Hi,
My name is Angela and I will be guiding you through a mindful eating exercise today.
This is an experience where you will hopefully gain insight and awareness around really slowing down at each meal and if you struggle with an eating disorder or if you struggle with emotional eating or if you notice that you've been struggling with your weight and you've been on diets and it's been really difficult just to actually get a handle on your nutrition.
This is an experience that will guide you in that direction of being aware and trying to get a sense of balance and moderation in those areas.
So have your meal in front of you,
Go ahead and just leave it on the table or the area right by you and don't pick it up just yet.
Really let yourself just slow down and take in all of your sensations.
So this process is going to be very much about being in delayed gratification as opposed to instant gratification.
And many times when we are eating we are in a social setting or if we're alone,
Oftentimes we're multitasking with a phone or doing work or watching TV at the same time.
And so this is going to be a practice of being in a place of delayed gratification and to be very conscious of every single move and every single sensation as you're in the experience of eating as well as giving different messages to what this experience is like.
So oftentimes people will have the message of it having to be for pleasure or that it has to taste good or that it has to be a certain way.
And this is also going to be an exercise of letting go so that we take in messages of acceptance and also around the nutrition of what it's doing and the purpose for our body and to give us energy and strength and brain power.
And so it's going to be a shift in our mentality.
So as your meal is sitting there ready for you to consume it,
Using your sensation of sight and just looking at it and allowing yourself to just slow down in this process.
And instead of what we quickly do,
Which is just grabbing the meal or grabbing your utensils and cutting into it and going fast and not even allowing yourself to taste the food,
Just going to look at it.
So if it's wrapped in a wrapper,
You can pick it up and turn it over and around and really looking at it from all angles.
And if it is not wrapped up,
You can pick it up with one of your utensils and cut a piece of it and really just examine it with your eyes,
Allowing yourself to just slow down and really take in what you're about to consume into your body with what it is with your eyes.
So just noticing the colors,
Noticing the light as it hits against it.
Maybe it's shiny,
Maybe it has a certain texture,
Maybe it's dull,
Noticing what it is as if you're looking at it hundreds of times in your life.
Also,
As you're doing this,
Put that food closer to you and see if you can smell what it is with all the different scents and just noticing what scents there are.
And if you notice anything different,
You may want to close your eyes and just take in this food that you're about to consume.
So if it's in the wrapper,
You can go ahead and open it.
And if it's not,
Just go ahead and allow yourself to just take in the sounds and the smells and everything that has to do with this food that you're about to consume.
So as you're slowing down,
Not yet putting it into your mouth,
You're going to just notice that feeling of wanting to move fast and just consume it.
And that is that delayed gratification.
And so just as you're slowing down,
You're taking in the senses and now allowing yourself to put that bite next to your mouth and not yet biting it yet,
So it's just against your lips.
Just noticing what it's like to have that delayed gratification where you're paying attention,
You're doing it on purpose,
So it's very conscious and in this very present moment and non-judgmentally,
The bite just against your lips,
That piece of food against your lips,
See what it's like to notice your mouth is watering a little bit,
If you notice any frustration,
Any feelings or thoughts that you may have,
And then pulling your attention back to this very present moment and this food that you're about to consume.
And then you can go ahead and put that,
Just the piece of food into your mouth.
And before you chew it,
Just let yourself see what it's like to have that delayed gratification where it's just sitting,
Maybe resting against your tongue,
Maybe it hits the roof of your mouth,
Maybe you're wanting to bite down,
But you're noticing again that delayed gratification and taking in that this food is for energy,
This food allows you to have brain power throughout the day,
It allows you to have strength.
Notice what your mouth does,
What your body does as you're just delaying that gratification.
Allow yourself to experience of nurturance,
Of eating in a different way,
Being very mindful.
And then you can go ahead and take those bites.
And with every bite,
You slowly bite down as you notice that this is a natural form of digestion that we never really pay attention to.
And focusing on each bite,
See what that feels like,
See how the form,
The sensations that are happening,
How everything changes,
And that in this moment,
You're able to really just be mindful of breaking down the food and really tasting the food that you're just taking it in.
And maybe you notice savory,
Sweet,
Bitter,
Salty,
Any taste,
Any sensation that you notice.
And as you're doing that,
Notice what thoughts you have,
Whether they're enjoyable thoughts,
Whether it's different than expected,
Whether you are noticing that desire to just have an impulse to just continue to chew and then swallow,
Just letting yourself slow down,
You're slowly chewing,
You're noticing the taste,
And that this is not about enjoyment,
That this is really about letting go and shifting your perception to acceptance.
So go ahead and swallow,
Let yourself ingest that piece of food,
And closing your eyes,
Seeing what it's like to just be so mindful for this moment.
Maybe it's the first time that you've done this or maybe not,
But in this moment,
Really being mindful of having digested that bite,
That piece of food,
And taking in the sense and taking in the sounds of the crunching and taking in the experience of digesting it into your body as your body does what it does naturally,
Taking care of itself and using the energy that you mindfully just put into your body and noticing the thoughts you have and taking in the affirmation,
I'm nurturing my body,
I'm being mindful and taking care of my body,
I'm letting go of any judgment,
I'm letting go of any control,
I'm just in a place of acceptance.
So as you continue to take each bite of this meal,
Allowing yourself to be mindful of every sensation,
Slowing down,
Noticing the desire for the instant gratification,
Really being in a place of settling into the distress of the delayed gratification,
But being held with acceptance.
So I hope you enjoy your meal today and we will try this again another time.
