Eating well with mindful eating, we practice caring for our bodies lovingly. When we eat mindfully, it means maintaining adequate water intake, choosing healthy, non-toxic, and nutritious foods, eating until we feel satisfied, and forgiving ourselves when we do this imperfectly.
Applying mindfulness practice to feeding ourselves is a skillful practice that can assist us to eat healthily. Taking in healthy food mindfully involves pausing to inquire how hungry we feel and then inquiring whether we are truly hungry for food, feeling thirsty, feeling emotionally hungry, or attempting to avoid our present moment experience by escaping through eating. It involves noticing how we feel as we approach our food and then eating slowly and noticing the how our food looks, how its texture feels in our mouth, its smell and flavor, how we feel while we’re chewing our food, how satisfied or full we feel as we swallow, and how our bodies respond to the food that we feed ourselves. This week, try practicing approaching your meals mindfully, and see what happens.
Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care. ~Buddha