Sit comfortably. Purposefully pay attention to your breath at the tip of your nostrils. If thoughts arise, notice them and then bring yourself gently back to your breath, without judgement or criticism. This is the ancient practice of Mindful Meditation. It’s watching each moment unfold with intention. It’s being fully present.
Mindful Eating is also an ancient practice promoting eating with intention and attention. It’s using all of your senses to fully experience food inside and outside of your body. When thoughts arise, notice them and gently bring yourself back to your experience with food, without judgement or criticism, moment to moment.
Mindful Eating can cultivate awareness of when you’re hungry or full, what your body needs for nourishment, or how you react emotionally to certain foods. Since change can only happen in the present moment, Mindful Eating can then help with changing to positive behaviors.
So before you go for a bowl of ice cream and sit in front of the TV to eat mindlessly, stop for a minute and notice how you feel bringing awareness to those desires of eating ice cream. You’re not labeling them good or bad you’re just bringing awareness to them. You can ask if you’re hungry? Or why you want ice cream? Next, try eating the ice cream mindfully, with the TV off in a quiet place. Now truly be present with the ice cream using all your senses and eating slowly. Bring awareness to when you’re satisfied. Remain fully present without judgement or criticism. What you will find is that you won’t eat as much and you will be satisfied much quicker.
Practicing mindfulness makes us less reactive and more reflective. It allows us to observe thoughts and be more reflective instead of reacting to them so quickly. It allows you to decide what you want to react to and what you want to pay attention to. Studies suggest that Mindfulness can decrease stress, manage blood pressure, decrease the sensation of pain, improve immune function, assist with managing anxiety and depression, and make you a happier person.
Try implementing a daily Mindfulness practice to see if it makes a difference in your life. It’s recommended to start with 5 minutes. Increase the time to 10 minutes and eventually 20 minutes each day. A daily practice is more important then the length of time that you do it. Also, try eating mindfully using one piece of food. It could be an apple, a carrot, or a piece of chocolate. Advance to eating a full meal mindfully. Commit to doing this for 2 or 3 weeks.
Try these resources:
Website and Magazine
Books
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Videos
Meditation for Beginners – Featuring Dan Harris and Sharon Salzberg
Mindful Eating Exercise
by Vincent Alvarez, RD, NSCA-CPT