Hello,
And thank you for joining me today for our little mindful exercise.
My name's Hilary Lafon,
And today what I thought we'd do is talk a little bit about healthy eating.
Of course,
Relax the body,
Quiet the mind.
But I just wanted to address our relationship with food and maybe planting a seed to help us start to see food in a new light and to see what some of our behaviors are and just to put some light on it.
I know a lot of us are either wishing that we could lose weight or gain weight or eat differently.
And it really takes us going inside,
Listening to our heart,
And being brave enough to see what some of our habits are and whether we're willing to make small changes.
Any time that change is in the air,
The biggest question we have to ask ourselves is,
What am I willing to give up?
What am I willing to give up to create the space and the environment to grow that which I most desire?
So wherever you find yourself today,
Sitting upright in your chair,
Eyes closed,
Hips are rooted in the seat,
Feet flat on the floor.
Maybe you want to roll your shoulders up,
Back,
And down a couple of times just to release some tension in the neck and the shoulders.
And just for a moment,
Sit and just be.
We're not going to focus on the breath yet or the thoughts or the body.
Just notice.
Notice what you bring to today's experience.
No right or wrong.
There could be some joy,
Some anxiety.
Maybe you're a bit uncomfortable.
Just notice.
And tune into your heart.
Set an intention.
What would you like to cultivate during our time together today?
What is calling to you?
Freedom,
Forgiveness,
Love,
Letting go.
Listen to that heart center and let it drive you as we start to focus on the breath,
Relax the body,
And have a little thought about our relationship with the nourishment each day.
So exhaling all your breath out.
When you're ready,
Inhale deeply for the count of four,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale completely through the nose or the mouth for five to six.
Sighing it out,
Letting it go,
Letting it go.
Two more times together.
Inhale and exhale.
One more time.
Inhale,
Feeling your chest rise,
Your stomach expand,
Using all the muscles around the spine and the lungs and the stomach.
And then exhaling,
Allowing just a little longer of an exhale to remind our body to relax,
To settle,
And to take a break.
Have your breath come back to its natural rhythm.
And now focus on your body sensations.
Notice if there's any tension anywhere in your body.
Sometimes it's good to start at the top of the head or the feet and work your way up or down.
Let's start at our feet today,
Feeling any sensation,
Whether it's positive,
Negative,
Tingling,
Vibration,
Pulsing.
And as you breathe in your mind,
Use the words relax,
Soften,
Settle,
Just to remind these muscles to expand,
To unwind.
As you breathe in and out,
Allow your calves and your shins to soften.
Noticing your kneecaps.
Maybe you deactivate your hips and your knees fall apart just slightly.
Noticing if you're tensing any muscles in your seat area or around the groin.
Just breathe and just gently persuade this area to just melt and be heavy.
Like a candle melting in the fire or a stick of butter on a hot summer day.
Noticing if you're uncomfortable or comfortable and just sitting with it,
Breathing,
Knowing we won't be here long.
Knowing you're safe.
No place to go,
Nothing to do.
Your next inhale and exhale.
Relax the stomach muscles,
Let your belly hang.
Breathing up to the heart area,
Feeling any sensation here.
Noticing if when you inhale,
You can feel your heart beat or maybe you can feel it as you exhale.
Bring your intention from when we started earlier and letting that intention take hold of your whole body,
Spreading from your heart like a star that's glowing and getting brighter and larger.
Inhale and exhale,
Allow your throat to feel loose,
Maybe swallow,
Turn your head yes,
No,
Up,
Down,
Releasing all of these muscles that bind us.
Allow a wave of relaxation to wash over you with the next inhale as your face softens around the eyes,
The nose and the mouth.
Let a warm Caribbean ocean wave wash down the back of the head,
The shoulders and the neck,
The upper back,
Mid back and low back.
Finally take in another deep breath and this next exhale,
Allow your arms and your hands to be limp and heavy like noodles.
So relaxed,
So relaxed.
So with your heart intention and with kindness,
Think about what food feels to you.
The idea of healthy eating,
Nourishment.
Be honest with yourself.
Do you have a complicated relationship with it?
If so,
That's okay.
Think about a time in your life when food came naturally and easily and you weren't craving it or overeating it.
Remember a time in your life you felt at peace and food was nourishment and not a means to an end or an addiction or something that brought shame.
Be kind to yourself.
Allow yourself to make mistakes.
Allow yourself to learn and to heal and to ask for help.
In what area of your nutrition plan or your daily habits,
What area could you work on making a commitment to take one step to feeling as though food were your friend and not an enemy.
It could be portion sizes,
Preparing meals.
Maybe there's one meal a day that you don't quite feel you have a healthy relationship with.
Listen to your heart.
What is your heart saying?
What do you need?
Is it to drink more water?
Chew slowly?
Choose healthier choices?
Maybe not eating out so much?
Allow yourself a moment to contemplate without judgment just through the eyes of the child a new concept.
What is one small thing I can do to bring food back into my life in a friendly way,
A nourishing way?
Using food as medicine,
Healing,
The basis of all of our building blocks in our body.
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath.
Breathing deeply and completely,
Allowing any sort of emotion to come up.
It's okay to have tears.
It's okay to have joy.
It's okay to have sorrow.
Normal human emotions which are intricately woven into our relationship with our food.
Being brave enough not to ignore this,
Asking for help when you need it.
Being kind to yourself when you make a mistake and remembering that you always have a choice each day to try again.
Before we end our time together with a few breaths,
Go back to that intention.
What did your heart say to you when we started?
And what was that one plan,
That one small action step forward that could help you build a new relationship with food?
Combine the two because my heart said,
I will do this,
Whatever that is for you.
Take a moment to feel pride,
To feel kindness for yourself,
For daring to go down this uncomfortable path.
And exhaling all your breath out,
Inhaling deeply for the count of four,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Two more times inhale and exhale.
One last time together,
Inhale and exhale.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes,
Wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Come back to the space around you.
Thank you so much for allowing me the precious gift of your time.
Until next time.
