you—I hope warmly—to the pages of this book and its viewpoint—and there is no more true intent than that—embedded in my words is the currency of my life at this moment, one that will also inform the overall vibe that you will feel with all its subtleties as you read. Writing in the middle of a global pandemic, one in which the uncertainty of what life will like be when this is over is omnipresent, will have its energetic presence felt in the text too. Of this, I have no doubt.

You will find that this book contains an energetic component that radiates from beneath the words and sentiments expressed. And how this energy is perceived—either with full-force or not at all—will vary from reader to reader. The words are imbued with their own medicine, for which I cannot take full credit from my position as their back-seat driver.

In his book, Be Here Now, Ram Dass said, To him who has had the experience no explanation is necessary, to him who has not, none is possible. This sums up the essence of vibrational mastery as an essential component in the creation of a life in balance. Once tasted, we can never go back.

So, I would suggest savoring the chapters unhurried, as a member of a new kind of slow food movement—one that can digest high vibrational nourishment because of an increasingly expansive palette.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Connecting the Dots

Chapter 2 Embracing it All

Chapter 3 The Life Force of Food

Chapter 4 Ancestors and the Food Chain

Chapter 5 Love

Chapter 6 Kindness

Chapter 7 The Temple of Decency

Chapter 8 Reciprocity

Chapter 9 Gratitude

Chapter 10 Bless

Chapter 11 How Does Your Garden Grow?

Chapter 12 Messages in Water

Chapter 13 Beneath the Surface

Chapter 14 Pink Flamingos

Chapter 15 The Lightness of Being

Chapter 16 Evolution Revolution

Bibliography

About the Author

1

Connecting the Dots

As an expression of love, food is a powerhouse of potential.

Some would go as far as to say that food is love. Even so, in its delectable bounty with its boundless opportunities for caring and creativity, we’ve misunderstood, and certainly underestimated, food’s lesser-known quality—one that is as real as it is invisible.

Where food is concerned, there’s a growing disconnect, a growing suspicion, and a growing divide over just what constitutes healthy eating. If you’ve ever tried to host a dinner, you’ve already earned a medal for trying to accommodate the rocky terrain of individual preference and allergy. As the connective tissue that it once was in building family, friends, and community relationships, food has—out of our ignorance and, in some cases, arrogance—been stripped of its power to connect us.

We’ve become afraid of food.

Bit by bit, I began to piece together how we have arrived at this chaotic, often divisive state over what to eat. What I didn’t find is any notion of why we are where we are, meaning where the root of the reason is, at its deepest.

In the early stages of writing this book, its working title was DOTS, since I planned to try to connect as many of them as possible to get to the bottom of what is fueling the fear. One thing seems clear. Around 70 years ago, our once wholesome and infinitely simpler relationship with food was, in the name of progress, torched at its source. From this fiery forge, mutant, natural law-defiant dominos have emerged, one by one toppling the health and well-being of the planet and just about everyone on it. Unwittingly, since we’ve misplaced clarity about what these natural laws even are and have played along with the status quo, we’ve played a part in a growing complexity we bear witness to at every meal over what is actually good for us to eat. We don’t know how this can be, and we don’t quite know what to do about it, short of avoiding certain foods altogether. What’s even more troubling is that many of us remain unaware that there is any complexity to be navigated at all, let alone questioned.

I’d counted on there being complexity in trying to connect fragments of disparate information about how and where our connection to nature, and in turn, our nourishment has gone awry, I just hadn’t expected as much of it as I found. A few months into writing this book, I began to realize that under the weight of our collective confusion, born from layer upon layer of egoic human tampering, there is a profoundly simple law that has governed the natural world since time immemorial. The very fiber of our Universe comprises itself of a thread connecting one thing to another in a weave that asks for little, save that it not be broken. Largely, we have been ignoring the request.

Out of my frustration, a form began to take shape. I realized that within the acronym of the word ‘EAT’ is hidden the largely misplaced holy grail of balance and wellness. In everything we put into our mouths lies the infallible blueprint of its past—one that it now bestows on us as we consume it.

Energy.As.Truth.

The fact that there is a connection between the loving kindness and care with which our food is nurtured as it’s grown, or not nurtured as it happens, and our resulting physical, mental, and spiritual health, is a point that can no longer be ignored. There is a growing awareness that we and our food—be it from animal and plant sources—have something big in common.

We vibrate. Yet, we have not even come close to understanding all the implications of being interconnected vibrational beings never-endingly in concert with one another. My hope is that we begin a broader conversation that helps grow that understanding.

Since every person, plant, animal, place, or object on the planet vibrates and can be measured as doing so, it’s not to be missed that the quality of that vibration is affected by our every action and thought. Compassion, gratitude, kindness, respect, generosity, cooperation, connectedness, non-judgment, joy, wonder, and other similar choices—as they very much are choices—are aspects of love, and as such, are considered vibrationally higher. These aspects of love best reflect, and are in perfect flow with, our actual nature because we are cogs in nature’s wheel. We are not the entire wheel, as demonstrated by our repeatedly domineering behavior over nature and all things natural. Aspiring to a vibrationally elevated state also requires an awareness that vibration fluctuates in accordance with how much we exercise those aspects of love, moment by moment. Where interconnectedness comes into play, and what we so often misunderstand or overlook, is that our vibrational quality cannot help but affect the subjects of our actions, those beings and things that we are in concert with, imposing a similar vibration on everything we interact with, as well. Long story short, if a vibration being projected is not an aspect of love, it is an aspect or a degree of fear.

With this awareness, we can choose to harness the ability to manage our vibration in accordance with the innate power that doing so gives us. Being aware of and managing our vibration affects change equal to our commitment to try to do so. We have sovereignty and true ownership of one thing only, and that is the quality of our vibration.

That is the legacy we take to our graves, and beyond.

We can return to being in flow with all things, including what feeds us, instead of going with a current that in its lack of natural ease, is making us sick. It’s in ignorance of recognizing this vibrational power source of ours that our genuine nature has been shrouded by miserliness, greed, opportunism, disconnectedness, jealousy, unhealed ego, competitiveness, lack, entitlement, apathy, disrespect, abuse, violence, and small-mindedness, to name a few stagnating traits that impede flow. These states, also chosen even if unconsciously, are all aspects of fear. Vibrationally, they fall into varying degrees of low.

In the many years I’ve been keen to observe this, I’ve noticed that the higher our vibration or frequency and the higher the frequency of our food, the healthier and happier we find ourselves. Since we have great influence over what our frequency is at every juncture, yet haven’t realized just how much up until now, we can affect well-being in more ways than we think. However, we have largely squandered our responsibility to steward this personal vibration of ours, and consequently, have repeatedly failed our food’s vibrational well-being as well. Addressing the reality of our connectedness to all things is where our power to effect personal and planetary change is most sublime.

Not placing importance on vibrational stewardship has come not only at our own peril but at the peril of every aspect of life on the planet. In our failure to connect the dots between the very thing we have in common with our food—that both have fluctuating energetic frequencies that can be raised for the benefit of all—we come to an irrefutable truth. We truly are what we eat. Yet, to put a finer point on it, what we are willing to eat says a lot about who we are. Further to this, very often, our current awareness doesn’t extend to the fact that we are also what has been fed to what we eat. Transparency about what has been fed to what we eat has been missing, yet the proof that it is not in alignment with nature’s ways is in the vibrational pudding that we’ve been consuming. Without this new awareness put into action by way of our willingness to choose something else, and soon, the quality of our time left on Earth is precarious at best.

In concerning ourselves with the energetic quality of what we choose to eat, among other things we choose, there is real potential for the transformation of all the things that seem off in the world. And what is off finds its roots in the rampant disconnection we have with each other, with nature, and with what is natural.

We’ve gone along with what the tsunami of what has been sold as progress has brought to bear, without complaint. Politicians and political parties do not often represent us in high vibrational ways, and corporations are known for eclipsing individual interests, scraping the bottom of the vibrational barrel as they do. By way of buyouts and mergers in a low-frequency global chess game, they’ve appropriated much of the media and almost anything resembling a truthful, meaningful message along with it. The bid to dumb us down even further has been a success, and in the attempted takeover and acquisition of lives now heavily curated by self-serving media messages, we go about the business of living more robotically than we realize. As demonstrated by our behavior, we now routinely curate our own highly edited, or not so edited lives on social media. We manage our media messages for the optics of them, not always their truth, and often don’t notice that we do. Yet, by beginning to manage our vibration, the opportunity to take back our very nature lies waiting.

So, even while we find ourselves in the infancy of understanding that vibrational quality is increased by all aspects of love, and decreased by nearly everything else we’ve been fearfully stirring into the pot since time began, we’ve completely missed the main point. This disconnection of ours—one that curiously many seem fine with because they don’t remember what being connected ever felt like in the first place—has a boomerang effect. The boomerangs we’ve been inadvertently throwing are coming back to hit us squarely in our well-being.

Since the Golden Age of Capitalism began in the 1950s, the powers that be have scrutinized individual foods and categorized them as good or bad as a ploy for corporate profiteering, and no other reason. Furthermore, as more people continued to view convenience as a core value, we’ve become less knowledgeable about the life our food had before it reached our plates. In this way, we have colluded with corporations, as was their intention. Our decision-making about our food choices is increasingly disconnected from truth or understanding. We are allowing ourselves to be fed by those who don’t know or don’t care about either the energy of food or the energy of people, as long as business is profitable. Yet, to point the finger of blame is pointless. We’ve allowed this to happen, thinking it was serving us to do so when it was not. We’ve lost the plot of who we are in connection to everything else, as our food dilemmas demonstrate so clearly. We can and must get this connection back.

By allowing the realization of our chronic disconnection with our food to sink in, may our discomfort inspire us to choose the reparation work necessary to change this worrisome trajectory on which we find ourselves. As we yearn to heal the disconnected aspects of the world—growing poverty and homelessness, social inequity, misuse of power, the increase in serious mental and physical health conditions,