Eating with your Hands....

"Eating food with your hands feeds not only the body but also the mind and the spirit".

Have you ever thought why past generations in India ate with their hands?
There is a reason for this. The practice of eating with the hands originated with Ayurvedic teachings. The vedic people knew the power held in the hand.
The ancient tradition of eating food with the hands is derived from the mudra practice. Mudras are used during meditation and prominent in the classical forms of dance.
The hands are considered the most precious organ of action.
This is linked to the Vedic prayer 
" Karagre vasate Lakshmi karamule Sarasvati karamadhye tu Govinda prabhate karadarsanam".
On the tip of your fingers is Goddess Lakshmi, On the base of your finger is Goddess Sarawati, in the middle finger is lord Govinda, which we recite while looking at our palms. This shloka suggests that all divinity lies in human effort.
Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements.
The thumb is Agni(Fire). You might see children sucking their thumbs. This is nature's way of aiding digestion in children at an age when they are unable to do any physical activity. The fore finger is Vayu(Air), the middle finger is Akash(ether-the spaces in the human body), the ring finger is Prithvi(Earth) and the little finger is Jal(Water).
Each finger aids in the transformation of food, before it passes on to internal digestion. Gathering the finger tips as they touch the food stimulates the five elements and invites Agni to bring forth the digestive juices. As well as improving digestion the person become more conscious of taste,texture, smell of the food being eaten, which adds to the pleasure of eating.