Hello and welcome.
My name is Lisa Schlossberg and I will be your guide for today.
The reason that I feel inspired to support you with something like mindful eating is because when I work with a lot of people who struggle with food,
We find ultimately that a lot of the issue is not actually around food,
But has much more to do with feeling safe or not to be in the body.
So what I want to do today is take a few minutes to just explain what the practice is and what's actually happening in the mind-body system when we do it so that you're educated and you know why you're doing what you're doing and what the intention really is.
And then we'll get into it and practice it together.
So I'll start with just an introduction around the nervous system.
And so you have probably heard at some point about sympathetic arousal or being in fight or flight.
And so because the animal brain that we have in our human life doesn't know the difference between stressors.
Very often if we have a stressful day or just a day where we are busy,
Maybe multitasking or just preoccupied with other things like work or school or our relationships,
We can tend to kind of perpetuate this fight or flight energy in the mind-body system because we're not doing things like mindfully breathing.
We're not noticing our senses,
For example.
And so if we spend a lot of our time in this kind of energy,
And you can relate to kind of always feeling like there's more to do,
Always feeling that there's somewhere to go.
If the energy in your body is really kind of go,
Go,
Go,
Go,
Go a lot of the time.
You might notice that there's some disruption or dysfunction in your relationship with food.
You might also notice some digestive issues or chronic pain.
Part of that,
Though,
Is not around the food or not about the food,
But really about your relationship to your own body and the state of your nervous system.
And so.
If we want to shift out of fight or flight and sympathetic nervous system,
Which is really reserved or supposed to be reserved for emergencies.
What we can do is use a practice to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which is actually also named rest and digest.
This is the state that your body really can be in to support optimal digestion.
So it's not really just about mindful eating for the sake of it.
And it's not just about slowing down your system for fun.
It's actually about preparing your mind-body system to eat and digest food in a way that feels safe and stable.
Because when all of this starts becoming more habitual and it feels safer to slow down,
Not just around food and eating,
But in general.
Then you can actually access hunger and fullness cues.
And so if something that you want is to feel safe with intuitive eating,
Really listening to your body and stopping when you're full,
The first step to actually being able to access feelings like hunger and fullness is creating safety for you to be in your body,
Feeling how you feel.
And shifting that state from one of danger and feeling unsafe in fight or flight to one of safety,
Where you can feel more stable and connected to yourself in parasympathetic rest and digest.
So that is the intention here.
Next,
I will walk you through a practice that you can do before your mealtimes,
Before you eat,
Before you're snacking,
Just as a way to check in with yourself and again,
Create that safety.
So I want to invite you now to prepare yourself as though you are going to eat.
So if you want to pause this video for a moment and get yourself prepared,
Either in front of a meal or in front of a plate of food,
Just getting yourself ready to actually practice integrating this in real time.
Now,
Once you are there,
I want to invite you to close your eyes.
So first,
Just starting with your eyes closed here.
Part of what we're doing by closing the eyes is closing off any external stimuli.
So for a moment,
Instead of your attention going outside of you,
Just start bringing the focus and awareness to what's going on inside.
And just taking a few breaths here in a moment of transition.
So noticing and acknowledging that you're no longer out there in your day doing things.
But in this moment right now,
You are taking time and space.
To transition.
To awareness inside.
And you might feel like a snow globe that's been shaken up,
Just sitting still.
And that's okay,
So just allow that and notice that.
You don't have to change anything or do anything differently.
You're just starting to observe and be a witness.
To your experience in your body right now.
Whatever that is.
And then once you have settled in just for a moment,
Start bringing your awareness now to your breath.
And first notice where is your breath.
How is your breath?
And again,
Without having to change or control anything,
Can you just connect with it?
Are you holding your breath at all?
How deep or shallow is your breathing?
And first just connecting to your breath as it is right now.
And then if it feels good,
Maybe just starting to introduce a little bit more length.
To your exhales.
And then to your inhales.
And you can always feel free to keep breathing.
On your own,
In your own natural rhythm.
If you would like some guided breathing.
I invite you to take a big breath in for a count of four.
3.
.
.
Two.
One.
Exhale,
Sigh all the way out.
We'll do that again.
Big inhale for four.
3.
.
.
To One.
Exhale,
Sigh it out.
Just feel the vibration in your body as you exhale.
And then doing that one more time on your own,
Just making this the biggest breath of your day so far,
Really feeling your lungs expand all the way to the top.
And then when you're ready,
Exhale,
Sigh it out,
Hum it out.
Just breathe it out and feel the exhale.
And then keeping your eyes closed for another moment,
Just staying focused on your inhale and exhale.
And setting the intention to prepare your body to eat.
And so what you're doing is just slowing down.
Letting your whole system know that you are safe here now.
So any parts of you that might still have that kind of running energy.
Just notice it.
Welcome in.
And then bring yourself back to the intention to just gently slow down a little bit.
Preparing yourself to eat.
And if you need another moment here,
Feel free again.
Just to pause the video,
Take another few deep,
Slow breaths.
Letting your system know that you are safe in stillness.
And then when you're ready.
Very gently and very slowly start to blink your eyes open.
And moving with intention,
Just starting to bring your gaze up and notice your surroundings.
This is a really powerful mindfulness practice.
Just noticing what are some of the colors that you see in the room around you.
Some of the objects.
And then just starting to come to your senses a little bit.
So you're seeing what's around you.
And notice if there's any sounds.
If there's anything that you taste in your mouth while you're here right now before you eat.
And just notice what's going on in your body again as you reorient to your surroundings.
And then just start bringing your awareness to the food in front of you.
What do you see?
How do you imagine this might taste?
And can you give yourself a moment of stillness?
Presence.
And connection.
To your body.
And to your food.
Before you engage with it.
So you might notice if there are any emotions of maybe eagerness or excitement.
Maybe there's some fear depending on your relationship with food.
But just allow yourself to really be here in this moment before you eat.
Ah,
Letting yourself know you are here,
You've arrived.
You're not in the past,
You're not in the future,
You're here and you're ready to eat.
You are safe to do so.
