Deepak Chopra on the Importance of Tuning in to Your Body
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Over 30 years ago, Deepak Chopra left his career as a physician and hospital administrator. He still wanted to help people but felt he could do so in a deeper way—and, boy, has he. In the years that followed, Chopra became an alternative medicine advocate and the face of the New Age movement.
He has written more than 90 books; his latest, Living in the Light, came out in January. Chopra is also the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a nonprofit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, which describes itself as a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality. Over the years, he has sat down with Oprah on multiple occasions. The two even created meditation experiences together.
At 76, Chopra is far from slowing down. In March, he was appointed chief wellness officer of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition after being a longtime faculty member, a role he sees as allowing him to continue his lifelong mission—to help people feel more connected to themselves and those around them. IIN also teamed up with Chopra Global as part of this new initiative. Here, Chopra opens up about how our nutrition suffers when we aren’t in tune with ourselves and shares the antidote for feeling lonely and disconnected.
What is something a lot of people still don’t understand about how we feed ourselves?
There are only two reasons why people put food in their body. One is that they’re actually, literally, physically hungry for food. The other is that they’re hungry for something else. They’re hungry for emotional fulfillment, a good relationship, for compassion, peace of mind, joy, equanimity. If you’re watching TV and just throwing food in your body as if it’s a garbage can, it doesn’t matter what the food is; it will be metabolized into a toxic metabolic pathway. So what you eat is important, but it’s equally important that you eat consciously, because if you eat consciously, the food is not going to be metabolized in a pathway that includes high levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Can you speak to the importance of tuning in to your body?
Your body is the wisest signal giver you can have. If your body doesn’t feel joyful and energetic, something is going on, because the natural state of our body is to feel [that way]. If it is not feeling that way, what’s the reason? It could be lack of sleep, it could be lack of mind-body coordination, it could be lack of exercise, it could be disruption in biological rhythms because you’re not connected with nature at all. It could be loneliness. It could be so many things. The body is your best instrument to know what you should do and what you should not do. Just listen to your body.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about just how bad loneliness is for our health. Have you ever gone through a lonely period, and, if so, how did you climb your way out of it?
The most disconnected I felt was when I was very busy as an intern and resident. With one emergency after another, you have no time to take care of yourself. And so I kind of covered up my loneliness by smoking cigarettes, with alcohol, et cetera. And then I had this realization that I was actually running away from myself and that the best way to be happy is to make somebody else happy. That cured my loneliness.
What role does social media play in feeling disconnected?
You can be alone and connected to the world. And you can be alone and disconnected [from] the world. It’s the intention that you use. [On] social media, people want attention all the time for their self-image, but they’re running away from themselves. We’re sacrificing ourselves for selfies. The way to tackle this loneliness is, right now, to use every resource we can have to give people four things: attention, affection, appreciation, and acceptance. And if we do that—even using technology—people start feeling better.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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