But what if we could reconcile this sweet indulgence with our spiritual lives? If, through eating a chocolate, we could enhance our spiritual practices? Might that shift our sense of chocolate from vice to transformative virtue?
Tempering our chocolate habits with spirituality is not only possible, but necessary for Katrina Markoff, owner and executive chef at Vosges Haut-Chocolat, based out of Chicago. Trained at the famous Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Paris, Katrina understands chocolate as far more than a sugary vice. In fact, for Katrina, eating chocolate is not only a medium for spiritual experience, but it's the stuff retreats are made of - yoga retreats.
Last fall, Vosges sponsored its first, week-long Yoga and Chocolate retreat in Oaxaca, Mexico (which also happens to be the birthplace of chocolate in Mexico). Each day is devoted to one of the seven chakras, with yoga classes sponsored by Katrina's friend and co-conspirator in this project, David Romanelli, owner of At One Yoga in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants practice yoga in a room decorated with the color of that day's chakra and enjoy chocolates and scented waters made especially to enhance the experience. The result is a retreat that fits a chocolate lover's dream and promotes spiritual growth-who would have thought?
When asked to comment on how she first linked yoga and chocolate together, Katrina had this to say: "It's this ritual part of eating chocolate that lead me to first associate chocolate and yoga." All eating is associated with ritual, but chocolate holds a unique, if underestimated place in feasting because we eat it with our hands. While most food is eaten with a knife and fork, chocolate is held by the fingers and melts against the warmth of the body, leaving us with the impulse to lick its traces. This sensuous experience heightens our bodily awareness in a way that other foods don't.
