Notes from the Parish Nurse... Eating Mindfully “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” Zen proverb My first experience with eating mindfully came in the 1990s. I read two books by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You Go, There You Are. I was so intrigued I went to a workshop he was doing, and became hooked on the concept on mindfulness. I began a mindful meditation practice and tried eating mindfully at least one meal a day. I lit a candle and played relaxing music, to set the mood, expressed gratitude for my meal, and slowly, mindfully, began to eat my meal. I noticed the texture, flavor, consistency of eat bite. I noticed how I felt before, during, and after my meal. Now this was quite a change from the woman who quickly inhaled each mouthful while reading or watching a video, completely oblivious of what I was stuffing myself with! Here are some tips for eating mindfully, adapted from Full Catastrophe Living: 1. Pay attention to your food. Contemplate where it comes from, how it was once connected to nature, the many hands that helped your food get to your table, the textures and colors and smells. 2. Be mindful of your hunger. One thing to do is put your hand on your stomach, to focus your attention there, and imagine a car fuel gauge to see where you are. On empty? 1/4 full? 1/2 full? Full tank? Overflowing? You could begin and end your meal with this exercise. 3. A key point is, notice how do you feel 15 minutes or so after eating. (I feel great while eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerrys Cherry Garcia ice cream, not so great 15-20 minutes later.) Heavy and/or bloated or light? Tired or energized? Still hungry for something or satiated? Do you have indigestion or excessive gas? Eating mindfully is not about judging yourself about what you eat. Eating mindfully can give you the information you need to make healthier choices. It will tell you when you do emotional eating, when you eat food that either does or does not agree with you, if you are addicted to certain foods, what issues you have around food...no judgment, just information. Information you can then assess, which may help you in developing a plan, with realistic, measurable goals, to eat foods that suit your unique temperament and metabolism. There are many paths to healthy eating...take the first step by eating just one thing mindfully today...you may just discover something pretty amazing about wonderful, wonderful you! Warmly, Lori Nitchals, Parish Nurse
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 01:09:09 +0000
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