This is a meditation to help you achieve a more mindful relationship with food,
Especially when food urges or food cravings may lead you to overeating or eating the wrong food.
So this meditation will teach you a simple tool called urge surfing,
Which can help you to disconnect from food cravings,
Thereby giving you more control over your diet and weight.
If you're feeling food cravings during the day,
You can use urge surfing anytime with your eyes open in a shorter format,
And it's a great tool to have up your sleeve to help you keep those food cravings at bay.
So let's start this meditation by finding a comfortable seated position,
With your feet lying flat on the floor,
Your hands resting on your legs or by your side,
Keeping your spine nice and straight,
Allowing your shoulders to relax,
Letting your head find a comfortable dignified position.
Let your gaze fall slightly in front of you and allow your focus to soften a little.
With your eyes still open,
We're going to take a few deep breaths,
Breathing in through your nose,
And then out through your mouth.
Try making the out-breath twice as long as the in-breath.
Just breathing in for two,
And breathing out for four.
Now in your own time,
I'd like you to gently close your eyes and let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
Try to follow your natural breath for a full cycle,
Beginning with your inhalation at the tip of your nose,
Moving down to your belly rising,
And release as the breath leaves your body,
Then allowing the cycle to begin again.
If you find your mind wandering,
That's perfectly normal.
When you do,
I encourage you to bring your attention back to the breath.
If you're feeling any urges or cravings,
Try to let them fall into the background and bring your attention back to the breath.
I would like you to move your attention to an urge or craving that you may have for food,
And as you're doing this,
Allow your breath to fall into the background.
Moving into these urges and cravings,
Seeing how they manifest in the body,
As well as in your mind.
I'd like you to imagine now that your cravings are waves on a beach,
And you're a surfer waiting in the water,
Waiting for those cravings and urges to arrive.
Your breath is your surfboard,
Allowing you to catch and ride the waves of cravings into shore.
When you're finished riding one wave,
Go back out and catch another.
Allow your breath to give you the buoyancy to surf the wave all the way into the shore.
Use your breath to ride the waves.
Stay on them as long as you like,
As long as you stay with the breath.
Notice how some waves start out smaller.
They put up speed to a crest,
Washing out as they come to shore.
Some waves are slow and powerful,
And break lace near the shore.
Feel the detail in each wave.
I'd like you to experiment now with how much attention you can place on the cravings,
Compared to attention to the breath.
You might like to think of this like a tone control on a stereo.
Turn it one way and you'll emphasize the breath.
Turn it the other and you'll emphasize the urges and cravings.
Take a minute here to experiment with the controller,
Moving between the two extremes,
Stopping anywhere between them that you like.
As you do,
Adjust your attention between the urges and your breath.
I'd like you to turn the controller one last time to an urge,
Watching it appear as a wave,
Reaching its crescendo as you start your ride,
Letting your breath ride you to shore one last time.
As you arrive at the shore,
Return your attention to your breath,
And allow those cravings to return to the background.
We're going to end this meditation with an affirmation,
Which I'd like you to repeat after me.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy.
May I live free from suffering.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy.
May I live free from suffering.
These words act as a gentle intention,
Like rain falling onto parched earth.
They allow new life to grow.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy.
May I live free from suffering.
Start to gently bring your attention back to the room.
You may like to gently move your body,
Allow your eyes to open,
And withdraw this meditation to a close.
