Hi,
This is Junie Poucher and welcome to this mindful eating exercise.
Go ahead and place your meal in front of you and eliminate any distractions.
Turn off your TV,
Put your phone on silent and I recommend turning it over so you can't see the screen.
Let's take a couple deep breaths together in through the nose and out through the mouth.
If you'd like to close your eyes,
You're welcome to do so.
So deep inhale and just gently let that go.
Releasing the day,
Bringing yourself to this moment.
Let's go ahead and do that again.
Deep inhale ever so gently through the nose and release through the mouth.
One last time,
You can go ahead and do that on your own.
Just calling yourself back to this moment.
Using any thoughts of things that you feel you need to do or activities that you're going to be doing later.
You needn't worry about any of that right now.
Feel your feet on the floor beneath you as well as the points of contact on the chair.
And check in with yourself.
How hungry are you right now?
Are you famished?
Are you just slightly hungry?
Are you not hungry at all?
Take note of what your hunger level is.
Once you've done this,
I'd invite you to open your eyes if they are not open already.
Take a look at the plate of food in front of you.
What are the colors,
The textures?
What types of shadows are cast by the light?
How does it fall on the plate?
Perhaps you consider the ingredients contained in this meal.
The sunlight,
The labor,
The transportation that went into bringing this food to your plate.
Try to be curious about this as if you've never seen this food before.
Slowly and deliberately grab your eating utensil and get a small amount of this food.
Slowly lift the food to your nose and inhale the aroma.
Are there layers to it?
Does it smell the way you expected it to?
Again,
Try to be curious.
Bring a beginner's mind to the process.
Slowly bring the food to your mouth and take a bite.
Chew slowly without swallowing.
Feel the textures,
The flavors.
Try to get in at least 15-30 chews.
You want the food to be the consistency of a smoothie.
This will allow your body to signal itself to create the proper digestive enzymes needed to absorb the most nutrition.
Continue on eating your meal this way and after a few minutes check in again with your hunger.
Wait for the moment when you feel your body sigh with satisfaction and that you are pleasantly full but not stuffed.
Enjoy the rest of your meal and I'm wishing you well.
