Food is a gift.
It’s a gift from the earth; it’s a gift from a mother to a child, to those we love and are getting to know, and from those wanting to show gratitude and reverence.
Most of us have forgotten food’s significance beyond physical health. But food has always held a hidden spiritual function providing a way for people to experience and honor the essence of life, which threads through our bodies and the body of the earth.
A remarkable little company called Intentional Chocolate has found a way to not only remind us of food’s deeper purpose, but to enhance it through a scientifically proven process that infuses chocolate products with good intentions.
Advanced mediators, some trained by the Dalai Lama, are the heart behind the chocolate. Their positive intentions for well-being are transferred into the products, creating a perfect vehicle for giving and receiving health, joy and love.
The folks at Intentional Chocolate understand that in a culture where so many long for connection and search for meaning, food can provide a great way to bring us together and share the deepest forms of nourishment, like love and care. We instinctively do this during the holidays and other times of celebration, and the company asks, why not every day?
“Remember how our mother’s chicken soup helped us feel better when we were sick?” Jim Walsh, founder of Intentional Chocolate asks. “It was the power of love she put into it. And love can be put into everything!”
Walsh, himself, turned to chocolate for nourishment after a near-fatal white-water accident which made him realize life was too precious to spend seven days a week at the office focused on the bottom line while his young children were growing up without him.
Committing to a more conscious lifestyle that would bring joy to others, he and his family moved to Hawaii to begin growing the first varietal chocolate ever in the United States, Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate.
The Power of Intention
The cacao plant has long been revered for its healing energies. Beloved by the Maya for its mystical properties, and understood to be a gift from Quetzalcoatl the god of air, light, and life, by the Aztecs, its botanical name (theobramba cacao) literally means “food of the Gods”.
“Just look at the face of a child eating chocolate, and you can see some of its power!” Says Walsh, with a modern illustration we can all relate to.
On his chocolate farm in Hawaii, Walsh had been watching the emerging trend in organics, and recognized the deep need for people to feel good about growing and consuming food. He had an epiphany. Describing it as ‘mother’s chicken soup syndrome’ Walsh saw that, “Lovingly prepared foods by someone who really cares have curative effects.” Even chocolate already a delicious and even spiritual food could be better, if it was made with care.
He applied this fundamental reasoning to a whole new industry using technology to transfer meditators intentions for “optimal health and functioning at physical, emotional, and mental levels” into his chocolate, which had already become “the best chocolate in the world” according to the New York Times.
Years of study followed, resulting in the revolutionary technique of food enhancement tested by Dr. Dean Radin from the Institute of Noetic Sciences. “Focused human intention is one of the most powerful forces on earth,” says Dr. Radin, who has spent a lifetime studying the effects of consciousness on external physical and energetic systems at places like Princeton and Stanford Research Institute International.
And science shows that it works. A double-blind study published in Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing (October, 2007) demonstrates that one ounce of Intentional Chocolate a day for three days increases subjects well being, vigor, and energy by an average of 67%, and in some cases as much as 1000%.
Intentional Trends
More and more it seems people are becoming aware of and interested in the power of thought, power of intention, and even prayer.
Dr. Radin estimates there are at least 1,000 published studies on some form of intention, including those done by the U.S. Military, the Max Planck Institute, Princeton, Harvard and Duke Universities, and the University of Edinburgh. And the topic has gained popular interest. Lynne McTaggart’s “The Intention Experiment” has sold over 300,000 copies, and Dr. Wayne Dyer’s “The Power of Intention” has sold over 750,000.
Market research shows that consumers’ commitment to “fair-trade” and organic products continues to grow. More and more of us are intending that our nourishment be part of a system that doesn’t harm others or the earth, and provides fair compensation to those who work for our benefit.
Like other businesses in the growing trend of “conscious capitalism,” Intentional Chocolate doesn’t just want to make money; it wants to make a difference. Along with helping customers feel good through chocolate, and offering gift packages that help transfer those good feelings to others, the company donates more than 50% of profits to people and programs researching and applying the power of positive intentions to world issues. They also assist non-profit organizations’ fundraising efforts through creating specialty chocolate and packaging.
The company even offers guidance for those who wish to develop their own power of Intention. Included in their gift boxes is a “Little Scroll of Intention”. The 9-step list begins with, “Make clear your intention” then leads into, “Do no harm, benefit others.” Eventually, the scroll guides the reader through a process of aligning with “Offerings, not outcomes” and the needs of the “We” not “Me”.
“With our thoughts, with our wishes, we can both help and harm each other.” Jim Walsh explains, “Why not use it to help? And not just the ones we love, but the whole world?”
In a world starving for sacredness, longing to find a way to be nourished and in turn nourish others, Intentional Chocolate offers a sweet and powerful contribution.
Learn More About Intentional Chocolate
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