Hello,
Thank you for joining me for today's mindful eating meditation.
This is such a beautiful practice.
We're often so busy multitasking,
Watching television and looking at our phones.
Mindful eating is another way to bring us back to the present moment and connect with the sensations in our body.
Are we showing ourselves compassion?
Are we fueling our vibrancy?
Now would be a good time to grab yourself a nut,
Some dried fruit,
A blueberry or maybe a small segment of fruit or chocolate.
Once you've found this object,
Coming back trying to find a nice comfortable place with limited distraction.
We're going to take a few breaths together,
Settling into the space.
You can close the eyes or keep them open.
Seeing if you can let the diaphragm draw down,
Taking a full belly breath.
Softening shoulders,
Neck and jaw.
As you're taking these deeper breaths,
Starting to notice any sensations in the body.
Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
Do you feel tired or do you feel energized and vibrant?
Or maybe you sit somewhere in between.
Whatever it is you feel,
Noticing.
Connecting with the body's intelligence.
We all have this innate intelligence within,
Allowing the body to actually communicate effectively,
Rather than numbing or ignoring.
If your eyes are closed,
You can open them now.
We're going to bring our attention now to the food of your choice in front of you and see if you can bring a childlike curiosity,
Like you're seeing this object,
This food for the first time.
What color is it?
What's the shape?
How big is it?
You may like to pick it up and feel its texture.
Is it hard or soft?
Does it have rigid edges or is it round and smooth?
Maybe feel for the temperature.
Is it room temperature?
Or perhaps it's come from the fridge.
Maybe it's cold.
And as you hold this food in your hands,
Bring your thoughts to where this food has come from.
The combination of the sunlight and the rain that perhaps created this food.
The energy that was required.
Any processes it needed to be created.
Or perhaps the shipping from one place to where it is right now in your home.
If you like,
You may like to bring some thanks and gratitude into your heart for the food.
For all the people in nature that were involved in the creation.
Maybe bring some acknowledgement of the nutrients within this food.
Both macro and micro.
Allow yourself to feel the food again.
Having any new thoughts,
Emotions or sensations.
Bring this object of food up to the nose.
Smell the food.
Notice any memories or sensations that may occur.
Smell is one of our most powerful senses and it's very closely linked to memory.
Perhaps at this point the mouth has started salivating.
If this is the case,
Know to seeing that gathering of saliva in the mouth.
This first stage of digestion.
When you're ready,
You may now like to place the food on your tongue.
Again feeling the texture and the different tastes.
Salty,
Sweet or sour.
Move it to different parts of the tongue.
Does this change any of the sensations?
Does this change how it tastes in your mouth?
How does the texture feel in your tongue?
Against the roof of your mouth.
Are there any physical responses in the body,
In the stomach?
While holding the object in your mouth,
Coming back to the breath again.
Those nice deep belly breaths.
When you feel it's the right time,
You may like to slowly and mindfully start to chew the food.
Savouring.
Noticing how the taste and texture changes.
You may even have some food getting lodged in your teeth.
As you chew,
Continue to acknowledge any sensations or perhaps lack of sensations.
How the food is changing in your mouth.
When you feel that you have chewed your food sufficiently,
You can swallow when you're ready.
Just taking a moment here to acknowledge that whole process that you went through with just a bite-sized food.
You may like to try this exercise again with another type of food to see if you notice any comparison.
I love to do this exercise fairly often as I find it resets my mentality and feelings towards food and in its ultimate purpose.
Thank you so much for joining me and have a beautiful day wherever you are.
