Eating mindfully, we are present to notice our response to each bite of food and the nourishment it provides our body. We notice whether we are hungry or full. We notice the way that the mouth salivates in response to the food. We chew slowly and mindfully, noticing the changing texture of the food. We choose intentionally when to swallow, after we have carefully chewed the food. We notice the sensations in the body as we chew and then swallow the food. We savor each precious bite, and we feel gratitude for all beings involved in growing, transporting, and selling us the food.
Often we eat while we’re doing something else. At times, we don’t realize we’ve finished, haven’t really tasted what we ate, or get to the end and become aware that we didn’t even like what we just ate. We eat when we’re not hungry. We eat because we’re sad, lonely, hurting, afraid, angry, or bored. Or maybe we start out hungry and then eat far past our point of satiation.
Just for today, notice your impulse to eat. Are you hungry? How do you know? What signals does your body give to let you know that you’re hungry? Try to eat healthy food today. Eat slowly, without distraction, and savor your food. Pay attention to how it feels to nourish yourself in this way. Eating mindfully, we feel more gratitude, presence, and peace.
…the desire to eat when you are not hungry reveals what you truly believe about life here on earth—your panoply of beliefs about feeling, suffering, receiving, nourishing, abundance, resting, having enough. –Geneen Roth
Learn more about mindfulness in the mindfulness for stress reduction MBSR online course.