Making Mindfulness Manageable

Many of us have heard of the benefits of meditation and mindfulness yet still struggle to incorporate this healthy practice into our daily lives. Sometimes having one “easy to incorporate” practice can move us in the right direction towards creating the space and discipline needed to improve self-awareness and mindfulness.

Maybe MINDFUL EATING is an option! Mindful eating includes being conscious of our process when taking a bite while we engage all of our senses and notice our responses, feelings, and the cues from our body as we eat. Below are some ideas for how to get started.

Slow down

Let your brain catch up to your body. Many of us eat quickly, chew insufficiently, and miss our cues for when our stomachs may feel full or our system may feel satiated. By slowing down we allow our brain to notice more about the eating process and we can be more in tune with our needs for eating and digestion.

Pay attention to your signals

Maybe you are hungry or maybe you are eating due to an emotional response. Many of us will eat when we are feeling down or lonely, when we are bored, or out of other emotional states. We can learn to eat when our bodies tell us to, not when our brains are sending signals to go open the fridge or the snack cupboard.

Connect with your food more fully

For most all the food that ends up on our plate, there is a journey for it to arrive there and that story can help you bring awareness to your relationship with food. Consider the farmers or ranchers, the field workers or grocery store employees, the truckers or factory workers, that helped this food arrive in front of you. Think about loved ones and their mealtime traditions that have impacted your own kitchen. This can often increase gratitude, which in itself is a valuable mindfulness practice.

Focus on your food

We live in times where distraction and multi-tasking are ever present. When we can eat and only eat, we can be mindful and aware. Turn your TV or radio off, put down your phone, let the task list go, and just BE with your plate of food and whomever you find at your table.

One of my favorite Mindful Eating scripts comes from Jon Kabat Zinn.

https://mbsrtraining.com/mindfulness-exercises-by-jon-kabat-zinn/mindfully-eating-a-raisin-script/

Rachel Brown, MSW, SWLC

References

https://mbsrtraining.com/

https://www.mindful.org/