Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Thoughts that Bind. Today we’re talking about food and eating again, our favorite topic. And today, specifically, we’re talking about the lovely practice of mindful eating. Now, we’ve talked about intuitive eating before on this site, and if you haven’t read that discussion, you can find it here. But mindful eating, while an incredibly important part of intuitive eating, can be practiced on its own. So whether you’re from the intuitive eating camp or not, let’s get into it.
Mindful eating
To start out with an explanation, mindful eating is a practice where you consume your food purposefully, with focused attention on the activity. It is very common in modern-day life to view food as something of an inconvenient necessity. You have to eat, so you grab a protein bar on the go, or you eat dinner while you watch TV or work on a project. In short, the act of eating doesn’t get much time or attention while you’re doing it–there’s always something else going on.
And to be honest, it’s not all that surprising. There is a lot going on in our lives today. We’re busy bees, just trying to get stuff done. Eating is another checkmark on the list of to-dos. Even if we like it. And most of us do, in fact, like it. Which is part of what makes mindful eating so rewarding. By eating mindfully, we’re able to more fully enjoy eating, because we’re able to more fully experience it.
There are downfalls to this quick lifestyle, and eating mindlessly or trying to “shove something in your mouth quick so we can go” causes problems in the long run. We’ve become incredibly disconnected from one of our greatest forms of nourishment, and it shows.
How-to
In order to eat mindfully, you need to first distance yourself from all distractions. Turn off your phone, don’t watch a movie, and don’t work on anything! You can still eat with people, and engage in conversation, if you want to and feel like it’s not too distracting, but don’t add more noise than that.
Now, you’re sat down at a table with food in front of you, so it’s time to do a quick check-in. How are you feeling, physically, emotionally? Are you hungry? Sad? Happy? Then, bring your attention to your food. No special tricks or questions, just take it in. The visual, the smell if there is one. A lot of people at this point benefit from gratitude or a prayer, so insert that if it feels helpful for you.
Once you’ve checked in about how you’re feeling, and how you’re feeling about your meal, it’s time to eat. While you do, pay attention to the little details. How quickly are you eating? How different does each bite taste? How is your body feeling as it takes in your food? How are you feeling? There are no right answers. Just pay attention to the experience as it unfolds.
When you’re done with your food, you may want to check in with yourself like you did in the beginning of this practice. How do you feel? And also, how did the activity of “mindful eating” go for you? Did you find it peaceful? A challenge? What would you like to be able to feel when you are eating your food?
Benefits
So now that we know what mindful eating is, and how to do it, you’re probably wondering what you would really get out of it. Like, does doing this really help anything? Well, yes, I would say so.
Mindful eating is really helpful in improving your personal relationship with food. It starts with self-awareness, which is a powerful tool for any sort of change. Because if you don’t know what the problem is, then you definitely won’t know how to fix it. In mindful eating, you become aware of your habits around food, and also, how you feel about them and are affected by them.
Over time, mindful eating helps us regulate how much food we eat, choose the foods that truly are good for us, and delicious, and also helps us become aware of and understand any bit of emotional eating or emotional restricting that we might have. When we cultivate a mindfulness practice, we become more in tune with our bodies, our subconscious minds, and are able to choose and work towards building habits that support the positive function of both. And, as I quickly mentioned before, it also brings greater pleasure overtime to the experience of eating itself, because you are better equipped to fully, well, experience it.
Practical application
I admit, not every meal I partake in is always going to be an adventure in mindful eating. Maybe you’re the same way. Life gets fast, there are always things coming at you that need to be taken care of. But when we engage in this practice for a while, we start to carry these ideas with us more easily and subconsciously. So it becomes easier to notice when you’re full, or make healthier choices about what you want to eat for lunch.
So it’s not that I’m calling you to now eat every meal in meditative silence. Just beginning to notice the shifts and details in your eating experience will help you loads. And a mindfulness practice doesn’t have to be about just eating either. I find that a mindful eating practice bleeds really nicely into an affair with intentional cooking and food preparation. But even past that, there are so many nooks and crannies in your life that would benefit from shining the light of mindfulness onto. If you’re interested in general mindfulness, I’ve written another post about it which you can find by clicking here. And if you’re concerned about your relationship with food, you may want to check out some of the other posts I have regarding eating disorders, like this one about how to know if you have one, or this one, about eating disorder misconceptions.
In the meantime, what do you think about mindful eating? Do you think it could help you? Have you tried it before? Let us know in a comment below!
