The Sacred Yes: A Manifesto for Being an Eater

Every bite we take is a quiet, courageous yes.
Yes to inhabiting this body.
Yes to showing up, even in the mess and mystery of being human.
Yes to the ache of hunger — not just the physical kind, but the deeper ones too.
And yes to the nourishment that sustains us — not just from food, but from connection, care, and love.

Somewhere along the way, diet culture taught us to fear this yes.
To see hunger as a flaw.
To make food the enemy.
To mistrust our appetites, our bodies, ourselves.

But what if we reclaimed eating as a sacred agreement with life?
What if instead of control, we chose reverence?
Instead of guilt, grace?

The following is a kind of manifesto — a soul-level recommitment to being here, in this body, on this earth, as an eater. It is a gentle yet radical invitation to come home to yourself, one bite at a time.

The Eaters Agreement

Written by Mark David, it is reprinted here from his book, Nourishing Wisdom (1991).

I hereby agree, from this day forward, to fully participate in life on earth.  I agree to inhabit the appropriate vehicle for such participation - a body.  As a requisite for the sustaining of that body, and of the life that dwells therein, I agree to be an eater.  This agreement fully binds me for the duration of my stay on earth.

As an eater, I agree to hunger.  I agree to have a body that needs food.  I agree to eat food.  I recognize that as the biological need to eat is fulfilled with greater awareness and efficiency, the benefits of my well-being will increase.  I further acknowledge that ignorance of the eating process may cause undesirable consequences. 

Because the essence of my participation in life is one of learning and exploration, I agree to experience uncertainty as an eater. I recognize there are a great variety of foods to choose from, and I may not know which to eat.  I may have a choice of different nutritional approaches, and not know which to follow.  I may have an assortment of habits, and not know how to manage them.  I recognize that my relationship to food is a learning process, and I will inevitably make mistakes.  Therefore, as an eater, I agree to accept my humanness and learn as I go along.

I acknowledge that as the body changes from infancy to old age, so will the eating process change.  I recognize that my body may call for different foods as the days, seasons, and years progress.  My dietary needs will also shift in accord with changes in my life-style and environment.  I understand that there is no one perfect diet.

As an eater, I accept pain.  I recognize that I may suffer pain when the body is disturbed by my choice of food or eating habits.  I may also experience pain when emotional and spiritual hungers are confused with physical hunger.  I further understand that eating to cure a pain cannot be remedied by eating may bring even more pain.  I further agree to accept a body that is imperfect and vulnerable, that naturally decays with the passage of time.  I recognize there will be moments when I am incapable of caring for it myself.  I agree, then, that to live in a body is to need the help of others.  I also agree to be vulnerable as an eater.  I acknowledge that I will be helpless as an infant and will need to be fed.  I may be equally helpless when I am old and unwell.  I further recognize that even when I am fully capable, I may still need the warmth and care of someone who can feed me.  Therefore, as an eater, I agree to be nourished by others.

If I have a woman's body, I acknowledge that I have a special relationship to eating and nourishment.  I recognize that as a giver of life, I am the nourisher of life as well.  Whether through my cooking or the milk of my body, I acknowledge that the union of food and love is a quality that marks my womanhood and has a profound effect on human-kind.

As an eater, I acknowledge the domain of the sacred.  I recognize that the act of eating may be ritualized and inspired.  It may be given symbolic meanings that are religious or spiritual in nature.  It may even be joyous.

I further agree that eating is an activity that joins me with all humanity.  I recognize that to be an eater is to be accountable for the care of the earth and its resources.  I acknowledge that despite our differences, we are all ultimately nourished by the same source.  As such, I agree to share.

I recognize that at its deepest level, eating is an affirmation of life.  Each time I eat, I agree somewhere inside to continue life on earth.  I acknowledge that this choice to eat is a fundamental act of love and nourishment, a true celebration of my existence.  As a human being on earth, I agree to be an eater.  I choose life again and again...

So Let Us Eat

So let us eat — not with shame, but with reverence.
Let us feed ourselves not just to survive, but to live.
To remember that this body is our home, our vessel, our partner in this dance of being human.

May we honor our hunger as sacred.
May we welcome our appetites as messengers, not mistakes.
May we eat with love — for ourselves, for each other, and for this earth that feeds us all.

Because to be an eater is not a failure of willpower.
It is a triumph of aliveness.

And every time we choose to nourish ourselves,
we are choosing life again.
Again and again.

🌿 Your turn.
What would it look like to say yes to life through food today?
Not with rules. Not with guilt.
But with tenderness, curiosity, and care.

Share in the comments — or simply whisper your yes, and begin again.

Excerpted from Nourishing Wisdom, by Marc David

#IntuitiveEating #BodyKindness #ReclaimHunger #ChooseLife #EatingWisdom