How many times have you caught yourself halfway through a meal and realized that you haven't tasted one bite?
I mean really tasted.
While many of us truly love food,
Most of us have a hard time sitting down and giving our meal a respect it deserves.
The reasons for this are many folds,
But it all comes down to our state of mind.
When we sit down to eat,
Our minds are often somewhere else.
Work,
Personal issues,
Your to-do list,
You get the idea.
The problem is,
Our bodies follow our minds,
Which means that if your mind is busy elsewhere,
Your body is not going to be primed for optimal digestion and absorption.
A distracted mind is a distracted body.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen clients' digestive issues improve by simply taking the time to create a mindful practice around food.
The good news is,
Using mindfulness as a tool for slowing down and becoming present with your meals can be as simple as setting an intention to be mindful before you eat.
This is also an excellent way to enhance the enjoyment of your meals,
Which often leads to consuming less food each time you eat.
This makes mindful eating a fantastic tool for anyone with digestive concerns or for people with a goal of weight loss.
Now,
I'm going to share a very simple yet powerful mindfulness practice that will help you bring your attention to those first few bites of your meal.
When you start your meal with intention,
It's much more likely that you'll be able to carry that intention through.
I suggest listening to this recording once a day for around 5-7 days,
Preferably before meals.
But really,
Any time works,
As these suggestions will become more familiar to you,
And over time mindfulness at the plate will become second nature.
This is a 5 sensory mindfulness practice that's meant to engage all of your five senses in a way that will quiet your mind and focus it on the task ahead.
We'll begin with a short breath work practice to relax the body and then engage each one of your senses,
One at a time.
To begin,
Find a comfortable seated position.
If you have your meal prepared,
That's ideal,
Otherwise just listen along as I take you through the practice.
Let's start by taking a couple of deep breaths to signal to your mind and your body that it's time to relax.
Deep breathing helps to shift your body into a parasympathetic state,
Also known as your rest and digest response.
Ideally,
Eating should always be done in a relaxed state.
Now let's take a couple of deep breaths together,
Inhaling for a count of 4 and exhaling for a count of 8.
Inhaling 1,
2,
3,
4 and exhaling slowly 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8 and inhale 1,
2,
3,
4 and exhale 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
If you find that exhaling for a count of 8 is too long,
You can feel free to adjust both inhale and exhale to whatever feels right for you.
This is meant to create deep relaxing breaths,
So there should never be any strain.
Now before you take your first bite,
Take a moment to engage your sense of hearing.
Does your food make any noise?
Does it sizzle?
Often times our food itself is silent,
So I invite you to pay attention to the sounds in your environment,
Fully engaging your sense of hearing for a moment.
Moving on,
Engaging your sense of sight,
I want you to look at your food.
Notice the colors,
Shapes,
Textures.
Are there specks of spices?
A drizzle of dressing or sauce?
Give yourself a moment to fully take in the sight of your food.
Before you bring that first bite to your mouth,
Engage your sense of smell.
What does your food smell like?
Is there sweetness in the air,
Pungency?
Can you pick up the scent of any specific spices or flavors?
Now take your first bite,
Chewing slowly,
What do you taste?
Try to pick up the various flavors that your meal offers.
Sweet and salty foods tend to dominate the senses,
But can you find hints of other flavors in that bite?
This is your opportunity to really allow your sense of taste to take the driver's seat for the rest of your meal.
Allow your food to cover the expanse of your tongue so that all of your taste buds have an opportunity to experience the flavors.
Now taking your second bite,
Use your sense of touch to feel out the texture of your food in your mouth.
Is it crunchy,
Chewy,
Soft,
Warm or cold?
As you continue to enjoy your meal,
Keep your attention as close to the taste and sensations in your mouth as possible.
Your mind will likely wander,
But your job is to just bring it right back to your food.
And now that your senses have had a chance to dial in to your meal,
This should become easier and easier.
And that's it,
That is your mindful eating practice.
Once you get a hang of it,
The entire practice should take no more than two minutes.
At first it may feel awkward or you may even feel resistant to slowing down this much with your food.
But over time the practice of mindful eating will become second nature to you.
Pro tip,
If you're eating your meal with someone else and engaged in conversation,
You can still eat mindfully.
Just take many mindful moments during your conversation to fully enjoy a bite here and there.
This practice is not about perfection.
In fact,
The ultimate goal is to be able to enjoy your meal more mindfully and more slowly than usual,
Not to be fully in meditation each time you sit down at the plate.
Another wonderful thing about this mindfulness practice is that it can serve as a stepping off point for more intense mindful meditation techniques.
If you've ever had trouble sitting in meditation,
Using a practice like this one can be an excellent way to begin to train your mind for prolonged attention.
