Vibrational Nutrition – Ep#067 Discovering the Energetic Signatures of Food With Candice Covington

0 (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you’re so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host, she’s a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, chef author, and Yogi, Christine Okezie.

Christine Okezie (23s):
Hello, and welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast. I’m Christine Okezie. Thanks so much for listening today as a holistic nutritionist, natural food chef and student of higher beta. I know that the food we eat is doing so much more than making us thin or fat food is actually more than simply fats, proteins, carbs, and calories, it’s energy, and all energy carries information. The food we eat communicates vibrationally to all layers of our being physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual ancient cultures and indigenous healing traditions are grounded in this knowing that food is medicine, because it provides a sacred connection to the earth to nature herself.

Christine Okezie (1m 11s):
No one can dispute that. What we eat has profound effects on so many aspects of our health, from our metabolism to our mood and mental outlook. Learning to appreciate the energetics of food is an empowering path. When it comes to our relationship with food and our bodies, it takes us on an unexplored journey into our cravings, aversions habits and behaviors. It’s the neutralization of that rigid dogma and shame and low pleasure approach of diet culture. Well, my special guest today is Candice Covington, certified aroma therapist, massage therapist, and all around healing arts master when it comes to the energetics of food and plant medicine.

Christine Okezie (1m 55s):
Candice is the author of the critically acclaimed book, vibrational nutrition, understanding the energetic signature of foods. It’s a hands-on guide to how the food we eat affects our behaviors, emotions, and spirit. I love her book and I love our conversation today. We dive deep into the psycho, emotional and spiritual qualities of so many of the foods that we have in our kitchen. There’s so much to be gained when we have elevate the conversation around food and our bodies in this way, today’s show is a beautiful invitation to bring back intuition and joy back into how we view human nutrition.

Christine Okezie (2m 37s):
And if you liked the episode, I’d be grateful. If you could please leave a rating and review on apple podcast. And if you haven’t already hit that subscribe button, please do. So. It helps me keep the podcast growing to learn more about Candice and the work that she does. Please visit her website, divine archetypes.org. The name of the essential oil and flower essence company. She founded in her home in Oregon city, Oregon. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the episode. Hi, Candice, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for being here today. Thank you so much for having me. So Candace, have you always been passionate about the healing power of plants?

Candice Covington (3m 17s):
Absolutely. Since birth, actually one of the first stories my mom told me is when I was in grade school and I don’t even remember this. She said, I used to go around the yard and I would pick various things, many of them weeds, you know, and I would come in layer on the couch and rub them on my hands and put them on our feet. And I would tell her elaborate stories about what they did. So I do believe that it was actually it’s my Dharma, that I was born with a huge passion towards the plant kingdom. And then just as you know, I’ve been got old enough to start to study things. I just systematically study holistic systems concerning plants and their use.

Christine Okezie (3m 56s):
Oh my goodness. Truly your Dharma. That’s amazing. So going back, even you, you discovered you share in your book, you come from a long line of natural healers or women who are natural healers, right? Absolutely.

Candice Covington (4m 9s):
Yes. And I have a sister right now. Who’s a nurse practitioner, so she, you know, veered a little bit, but the women in my family, you know, absolutely. But along line of herbologists midwives and, and my people, they settled in Utah during the pioneer times. So they really were able to learn from the indigenous cultures and what was passed down, folk wisdom or word of mouth. And there wasn’t access to what we would say was conventional medicine at that time. So they’re really, we’re able to hone their skills and be able to support the community. And I was lucky enough that the women and my family were passionate about it, that they passed it down verbally through the ages.

Christine Okezie (4m 52s):
Oh, I love that. It’s amazing. That’s amazing. Speaking of that, but you know, I, I know from having read your, your wonderful book that your, your, your classroom, if we can call it, that has been a little atypical to say the least in terms of how you’ve amassed this, this body of knowledge, I’d love for you. If you could just share kind of your path to finding, you know, all that, you know, that you had specific traditions, modalities, how things came to you, you know, around all this knowledge on plants.

Candice Covington (5m 21s):
Well, probably the most unique within that outside of traditional steadying and opportunity just through traditional means was it’s always been in my prayer in my heart. No matter what I did is that I would have nature, teach me without the middleman. And I always wanted to be able to have to have direct conversation, you know, and have care what she had to say concerning many different, you know, aspects of the plant kingdom. One night, I was literally sitting on my bed. I wasn’t doing anything special, just reading Jane Eyre when in front of me, two buttercup fairys appeared and they literally said telepathically, or in my mind, I don’t know quite how to explain it, but the words that were laid down in my mind versus hearing it in my ears, but I could visually see them as they said, we are here to heal you.

Candice Covington (6m 12s):
And then they entered into my chest and I’ve always read about the sensation of bliss, but I experienced it personally for the first time. And then they took me from consciousness. And, but there was a lot of, so nothing, I, I’m not really sure what happened during that, but then they woke me up as abruptly as I was gone. And I was able to view the energy field that they had been working in. And now they said, we’re going to help you see? And then they entered into my forehead and did their work around that? Well, I think that fundamentally changed the way that I perceived the world. And then after that, I started having what I would refer to as numinous dreams.

Candice Covington (6m 53s):
And basically they would tell me very specific information about very specific foods and the way that they behaved in the human continuum, everywhere from the emotional body, the mental body, and also soul and spirit, which there is a distinction between according to them. So it was a wonderful learning experience. And what’s really interesting since I’ve written this book, I don’t dream in that fashion anymore. My dreams have moved on to something different.

Christine Okezie (7m 21s):
Oh, that’s fascinating. Okay. And how long ago was that experience?

Candice Covington (7m 26s):
Oh, I would say a little bit over, well, it took me a couple of about three years to write the book, so right. Roughly around that timeframe.

Christine Okezie (7m 36s):
Okay. So you’re, so you wrote the book following that experience, essentially. Exactly.

Candice Covington (7m 44s):
Because when my dreams would come, I first started to do it for myself. I had no intention to publish. I just started writing down everything that came to me because I didn’t want to forget. And then I started putting it in practical application and I’ve always had a healing practice. So I just naturally started working with it with my clientele and my friends and family. And I had such consistent results that it was sort of like the proof is in the pudding type thing as well. I was pretty amazed with it and the larger amount of feedback I got on it, that was so positive. You know, people are like, you really should turn this into something larger to support the larger community outside of just your, you know, personal clientele.

Candice Covington (8m 25s):
And that was sort of the seed of when I decided to formalize it a bit.

Christine Okezie (8m 30s):
Oh my gosh. That’s amazing. So tell us a little bit about, and I want to dive way into the book, but let me, I’m just curious now. So you mentioned you became sort of a way for you to naturally integrate this into your healing work and to the other work that you do. Tell us a little bit about the other modalities or areas of study that complemented this.

Candice Covington (8m 49s):
Sure. My first book is “Essential Oils and Spiritual Practice – Working With Divine Art, Chakras and the Five Grade Elements.” And that’s very much an Ayurvedic base. I was lucky I worked at the Chopra center for an extremely long time. And that’s Dr. Deepak Chopra.

Christine Okezie (9m 7s):
Of course. Yeah.

Candice Covington (9m 8s):
And so I was surrounded by amazing minds. I was taught by what, who I believe are some of the most brilliant people when it comes to holistic ways of thought. And so I was able to do chocolate balancing sessions there. I was also the primary aroma therapist at their events. So I had an ability to really talk to and work with a vaster way of individuals, but my medium. So I’ve always been plants and they’re primarily a central oils, flower, essences, and now food

Christine Okezie (9m 40s):
Amazing. So this, this is nice, that continuum just like that. Okay. And thank you. I, that, must’ve been an incredible, incredible learning experience to be at the Chopra center and sort of the center of R Vedics, you know, study and everything. That’s beautiful. Oh my gosh. Okay. So your book, you provide a description of literally, maybe it’s even more, but it’s like close to 400 foods in your book. I mean, I was, we were just talking a little bit when I said it’s, it feels like an encyclopedia. I mean, it’s just, it’s so enticing, it really draws you in. Can you describe the process for learning about all these aspects of how food affects our energy body, our subtle anatomy? How did you come to know it?

Christine Okezie (10m 21s):
How did you even organize all of this?

Candice Covington (10m 23s):
Well, the plans presented themselves on a one by one basis. So they would appear in my dream and they would, some of them were pretty clear cut. They would literally just like almost, again, just, it was just words. Like they specifically said what they wanted and the other ones were a little bit more archetypal filling. Like I tell a story about the one where I knew that pumpkin, for example, I had a dream that I went into my paternal grandmother’s kitchen, and at that point she was passed, but on her stove, there was a pot of pumpkin soup simmering away. And all of a sudden her wall, including the stove gave way.

Candice Covington (11m 6s):
And there were stairs going down into this really welcoming darkness that felt in my dream. And I knew that it was the collective unconscious. So I knew that pumpkin specifically was the vibration that would allow me to connect to my ancestors, but also to the collective unconscious. And so now to give an example of a practicality, you know, I might, I just cook with pumpkin. I might make a Curry out of it. I might make a soup, you know, in the winter, even a pie, but just any way you would want to have it. But I do it with intent when I want to pray with my grandmother when I want to have that Lynn, you know, linear knowledge come. But also I very much believe in the collective unconscious as a wellspring of all information that ever has been will be.

Candice Covington (11m 55s):
And if you can just, and what’s amazing about it by definition, it is not personal. It is literally the collective meaning, all of humankind, plant animals, minerals, stars, anything that has ever existed. It has its memories embedded in there that you can access. And so I knew from that dream, that pumpkin would help me in deep meditation when I wanted to go into that wellspring of all of humanity’s collective memories. And so, and then again, I started to use it and I could fill it and I access more information. So it was, so my dreams sometimes were very concrete.

Candice Covington (12m 38s):
And then other times it was more like that, where what I would refer to as an archetypal dream, where it taught me through symbolism and sensation.

Christine Okezie (12m 46s):
Thank you. Okay. Yes. So, you know, for example, I am thinking about your background in healing, essential oils, right? So essential oils. We can ingest them, we can smell them. We can rub them on our skin to have received the healing benefits. And they do work on that subtle body, the psycho, emotional body. Right? So when we talk about the foods, is it like that too? I mean, is it sometimes, are they just symbols or do we need to ingest them? How do they affect, how do they transmit their healing powers in that regard?

Candice Covington (13m 18s):
That is a great question. So sometimes when people’s foods will spontaneously appear in their dreams and it doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to find it. I had a client that dreamt about oyster mushrooms, but they were out of season. And so she wasn’t able to go purchase them. So she just worked with it. Like you would like a yantra or sacred geometry or anything like that, where you hold it firmly in your mind, you go over the property of what it does on an energetic level, and then you can hold it, work with it. But it’s always more desirable if you have access to the food to ingest it and take it into your body. Because if you really think how profound that is, food literally creates the foundation of what we are.

Candice Covington (14m 3s):
It affects every single organ in our body. It’s what gives us our Pronto, Archie, and a large amount. And then plus when you take the physical food into your body in a much more defined way, it’s able to basically act as a blueprint where it literally reformat your subtle body into specific states. So it goes from being an abstract, something that’s conceptual into something that’s making a literal living change. And a big part of my, my premise around this is, is that frequently good intention. Mental will personal will is not enough to shift a deeply rooted aggregate, but you need a boost from nature.

Candice Covington (14m 46s):
So when you take it into your body, it goes in and it works on those calcified layers that a lot of people find frustration over. How many times have you told yourself, I will never feel this way again, or I will achieve this goal, or I will do this, or I won’t do that. And it’s frustrating because with true intent, you really do want to shift that. And, but it’s all of humanity we get stuck and stumble is in a concrete way to help create that change and help alleviate that difficulty. So you can imagine it as stepping stones, creating a path to help you to get what you want to go.

Candice Covington (15m 26s):
So the more you take it into your body, the stronger that energy will become. And then before, you know, it, it will be again habituated. And so that way of being will be so natural for you. It won’t be a struggle, but just a graceful state of being within that. You apply externally

Christine Okezie (15m 44s):
That, thank you. That’s a wonderful explanation. It’s so rich. I love the way that you talk about it as a blueprint. Can you give us some specific, maybe you can think back to something in your, when you were working with them, friends and family, or your inner circle, like what are some specific emotional and spiritual benefits that you tested with different foods and found to be true?

Candice Covington (16m 8s):
This one is a dramatic example and this one was with a client, but she was so amazed with it that I think that it’s the first one that popped to my mind. There was a woman who had came out of a really rough divorce and she really wanted to just have a clean slate. And she was pretty good at moving forward with a lot of it. But a part of the energy that was really stuck is she had a hard time re-engaging in a positive, warm sexual relationship. So she, that was the specific aggregate that she needed cleared and black cherry tomatoes specifically removed from your energetic continuum, energy of past sexual relationships.

Candice Covington (16m 55s):
So, yeah, so she started to incorporate that into her diet specifically with the intent. So mindfully eating it, you know, so she would eat it, but also mindfully eating it in a prayerful way, asking for the outcome she desired. And within two months she was able to clear that out of her body enough, that she was able to joyfully be able to engage in the type of intimacy that she wanted in her new relationship.

Christine Okezie (17m 24s):
Oh, that’s so profound. Thank you for sharing that example. So you bring up a really important component here and that’s mindful intent almost like a sacredness or, you know, is this a devotional kind of intent that you bring to food, which really resonates with me in the work that I do, because I think that’s something that’s really been lost, you know, around this thing we do called eating, you know, and for me, it’s interesting. Cause you know, having worked as a natural food chef and a holistic nutrition coach, I’ve always said, and you really bring this home in the work that you do, that food became, like I realized how much closer we are to nature when you really see that relationship with food, that way, you know, food is our closest connection in many ways to nature herself.

Christine Okezie (18m 14s):
So tell us more about this devotional sacred intent that is important. How do you guide clients to, to step into that energy, to work with these foods?

Candice Covington (18m 24s):
The first thing I normally do is remind them that nature is hungry to communicate with you, but we literally speak in different languages. And so we have to learn to hear in the way that she wants to communicate using food as the medium. And one of the really easy way. That’s a concrete way to step into this is next time you’re at market or a farmer’s market. Take your left hand, shake it out and set the intent and ask your deep self, what food would most support my life at this time. And that’s an invitation to mother nature and to food to have a direct conversation with you and then just shake out your hand and people won’t think it’s weird.

Candice Covington (19m 6s):
Cause you know, we’re always pinching and smelling our melons, you know, but it just literally hover your hand over and feel for things to get the strongest sensation. And don’t double think, just put it right in your basket. It’s for most people, it’s a tingling sensation. It could be hot or cold, but sometimes it’s just a knowing or some people’s bodies lean forward. So whatever way you perceive energy, just roll with it and then just put it into your basket. And then when you go home, look up the specific food signatures and that becomes an Oracle. So it is illuminating to you. What part of yourself would love to be developed?

Candice Covington (19m 48s):
What needs support, you know, it could be anything from the spectrum of gift aspects that your self is ready to shine with. And you’re not even aware that that those budding aspects are just begging the burst forth and mother nature there in the form of food is there to support you in that. And other times there’s aspects that you might want to shed or get rid of that no longer serve you and will also act as an ally and just basically helped you trim the, but if you would, and just get that gone so you can refocus on the things that are wholesome and wholesome.

Christine Okezie (20m 21s):
Oh my gosh. Thank you. That’s amazing food as an Oracle, what a great notion and what a great practice really, you know, we’re always talking about trying to be very mindful about our eating and our, you know, conscious about our self care and it’s such a nurturing way to be with food. That’s, what’s very striking to me, you know,nourishing way to be with ourselves even. So I love that. So I, I picked up some of the foods and your book of interest and I just would love for you to kind of share a little bit about them because I mean, these are foods that I tend to eat and make an, you know, they’re pretty common, but really interesting in their, in their energetic signatures. So carrots.

Christine Okezie (21m 1s):
Okay. Right. And I know in your book, you, there are many, many different kinds of cats, but you say they offer support with over worrying and over analyzing. And this is there’s a, you know, forgive me an epidemic of worrying and over-analyzing, and over-thinking so talk to us about carrots. Like what, how did that come through?

Candice Covington (21m 24s):
It is, I think that it’s so interesting that that popped up because you know, that is one of the main foods that people, when I take them through kind of exercises to help them find allies really does come up. So yeah. So I think that that is just such a fun ally for this time. I think, like you say, and what I really like about it. And I don’t, and I would like to hear your experience on it too. But a lot of time my clientele say that when they eat this, it literally gives them pause. Like when something comes up and you’re in a frantic way, you know, trying to puzzle it out and you’re worried and you’re getting kind of frazzled and you might be lost, you know, the forest for the trees type things.

Candice Covington (22m 5s):
Exactly. That it literally feels like their mind takes a deep breath. Their body goes into stillness and they’re able to assess the situation and see what course of action needs to be done that will lead to a fruitful result. And so there’s a deep rounding and calming of the mind and the body. And that allows you to analyze what needs to be done in a productive manner, in a way that’s helpful to you and environment and be able to either know that you can’t act on it right now because there’s nothing to be done or to help you see clearly what are practical steps that will take you to a resolution, but there is a stillness within that allows you to take that, pause that breath and be literally present in the moment.

Christine Okezie (22m 55s):
Thank you. Okay. Very, very important. Interesting. You go through spices in your book, which is very helpful. So you talk about ginger and so fascinating. Ginger cultivates the attitude of having no fear of criticism. Again, this one kind of speaks to me and the work that I do as a coach, you know, what will other people think? Fear of judgment, fear of belonging, fear of acceptance is a big one. So maybe you could share a little anecdote or some experience around ginger.

Candice Covington (23m 26s):
Sure. I think unless you were born a pedal or a fire type that’s is like growth for everybody. You know, being able to let, I mean, old outages, like, you know, don’t hide your light under, you know, under a bushel, you know, all of that. I mean, since time immemorial, you know, we’ve been a part of our human evolution is to let our uniqueness shine, let everything that we are to the forefront of our being and being able to stand in that and not be confused with thinking that you’re showing off or you’re trying to, you know, do something that’s untowards, but really understanding when you allow yourself to be who you are and all of your glory.

Candice Covington (24m 8s):
And you share that with it, passion for your work and who you are and what you love. You become a beacon or a light, and that touches other people. And it allows them basically to bask in the joy of the things you bothered to cultivate and learn about. And you’re being able to share that gift in a way that is beneficial, not only to you because you’re exercising, your divine will, but you’re also giving them the gift of being able to experiencing something new and beautiful and bathed in the light of your specific gift and knowledge.

Christine Okezie (24m 42s):
Thank you. So ginger is a spice obviously. So if, if, you know, I find, you know, you either kind of love or hate it, right? So this, this brings up an interesting idea. So we talked about food is kind of using it as a guide, right? And I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m dying. I’m interested to go into some of these practices you have, but the, what if someone says, you know, I just don’t like ginger, it’s like way too spicy for me. Is there an insight or a reflection there that you, that you often point out?

Candice Covington (25m 12s):
I do. I I’m positive within my system that subconsciously or at an energetic level, some part of you is resisting that. And so I would, if it was my clientele, I would say, well, just take it in small amounts because you don’t have to cook with it in an overwhelming fashion. If you’re using it for the vibration of the food, it could be a very small sliver, you know, you can cook it in, you know, to a larger thing. And then I frequently have found that and I would, I would say work with it for at least 30 days and then come back and let’s talk and see if there’s a shift. Do you like it? Have you included it more?

Candice Covington (25m 54s):
Do you like less, you know, do you find it delicious? You know, and people’s taste buds morph. They’re not set as, as they’re, some of body’s changing around that, but frequently their taste buds follow, you know? And so it’s, and it’s fascinating practice for individuals, I believe because it is learning in real time, how fickle our taste buds are. And most people don’t, you know, like, or dislike something in a conventional way that we think about, but there’s many other factors going into it, either off-put by or why we just can’t get enough of something. Again, going back to that Oracle aspect.

Candice Covington (26m 34s):
So this was one where your dis is where you, when you think you don’t like something is shining a light on an aspect of yourself that you might want to think about.

Christine Okezie (26m 44s):
Ah, excellent. Okay. And what about food cravings then? How can we use the energetics signatures to decode some food cravings?

Candice Covington (26m 55s):
I love food cravings because that means that somewhere in your deep self is excited about something really, really, really wants to work on it. So once you identify what you’re craving, look up the corresponding signature, and then once you’ve know what your body’s asking you for it, run with it with zest, you know, do everything you can within your ability to work on the aspect that it’s presenting to you. And you’ll just watch it flower in your life.

Christine Okezie (27m 23s):
Thank you. Yeah, no, it’s a beautiful way to raise our consciousness, you know, around some of our beliefs, behaviors, you know, patterns in our lives, because it really does get us thinking about this. I thought it was quite interesting. So keenwah, you know, I, I tend to quite a bit of keenwah so interesting. Promotes holistic thinking and pro promote spiritually, spiritually clear thinking, clear thoughts, very interesting. You know, ancient grain, I guess that’s

Candice Covington (27m 54s):
What you do for a living, which is amazing. You know, the thing that’s going to support you in your literal vocation.

Christine Okezie (28m 2s):
Yeah. Yeah. And is that kind of, you know, let’s get into, okay. People are probably wondering though, because as I did, I was going through, as I was reading it chronologically, I’m like, what about animal proteins? Right? Cause you are a plant medicine woman, and this is all about the energetic signature of plants, but you spend equal amount of time, you know, going through different types of animal proteins. So share with us a little about that. There might be a little bit of nuance there about, you know, vegetarianism, veganism, et cetera. Sure.

Candice Covington (28m 33s):
Well, first I come from a position where I think each individual has a very specific path and it’s up to them to decide what is correct for them. Yes. And so I didn’t put a moral judgment out of, outside of be kind, do it with intent and make sure you do no harm within the best of your ability within that. And a lot of cultures have really rich and deep histories that include the sacredness of proteins. And so I think it is naive to act like that’s not a part of human evolution because it is a massive part of every single or most individual, every single individual on earth until we got it up until this point, I mean, collective as humans, you know, and then we hit a certain point and everybody was able to make decisions based off of belief, morality, you know, and all those different spirituality.

Candice Covington (29m 30s):
So within that, that’s the person’s beautiful right. To choose how they want to organize themselves around food. But if you are a person who creates protein, I wanted to make that you understood why you crave those specific things. Because they too had very unique properties. I get a lot of people that crave fish and shellfish, you know, they want to talk about that. So, and then people sometimes crave dairy as well. That really want to get into how that serves them, you know, but then those I know are villainized a lot in popular culture. So it’s like, but again, it’s not a judgment based book.

Candice Covington (30m 14s):
It’s what do you specifically crave at a deep level? What is nature and animals are part of mother nature too. They’re just not rooted, but it is very much a part of our earth plane.

Christine Okezie (30m 27s):
Thank you for, for expanding our purview into that. Cause I do think again, what’s so powerful about looking at this from an energetic lens is it cuts through all of that kind of judgment and superficial convention really. And, you know, peels back all the layers and gets much more authentic, you know, with, cause we talk about, and you talk about this in your book, you say, can we know that we all nutritional benefits, you know, the scientific, nutritional benefits, some of these foods, but some of these foods when they literally say, oh, that doesn’t agree with me or this doesn’t resonate with me, we, you really give homage to that’s exactly what you’re looking for.

Christine Okezie (31m 7s):
You know, what does literally resonate with you, your unique body, your unique nature, right? Absolutely. Yes. Well said. Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Okay. So let’s go into, how do you suggest folks use this information that you outlined in your book? Because in many ways, some of it’s prescriptive like, Ooh, I’m having trouble with worrying. Let me look up the carrots, live with the food and eat some more incorporate and think more about why that is. And then some of it is diagnostic, oh, look at all the foods that I’m craving and look at the foods that I’m really turned off by and then going down that path. So what’s the best way for some trying to decode some of this.

Christine Okezie (31m 47s):
How do you find are? And I love this. How do you find our food guides?

Candice Covington (31m 51s):
Oh, well there’s many different ways you could do it. So sometimes it’s just literally spontaneous it’ll happen in your dreams. And so this, I find more and I know that sounds simple, but once you ask for it in a prayerful manner, I am amazed how many of my clients tell me that they get very direct answers. And so I’m ask, literally just ask and because again, your deep self and nature knows exactly what you need and so they will show up in dreams, but you can also make it a little bit more formalized if you want it. So say that doesn’t spontaneously happen for you, but I would say hold positive intent that it would because I get such great feedback on it.

Candice Covington (32m 39s):
And that, that occurs so often. And so I know it’s not just, you know, a handful of people. I mean, I know that it’s available for everybody, but also you could also do a guided meditation, you know, for people who are prone to journey, you know, and that’s their way to reach out to the divine. You could also do that. And so it really simple. One is just imagine, you know, that you’re going into the most beautiful garden of Eden that has absolutely everything. And just allow your mind to wander and see what is most illuminated for you. What has the strongest sensation? And so you can just go through all of the kingdoms and tell you, find what is most particular to your life at that point.

Candice Covington (33m 25s):
And then really invited in as an ally and a familiar and ask for the help and you can really rely on it. I know it sounds really silly, but some of the hardest times of my life, I petitioned potato for help for everything, you know, navigating the Monday fight, figure out what to do. Yeah. That was my little prayer in my heart. I’m like potato and, you know, and it sounds so funny. That’s so helpful. I always got great results. So, you know, some of them are, you know, like more in the spiritual realm, but a lot of them just help us navigate the Monday, which I really appreciate actually.

Christine Okezie (34m 10s):
Yeah, no, I, I thank you. And I think that’s really a very powerful invitation, you know, to go within, to seek higher help, if you will. I had a gentlemen on the show most recently, who was, who wrote a book about Lyme disease and integrative approach to Lyme disease. And he did just that, you know, the, it just came to, he had, had dreamed about these, all these types of mushrooms. He’s like, I don’t know, but I think mushrooms, I’m supposed to be eating mushrooms for healing, you know, and he went and he did the research and sure enough, you know, there was all the, you know, all the backing that supported this, you know, so it brings, if I can say it brings intuitive eating to a whole new level in this regard.

Christine Okezie (34m 52s):
Right. That’s wonderful. Yeah. You talk about working with dreams. You talk about, you use a phrase here, maybe this is finding your food familiar.

Candice Covington (35m 6s):
Yes. You know, cause so many people who have a spiritual practice, they refer to a familiar being always almost an animal. Yeah. And so, you know, in a lot of people, you know, they have a familiar, that’s a cat or, you know, and it was so, and I was really thinking about it one day when I was just talking to a group of individuals and all of mine were plant-based, you know, and I thought, oh, that’s interesting. It’s the exact same principle, but just the way I, in my life that my familiars happened to be pets and my primary is great.

Candice Covington (35m 47s):
And I mean, that one will never change that one is my deep root. My go-to she’s lack of a better way to put it. She’s my girl, you know, she’ll always show me the way I have other guides that come and go. I see. So I make the slight distinction that a familiar is a guide for life, like a true guide for life. It’s a companion for life, but other ones will come and go as you need them as you go through different cycles, you know? So one is a forever companion and the other ones, they, they do their time with what you require at the moment and then they make room for whatever your next cycle or phases to come in.

Christine Okezie (36m 26s):
You know, thank you for acknowledging the, sort of the dynamic process of, of our relationship with food or, you know, how, how as best we can, we do want to honor and kind of how to sync that up with the dynamics of our life. Cause you know, life stages and different circumstances and everything, for example, and I wonder what your, your insights around this, you know, for a while there, you know, I was moving, I wasn’t, I moved away from, I was, I was basically a chicken and fish person with a lot of plants. And then about a year and a half ago, I think part of it was the, the spiritual journey I’ve been on with Kundalini and, and all kinds of stuff.

Christine Okezie (37m 7s):
I just, all of a sudden didn’t want to eat fish and chicken. You know, it was like, it was, it had nothing to do with, you know, any social, you know, philosophy or anything. It was more like, I just don’t want that anymore. You know, it had like, oh, you know, so what, what would you suggest? And then, and then just to give you the full circle, it came back into my life, you know, and again, just as naturally, I was like, you know, I’m just adding a little bit more paying attention to some signs and symptoms. And, but really it was almost like it didn’t, it just didn’t fit anymore how to speak, you know? Yeah.

Candice Covington (37m 41s):
Well, I would just say that you are in good conversation with your soul. You really listened to what was required and you followed what your deep self was telling you that would be most beneficial. And what I love about what you said is that again, there was like a NIMBY, there was a nimbleness around what your authentic self wanted, instead of you telling your body what was required because an outside source said this or that or another, you listened to what your body wanted. And it allowed you to take an organic journey to do whatever what was required. And I think it’s lovely that it was cyclical and I’m sure it in and out of your life, you will change in and out multiple more times.

Candice Covington (38m 22s):
You know, I, I, again, I mean, for myself personally, I’ve gone from phases where I’ve been completely vegetarian to. I went through being vegan and tobacco. I would come back and eat all proteins, but a lot of it had to do again with like always internal and external things that were going on in my life. And so what again, because I look at it as food allies, my deep self guided to me towards what I really need it to support me in my life. But then as you were saying, things shift, and then when I came into my next journey or my next part of my life, I’ve required different food allies. And then I just went ahead and I worked with those.

Candice Covington (39m 2s):
And if you do it with loving appreciation, your body will enthusiastically let you know what you need.

Christine Okezie (39m 8s):
Oh, that’s so beautiful. Really takes, you know, food ally to a whole new level that this type of perspective. So tell us a little bit about the clients that you work with, you know, because I would love to know, you know, there are a lot of folks who struggle in their just basic relationship with food, you know, so I can see this being such a beautiful path or a such a doorway to having a really different relationship with food. Maybe you could share some examples or some thoughts or approaches that you have when it comes to people who really struggle with, you know, food is something that was just never been a very good, you know, situation in their lives for one reason or another

Candice Covington (39m 46s):
First, I would like to start with that. I have such empathy, you know, cause that’s usually, it’s always an external force that is taught to you in some way that food isn’t, your friend, food is bad, it’s combative, you know, and it’s prevalent in our culture. You know, that, that all the time of food seems scary. You know, don’t eat this much, don’t do this. Can you get, you know, and I only deal with whole foods, so junk foods, not even a part of this conversation, so it’s yes, yes. So a big part of just the beginning of the conversation is getting people to fall in love with the act of eating again, you know, it’s, you know, and I know that sounds so simple, but you know, taking a minute to like really bite into a perfectly roasted Brussels sprout, you know, and be present in it.

Candice Covington (40m 35s):
How does it feel on your tongue? Can you fill the little, you know, crispy edges, can you taste that, you know, that there’s multiple layers and that’s made up basically of a million little leaves, you know, the way that it’s caramelized, you know, learn how to smell it, you know, learn how to eat it with your eyes, take that in. And so once you really start to look at food as little pieces of art to enjoy your physical senses, it gets become excited again. So it allows you to step into, because I really do believe that a part of human Carnation is divine play, and that’s why we have all these senses. And that’s why it’s so appealing, you know?

Candice Covington (41m 14s):
So we in relationship with it. So my first step frequently is just helping people reengage with loving food, from a body experience. And then we move into how does it serve you on a little bit more of the subtle level, but the first step is enjoying process, you know, not making it a combative act, but making it indeed a blessing into your body. And not only that, a joyful act that is literally put on earth to make your experience here, heavenly.

Christine Okezie (41m 48s):
Oh, Candice, thank you so much for that. That’s beautiful. Very, very empowering. Thank you. Okay. So this is a really good question. So in the, in the second and the, and the end of your book, you do this wonderful section where you’re creating all these recipes and you’re combat you’re, you’re putting foods together based on their energetics signatures to create certain, you know, healing gifts and everything. So I know you love to cook and you’re very creative in the kitchen. So if you were to design a recipe or maybe just an assembly of a food group of some sort, that would be more, what would be most healing now, energetically for the collective, you know, given what we’re experiencing today.

Candice Covington (42m 30s):
Oh, oh, that’s such a good question. Oh, oh, there’s so many things going through my, you throw out a topic that you feel that you’ve run into that is most up. And then I will go ahead and I will create a recipe around that

Christine Okezie (42m 48s):
Ability to live with uncertainty. Oh,

Candice Covington (42m 51s):
That one is very easy. So I would do a warm watercress salad. So what I would do is get watercress. So watercress is amazing to allow you to be in the flow of life and be in the flow, but without inquiry. And so that’s uncertainty, he basically said in a poetic way. So it allows you to abide in unknowing. But with curiosity, we want to see what’s around the corner. You’re excited that you’re not anchored. You want to see what fresh opportunity will come. So that’s going to be the base of your salad, right?

Candice Covington (43m 34s):
There is watercress, but then maybe we want to put something in there for discrimination, or maybe we want to put something in there for a nimble mind, or it depends on who you are. So like for example, a big part of uncertain tea for me is figuring out time management, because when you don’t have structure, you don’t really know quite what to do with yourself sometimes within that context. So I might saute talk about mushroom. So that combined with being in flow, a chocolate mushroom allows me to stay buoyant. But when I see an opportunity, I’m able to lock onto it and be able to extract that from the matrix and be able to start to build on it.

Candice Covington (44m 17s):
And so I’m able to plant that. So at the same time, I’m able to be productive in my life and be in the uncertainty or the flow of it, you know, and so beautiful. Yeah. So there’s that. So as long as you have the being in flow of the watercress, you can just decide in your life, what is most important that you need? You know, what is the personal requirement? And then you could just, you know, make a warm, you know, version of that and then just put it on top. And it would’ve been absolutely delightful.

Christine Okezie (44m 48s):
I’m waiting for the next cookbook here. This is great. No, this is amazing. This is amazing. Thank you so much. And you know, I always ask this question as well for folks on my show, 2020, obviously a very extraordinary year. Candace, what was your biggest personal lesson in 2020?

Candice Covington (45m 7s):
Oh, biggest personal lesson. Honestly, I always thought myself as such a hermit, you know, cause I’ve always been, that’s my natural orientation. I didn’t really realize how much I missed, you know, regular interactions, you know, maybe, I mean, I’m an extreme introvert, so I probably don’t go out as much as other people, but how much I missed by just a weekly yoga class or, you know, just the community things or, you know, I just wanted to really, you know, be able to go, you know, walk through a farmer’s market, you know?

Candice Covington (45m 47s):
So I think what it really helped me appreciate is how much I love being in relationship with my fellow beings in this world. Mm.

Christine Okezie (45m 58s):
Thank you. That’s beautiful. Thank you. Anything that you’re working on right now that you’re particularly inspired by or researching?

Candice Covington (46m 6s):
Yes, I have. I’m working on a new book. The working title is working with floral absolutes and other tantalizing tidbits. Wow. So yeah, so, so I’m right. I’m knee deep in that and I’m enjoying it very much. Oh,

Christine Okezie (46m 23s):
Thank you. Okay. Well, is there anything maybe I didn’t ask you that you still want to share with our listeners? No,

Candice Covington (46m 29s):
You’re a brilliant interviewer. I such a lovely time. I love your questions. It’s just so fun.

Christine Okezie (46m 35s):
The last question I have so that, you know, folks want to work with you. Folks want to kind of take a deep dive into, you know, looking at food in this new, unique way. What’s the best way to, to reach out to you. And are you working online? What are you doing? Oh,

Candice Covington (46m 47s):
Yes. My website is kind of long, but it’s called, it’s called divine archetypes.org. And then on there, you can go ahead and it has a contact me thing right now. I don’t take phone calls. I always start with email, but it has my email address. And any off chance you remember this, it’s candace@divinearchetypes.com and that’s the best way to get ahold of me, but my website, I do take limited new clients in. So that is an availability. And then I also offer a whole bunch of plant-based healing on my site. Everything from essential oils, absolute floral, you know, floral absolutes and flower essences.

Candice Covington (47m 32s):
So it’s basically a smorgasbord of fun Planck energy on there.

Christine Okezie (47m 36s):
Oh, thank you. I’ll make sure to include all of that in the show notes. So our listeners can find you so Candice, thank you again. Thank you for the gifts that you put out into the world. It’s been a really real pleasure to have you on the show.

Candice Covington (47m 47s):
Absolutely. My pleasure too. Thank you. Bye.