Meditation In Action: 10 Tips For Mindful Eating (& PHOTOS)

[HowToBe]

I found this to be an impressively well-written article giving instructions for mindful eating. Maybe it could also run on the EE website.

_http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/meditation-in-action-mindful-eating_n_3518612.html

By Headspace

How often do you actually taste the food you eat? Most people tend to acknowledge the first few bites, just to ensure they’re eating what they think they’re supposed to be, and then slip into a semi-conscious state of eating. As it’s not particularly complicated to move a fork back and forwards from a plate, or a sandwich from hand to mouth, we’ve developed an ability to carry out the task without even thinking about it, in much the same way we have with walking.

What would it be like to be fully present for every mouthful you eat? What might your experience of food be if you tasted every flavor and if your meal or snack was actually an opportunity to connect with the moment? What would it be like to have a healthy relationship with food, to give up any feelings of guilt, anxiety and craving, and instead regain that sense of healthy appreciation and enjoyment that all good food deserves? And what if that same approach showed you how to make genuinely sustainable change, toward better physical health and a body that made you feel confident and comfortable? Below is a practical exercise from the mindfulness experts at Headspace to introduce you to the multi-faceted benefits of mindful eating.


1. Sit down at a table, preferably alone, and free from any external distractions. Don’t worry too much if there are sounds that are out of your control; you can build these into the exercise. Before you even pick up the food to eat, take a couple of deep breaths –- in through the nose and out through the mouth -– to allow the body and mind to settle.

2. Next, take a moment to appreciate the food. Where has it come from? What country? Was it grown or was it manufactured? Try to imagine the different ingredients in their natural growing environment and even the types of people who would have been looking after the crops or animals.

3. As you’re doing this, notice if there is any sense of impatience in the mind, of wanting to get on and eat the food. Perhaps you’re thinking of all the things you need to do. Whatever the reaction, it’s most likely just conditioned behavior -- a habit -- but one that you may find surprisingly strong. Regardless of the feeling, take at least a minute to reflect in this way.

4. Next, without going on some kind of guilt trip, take a moment to appreciate the fact that you actually have food on your plate. We’re so familiar with this situation that we forget that for many people in the world, this just isn’t the case. A deep sense of appreciation and gratitude is at the heart of any stable mindfulness practice.

5. If it’s a food you’re going to eat with your hands, notice the texture as you pick it up, the temperature, and perhaps the color(s). If you're eating from a plate with a knife and fork, notice instead the texture and temperature of the cutlery as you move it toward the food, but still take the time to notice the colors on the plate. You might find it more effective to hold your fork or spoon in your non-dominant hand: This will prevent you from going too quickly.

6. As you move the food toward your mouth, shift the focus away from the hands and more toward the eyes, nose and mouth. How does the food smell? What does it look like up close? And, as you put it in your mouth, what is the taste, the texture, the temperature? You don’t need to ‘do’ anything. You’re simply observing the different bodily senses at work.

7. In addition to the physical senses, notice how the mind responds to the food. For example, is the food met with pleasure or displeasure in your mind? Is there acceptance of the food as it is, or maybe some resistance to certain aspects of it? Perhaps it’s too hot, too cold, too sweet or too sour. Notice how the mind rushes to judge the food and to make comparisons with previous meals or other possibilities. Whatever you do, take the time to chew the food fully. Not only is this a healthier way of eating, but it will allow you the time to taste and appreciate all the different flavors.

8. Once you’ve taken a few mouthfuls, you may find that the mind starts to get bored of the exercise and will wander off into thinking about something else. This is quite normal and nothing to worry about. So, in just the same way as before, as soon as you realize it’s wandered off, gently bring your attention back to the process of eating, and the different tastes, smells, textures, sights and sounds.

9. As you continue to eat your meal in this way, you can start to notice whether there’s a strong habitual urge to eat more quickly (perhaps to move closer to dessert!). Or maybe there are feelings of unease about what you’re eating. If it’s an especially big meal, you may even notice the desire to consume gradually decreasing as the stomach becomes full and you become more aware of these sensations. As much as possible, simply observe these different thoughts and feelings (acting on them when appropriate) and, if you can, notice how the breath appears. The breath may give you some indication of how comfortable or uncomfortable the process of eating is for you.

10. Before jumping up to get on with the next thing you have planned, try staying seated for a moment or two. This is an opportunity for you to take that sense of being present to the next part of your day. It’s an opportunity to realize that the thoughts, feelings and physical sensations that were present before eating have now moved on. In time, this awareness of change can help the mind to feel more spacious and at ease.


Want more tips on how to make meditation part of your day? Headspace is meditation made simple, accessible and relevant to your everyday life. Sign up for the free Take10 program to get the basics just right with guided audio programs and support to get your Headspace, anytime, anywhere on the Headspace app.

For more on mindfulness, click here.

 

[Amy]

Wow! I thought these kinds of information were not available;
but there you FOUND it ! Very nice indeed!

I read many information about foods before,
some said food is also of FREQUENCIES, and so it's how " We are what we eat" !
foods from different locations give different frequencies (qualities )

some said food is made of elements, just as our biological body, made of elements
elements of Fire, Air, Water , and Earth , which is governing how each organ in our body works .
Eating foods with different kind of tastes, and textures , give different effects to the body.

But I recently had a knowing/ realization that

Food for the mind are Lights and Sounds : Looking at things under Sun light ( with certain colors)
and listening the nature rhythms, is also a kind of absorbing energies for our being.
( electricity lights and sounds are of course to be REDUCED )

Food for the Heart are Feelings/ Compassion/Appreciation: Some foods give us excitement when we eat, some calms us down,
some make us energetic and activity ; those factors depend on how the food is made, and how we want to feel when eating the food !

Food for the physical energies : this is the part that people measure through labels such as vitamins, minerals, ,


Eat with intention , awareness ( MIND eating ), eat with appreciation and feelings ( HEART eating ) , Eat for sustaining physical body
I consider this is a way of eating FULLY !

I realize I am most of the time eating by habit ... especially I forget to appreciate the food that come to me , that's why
I eat them while doing something else.... if the food were very hard to get, I would not act that way....

And especially my mind is not always at the present, so it's difficult for me to communicate with the food before consuming them.
so my intention and awareness of transforming the food's frequencies before consuming them are also difficult to practice.

Maybe you will do those better than me.... but I am sure you don't need to join any program and pay for any book...
it's the SELF discipline matter, if you can NOT discipline and learn yourself, NO ONE can...
people's advice /solution /method is only to make you uneasy if you keep depending on them to frame/shape you up,
you would not be able to learn flexibility , and creativity... especially keep trying to follow others discourages you from doing your own
EXPLORATION , which is the most interesting part you would miss.

 

[mabar]

Mindful eating? ... it has a more gracious name as what I use to think while eating, mostly because it is not with that purpose, most of the time I eat alone, and sometimes I tend to focus on what I am eating, another way of observing myself added to the fact that I tend to think too much. It would be interesting applying such tips next time.

I had found, for example, that there are kinds of foods/dinners, that they taste nice, preparation, cooked, mix of ingredients all well, but I do not like the flavor?, and I wonder about such contradiction.

I once tried a some sort of conscious suffering? I did not heat my dinner at work, there was not electricity, I was able to heat it somewhere else, but I tried to eat it like that, it was cold and almost frozen (I prepare dinner at home for a week -usually- and keep them in the fridge), the experience .... (I prefere to not add any adjectives) it was an experience, it was difficult to digest/swallow, cold fat from the chicken soup, compared, the meat was not that hard. And the curious thing is that, I ended up taking much time as I usually do at every bite, I supposed that's why the experience was more intense?. The weather was warm, I suppose, that in cold weather, the experience would reach another level.

 

[HowToBe]

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve digestion as I recall, although I wasn't able to find a reference from a quick search. Chewing food thoroughly definitely improves digestion, so that alone is bound to be helpful.

It has been shown that distracted eating leads to lower quality of digestion (eating while reading or playing, when under stress, and eating too quickly/impatiently). For instance, look at the following article (my bold):

A recent study studied the effects of eating while distracted. People were sitting and playing games on their computers while eating a meal. The results of this study were revealing. It was found that the participants ate more and didn’t have a memory of what they had just eaten. The article on this study can be found here. While sitting in front of a computer, these people were served various items and many reported feeling less full after they’d finished eating. In addition, they had a hard time remembering the order in which they ate the items.

When you eat in a relaxed manner, your body moves into parasympathetic mode. Digestion takes place in parasympathetic, or relaxed mode, and ceases in sympathetic mode, or stress mode. If you were to eat while driving or while doing another potentially stressful activity, your body will not digest the food properly. When your body is in sympathetic, or fight or flight mode, blood and energy goes to your extremities rather than your digestive system. Your body is focused on keeping you alive, rather than on digesting food.

So, apparently mindful eating helps inform your mind/body that you are safe, and that the food is what is important right now. Working, watching TV, or reading while eating seem to send the message that something else is more important than the food.

Here's an article from Harvard about distracted eating and the benefits of mindful eating:
_http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Health_Letter/2011/February/mindful-eating

[Edit to add the following:]
And, of course, we are already aware of the benefits of meditation and mindfulness via the Eiriu Eolas program! All around, this seems like a holistic, respectful way of eating to nourish mind, body, and spirit. It seems that by giving the lives we consume the respect and attention they deserve, we are able to make more efficient use of the gift of life granted by the Mother Goddess.

A quote to end (my bold):

A: You know the saying: Only through the shedding of blood is there remission of sins?

Q: (L) Yes.

A: And what about: Take eat, this is my body?

Q: (L) Yes.

A: And: Take, drink, this is my blood?

Q: (L) Yes. (Burma) So it sounds like they're saying that there's a hidden thing in the whole resurrection or salvation by the blood thing. That agriculture is evil and we could return by going on an animal-based diet?

A: No not exactly. When humankind "fell" into gross matter, a way was needed to return. This way simply is a manifestation of the natural laws. Consciousness must "eat" also. This is a natural function of the life giving nature of the environment in balance. The Earth is the Great Mother who gives her body, literally, in the form of creatures with a certain level of consciousness for the sustenance of her children of the cosmos. This is the original meaning of those sayings.

 

[mabar]

Thanks HowToBe, I will ponder about it, because -certainly- even though I am preparing the food in order to eat better, I tend to distract, dissociate while eating, in order to "use" the same time to do other things, like Reading, that's 6 days a week---work, and left one, sundays---seeing a movie. Its been almost six years since I am in this custom? (before, I use to eat somewhere else or with people.

I had noticed also, that depending on the lecture at hand I tend to eat less, or I tend to eat more slow, both are not good, time is up, and need to go back to work, after work I am hungry again, not good. Have to change that dynamic.

 

[Amy]

[quote author=mabar]

Mindful eating? ... it has a more gracious name as what I use to think while eating,
mostly because it is not with that purpose, most of the time I eat alone,
and sometimes I tend to focus on what I am eating,
another way of observing myself added to the fact that I tend to think too much.
It would be interesting applying such tips next time.


I had found, for example, that there are kinds of foods/dinners,
that they taste nice, preparation, cooked, mix of ingredients all well,
but I do not like the flavor?, and I wonder about such contradiction.

[/quote]


You made a point here...and so I would like to add with my story ...

There were some kind of 'magical formula' , in which people should
think in their mind certain wish / desire to achieve something through consuming food/drink...
every bite , every sip they should keep 'praying' ...
Is it a kind of ritual ? I found those information was in books of occult magick or hermetic science...

After a week trying to experiment such 'magick' , I , just as you mentioned, found myself
with too much noises of wishful thinking ; and so I quit. I go back to my basic principle:
" I enjoy the food, I value and appreciate them "

And so I decide to eat only when I am really really hungry; I don't follow breakfast/lunch/dinner time table
and I only eat what my body tells me to eat...

Today I read again " Bringer of the Dawn" book, I noticed these lines:

- " Let your body speak what it wants, because as it attempts to raise
its vibration and build a light body, it will move away from certain food"

- " True health would consist of twelve completely mutated and evolved helixes
inside your body; when they are in activation, the full brain is in operation
and you are geniuses. You know everything , you are telepathic, and
you are able to do anything because you are the host of the Living Library"


After reading this, I thought, perhaps this is the only thing that I should wish for
in every of my meals , to remind myself of telling the body/ DNA to evolve .
Maybe you should too. This is a highest thing to wish for,
and quite simple as well.


" Your desire must come first...
The desire is a realization that puts you in the moment.
Then you structure this desire and demonstrate your commitment....
All things first come to being because someone decided to energize them.
Anything can be energized. It comes down to the power of the individual mind
to activate the will and use it to restructure reality...."

-----------------------------------------------------------

[quote author=mabar]



I once tried a some sort of conscious suffering?
I did not heat my dinner at work, there was not electricity,
I was able to heat it somewhere else, but I tried to eat it like that,
it was cold and almost frozen (I prepare dinner at home for a week -usually- and keep them in the fridge),

the experience .... (I prefere to not add any adjectives) it was an experience,
it was difficult to digest/swallow, cold fat from the chicken soup, compared, the meat was not that hard.
And the curious thing is that, I ended up taking much time as I usually do at every bite,
I supposed that's why the experience was more intense?.

The weather was warm, I suppose, that in cold weather, the experience would reach another level.
[/quote]


Very nice experiment / self challenge indeed :) !!!

I sometimes do some experiment with making 'special / new' kinds of food,
I mix all the bizarre things with each other,
just to test my trust / intuition / feeling/ communication ability between I and the food materials,
sometimes it worked, sometimes I overdid things and ended up hate cooking /eating for a long long while :)

I heard that sensitive people can feel into the frequency/ vibrations of the food
but I have to admit , to this point I haven't yet been able to have a clear feeling/recognition
of this. So I just go following the tastes...
"eat slow, and eat consciously ..." - step by step creating my own ' codes of conduct' :)
" you are to take nothing in excess, always show respect and properly value what are around you"

I read many occult magick books, and I see they mostly teach us how to get things
through rituals and spells
but not many teach us to respect and value what we have.
" Like attracts like " ... how we are , will attract the same quality of things/beings into our field
without the need to wish too much, too often !

I hope I am not going far from the topic : Meditation in Action , and mindful eating.

And thanks for the sharing.

 

[Laura]

"Mindful Eating" is very much in line with our approach to things and should be added, as often as possible, to your daily exercises.

 

[trendsetter37]

Good Find! After reading through those tips I realized that you really do get out of life what you put in. I mean I can think of numerous occasions where I will not even remember the act of eating. Although this happens less often now because of my conscious attempts at paying attention to everything in all their slight details.

But the thought of how easy it is to slip into automaton mode is disconcerting at times.

5. If it’s a food you’re going to eat with your hands, notice the texture as you pick it up, the temperature, and perhaps the color(s). If you're eating from a plate with a knife and fork, notice instead the texture and temperature of the cutlery as you move it toward the food, but still take the time to notice the colors on the plate. You might find it more effective to hold your fork or spoon in your non-dominant hand: This will prevent you from going too quickly.

I found this part interesting. After reading through the 4th Way and the two first books of gnosis, I wanted to have something to help me be or be more mindful of what i'm actually doing so I started writing with my non-dominant hand (left) in cursive. For me it was effective because I had to slow down and consciously think about the next strokes I needed to make with the pen.

Unfortunately, I have found that you do need new ways to shock you into paying attention because you will get better at even writing lefty and thus it becomes easy and/or easier to do it unconsciously. But I guess this is why Gurdjieff (Or was it Ouspensky's interpretation of Gurdjieffian works?)even said that one type of shock may not always aid you and when this happens you must have another or at least a new form of remembrance.

I will definitely add this to my toolbox. Thanks for sharing HowToBe!