Mindful Eating -Nourish Your Body, Reset Your Nervous System

When we are in a state of stress, anxiety or living in a state of rushing around, we often don't feel like eating. In this track, I explain the physiological reasons for this. I then give you five implementable tips to enjoy your food, digest efficiently and reframe mealtimes not just as refuelling but a time to nourish your body and to reset your nervous system.

Transcript

Do you ever feel when you're stressed or anxious or panicky or just really really busy that you don't actually feel like eating? There's a physiological reason for this and I'm going to explain what that is and how you can get past that. I'm Julie Babbis. I'm a nutritional therapy practitioner, A nutrition and health coach and a certified NLP practitioner. I'm going to be talking today about how to eat mindfully to nourish your body and to support your emotional system. When we're rushing around, Busy, Anxious, Worried about things, Living in the future, Not in the present, We're in a nervous system state called sympathetic, Otherwise known as fight, Flight, Freeze. And in this state, The body diverts its resources away from digestion and away from sleep towards enabling itself to run, To fight and to deal with what it perceives as danger. So blood is diverted away from the digestive system towards the muscles and the heart and the lungs. The production of enzymes and digestive acid is slowed down. The muscles that enable the digestive system to work, Move food through the digestive tract, Actually slow down. So if you think about that, It's no wonder that if you're stressed, You tend not to feel like eating. So I'm going to share five tips with you to enable you to get past that, To enjoy your food mindfully and consciously and to use your meal times as an opportunity not just to nourish the body, But to reset your nervous system. So the first thing I'm going to invite you to do is about 20 minutes before you start your meal is to start thinking about food. What are you going to eat? What does it look like? Imagine the colours. Imagine the shapes. What does it taste like? Imagine the flavours. Imagine how they feel in your mouth. Is it salty? Is it sweet? Is it umami? Is it bitter? And imagine all of those tastes. Imagine the textures as you chew. Is it soft? Is it crunchy? Is it chewy? And imagine how it feels in your mouth. Even just talking about this, I'm actually salivating, Which is the purpose of the exercise, Because digestion starts in the brain. As you think about the food, Your brain is stimulating the saliva glands in the mouth to produce saliva, Which starts preparing for digestion. Saliva contains digestive enzymes such as amylase, Which start breaking down food as you chew it. It also lubricates food. It adds water to make it much easier to swallow. If you have a dry mouth, For example, You will know that it's not that easy to eat sometimes. So the more saliva that you produce, The easier it makes the chewing and swallowing process. This part of digestion called the cephalic part of digestion or the brain part of digestion also triggers the stomach to start producing stomach acid and digestive enzymes to start working on the food that you swallow as soon as it gets to your stomach. And this is really important because this is what enables your body to continue the process of breaking down food to enable it to start absorbing the nutrients from it. So really take the time, Each mealtime, To imagine and start enjoying in your brain what you're going to eat. The next step is preparing the food. And yes, It's great if we have the time and the space to make our own food from scratch. And if you are cooking from scratch, I encourage you to see that as a pleasure, Something enjoyable and not as a chore. We don't want to be in a chore, Thinking of it as a chore, Doing something we don't want to do. Therefore, That's stressful. It's something pleasurable. It's taking time. It's the process. Enjoy the process. Enjoy seeing the colours of the different foods, Fruit or vegetables, Meat or non-animal protein. Be aware of the different textures of the foods as you're cutting them, As you're preparing them. Notice and enjoy the smells as you're cooking. If you are not able to do that, If you're eating out and about, You're buying pre-bought food, You can still take that time to replicate, If you like, That process. So instead of grabbing a sandwich, Ripping off the packaging and stuffing it in your mouth, Take the time to enjoy choosing it. Take it to the table, Unwrap it mindfully, Put it on a plate. Or if you're in a fast food outlet, Put it on a napkin, So that you can inhale the flavours before you even start eating it. The next step is sit down to eat. This is vitally important. The act of sitting down sends subliminal systems to your body that I'm safe. I don't have to run. There isn't a sabre-toothed tiger about to attack me. I can take the time to eat and give my resources to the digestive processes. So taking the time to sit down and enjoy your food also supports your nervous system. It pushes it towards the parasympathetic, Which is where we want it to be in rest and digest. The next step is to chew each mouthful really, Really thoroughly. And I would say a minimum of 20 times, Preferably 30 times. So take a mouthful of food. If you're eating with a knife and fork, Put your cutlery down. If you're eating finger food, Put it down on the plate and chew thoroughly. Enjoy the flavour, Savour the flavour. Enjoy the texture. Take the time to appreciate the food that you're eating. And do that for every mouthful. And the final step is don't rush away from the table. Allow your body a few minutes to start assimilating the food that you've just given it. Give it the time to start extracting the nutrients from the food to nourish your body adequately. And I invite you during that time to give your gratitude for the food you've just eaten. You don't have to express that out loud if you don't want to. But simply in your head, Express your gratitude for the food that you've eaten, For having the time to enjoy it and the safety in which to enjoy it. And then, Quietly and mindfully, Return to the rest of your day. I hope you find this practice helpful.