Mindful Living and Eating: 9 Tips

Mindfulness is about being in the present. In this active state of presence, everything becomes more meaningful, and this includes your eating habits. Are you ready to view eating differently? Are you ready to eat consciously? Here are some useful ideas for mindful living and eating.

Mindfulness refers to an active state of ourselves where our attention is focused on the present. When we are mindful, we accurately observe our thoughts, our emotions, our physical reactions, and the environment around us, without being critical.

Living consciously means living in the present and embracing your experiences. 

The story of mindfulness goes back to the practice of Buddhist meditation, where the monks focus their attention on something specific, such as a sense, a sound, an object, an image. Recently this practice has also been incorporated into the Western culture.

Eating mindfully isn’t about following a diet. It is about the actual experience of enhancing the taste of food and enhancing the experience and enjoyment. Perhaps the most critical problem with our eating habits nowadays is that we are not as conscious as we eat.  Conscious eating, as this new eating behavior is now called, has the powerful ability to transform people’s relationship with food and nutrition, improve overall health, body image, human relationships, and self-esteem.

How is conscious eating achieved?

Eating mindfully is a lifestyle choice, and it involves:

•       Making appropriate choices at the start of a meal based on true hunger.
•       Identifying personal external issues that automatically motivate us to eat without really being hungry. For example, feelings of joy, sadness, anxiety, or even social pressures.
•       Making food choices based on quality rather than quantity or ease.
•       Appreciating and really sensing both the nutritional value of our food and the satisfaction of our senses.

How can mindfulness become a way of life?

Following some simple steps, with persistence, patience, and self-love.

Here are the steps you can take before, during, and after the meal to make your eating mindful:

1. Before you start eating, make sure you are really hungry. If you are not hungry, you will have no real interest in the food in front of you.
2. Do not wait to eat until you are starving. One of the keys to conscious nutrition is to keep your body well-nourished. Excessive hunger increases the chance of overeating and losing your balance.
3. Think about how you would like to feel at the end of the meal. When you start your meal with your mind in mind, you want to feel good with your body at the end of the meal and not, e.g. swollen, you are less likely to continue eating until your whole plate is empty.
4. Choose the right food that will satisfy both your body and your senses. Our society is so passionate about proper nutrition that we sometimes eat things we don’t even enjoy. Satisfaction comes not only from the fullness but also from the enjoyment of flavors, without guilt. Feelings of guilt make you eat more, not less.
5. Eat without distractions such as your TV or computer in front of you.
6. Don’t eat on foot! Sit down and enjoy your meal!
7. Enjoy the aroma and look of your food. Observe the colors, textures, and smells of the food and really feel their taste.
8. Decide which food looks tasty and start with that. If you keep the best for the end, you may end up eating more.
9. Be conscious of yourself and stop eating as soon as you feel full and not bloated.

Mindful living – as well as mindful eating – is about taking small steps at the time. Little victories every day. Allow yourself to gradually improve and don’t strive for perfection. Make mindfulness a habit and manifest it in all aspects of your life.  Slowly but surely, you will begin to respect and love yourself more. You will start to appreciate the little details in your everyday life.

Enjoy with all your senses the taste, the smell, the flavor, the nutritional value, the benefit to your well-being.

Mindful eating requires practice and patience and self-love. You will then truly begin to change the way you respond towards food.

Are you ready to start living and eating mindfully?

Learn how you can have a holistic mind-body experience at the Extreme Hotel.

References

–       Mindfulness Meditation, Our mindset-part 2, Carol Dweck, https://mindfulnessmeditation.net.au/tag/carol-dweck/

–       Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck, December 26, 2007, https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322

–       Oprah.com, Women, Food, and God Excerpt: Eating Guidelines, by Geneen Roth http://www.oprah.com/spirit/eating-guidelines-women-food-and-god

–       Mindful, Healthy Mind-Healthy Life, 6 ways to practice mindful eating  https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/

–       Mindful, Healthy Mind-Healthy Life, Living with, and Loving, Your Imperfect Life https://www.mindful.org/living-loving-imperfect-life/