Eating Mind-fully

This is a free sample, and 'taster', from my new series of seven weight management meditations. Music composed especially by Insight Timer guide ©Eternell.

Transcript

As guided meditations like this can make you drowsy and sleepy,

It's not a good idea to drive,

Operate machinery,

Or use a potato peeler or cheese grater while listening to this meditation.

This guided meditation will help you form a new relationship with the food and the drink that nourishes you and keeps you alive.

You can listen to this meditation in two ways and it's a good idea to try both methods.

For the first method you keep your eyes open and actually eat something during the meditation.

The second method involves you simply imagining you're eating or drinking something.

If you want to try the second method first,

Just sit up somewhere upright comfortably and keep listening.

If you want to try the first method first,

Pause and go and get something you would like to eat mindfully.

Ideally something like some grapes,

Raisins,

Nuts,

Or small pieces of fresh or dried fruit.

You can also use a juice drink or a cold soup.

The main criteria is to choose something you enjoy that you know is good for you.

So pause now if you'd like to do this with your eyes open and go and get something to eat or drink,

Or just continue if you simply like to imagine you're eating mindfully.

So before you start just take a deep in-breath through your nostrils and expel all the air from your lungs with your out-breath about four times as long as the in-breath.

Just become aware of the tension in your body.

If you're holding any tension in your forehead,

In your jaw,

In your shoulders,

In your arms,

In your wrists and your hands,

In your chest and your abdomen,

In your pelvis,

In your thighs,

Your knees.

Let all the tension flow all the way down through your ankles,

Through your feet and into the floor.

Take another deep in-breath and again expel all the air from your body on the out-breath.

And with the food in front of you with your eyes open,

Or the imaginary food in front of you with your eyes closed,

Let's eat mindfully.

In this first mindful minute with your food or drink in front of you,

Or imagining that it's in front of you,

Just look at it and observe it.

What colour is it?

What shape is it?

How have you arranged it in front of you?

What do you imagine is inside it?

What path did it take to get to you?

In this next mindful minute,

Pick up a piece of the food and feel it lightly in your fingers,

Or if it's a drink,

Touch the surface.

Is it smooth,

Sticky or wrinkly?

Thick or thin?

Round or irregular?

Hard or soft?

Just imagine what actions would your mouth have to take before you can swallow it.

How do you feel about what you're about to eat?

In this next mindful minute,

Hold a piece of food to your nose or sniff the surface if it's liquid.

What does it smell of?

What will it taste like when you put it in your mouth?

Will the taste change as you chew it?

Give it a gentle squeeze or rub or stir and sense if it releases new odours.

And consider this,

How does what it smells like make you feel about popping it in your mouth?

In this next mindful minute,

Put a piece of the food in your mouth or take a sip of your drink.

Let your tongue play with it and feel it.

Now start chewing it slowly and mindfully,

Or if it's liquid,

Use your tongue to coat it around all of your palate.

And at the end of this mindful minute,

You can now swallow it.

In this next mindful minute,

Pop another bit of food in your mouth or take another sip and let your mouth do what it wants to as it would do normally.

And when you're ready,

Swallow it.

Now become mindful of your esophagus and the automatic peristaltic action of the muscles that pushes the food down into your stomach.

Sense the passage of what you've consumed for as long as you can.

In this next mindful minute,

Pop another piece of food in your mouth and chew it slowly,

Or if it's liquid,

Sip it and roll it around your mouth coating the whole palate.

As you do this,

Take your awareness down into your stomach and imagine what it's doing with the pieces of food you've already eaten.

Just sense it breaking them down into nutrients and energy for each of yourselves.

Thank it for serving silently and doing this on your behalf and for your greatest good.

For this next mindful minute,

Ask your stomach what it would like you to do.

Is it ready to process another morsel of food or take another sip of your drink?

Or would it like you to wait a while because it's busy?

Act on what your stomach tells you to do right now.

And in these last mindful minutes,

Pause again and look at the food in front of you.

Thank the shopkeeper who kept it fresh for you.

Thank the truck driver who delivered it to the shop.

Give thanks to the food producer who made it so edible.

Thank the farmer who nurtured it from seed.

Thank Mother Earth for providing a safe environment for it to grow.

And thank the Sun for providing all the energy sources it needed to get to your mouth.

Thank your stomach and intestinal system and let them know that while they're busy with their job,

You'll go about your days mindfully,

Timefully and kindfully making a difference in the world.

And while they're busy,

You will be making sure the next meals will arrive in a timely manner and be prepared mindfully and lovingly so your internal organs will receive what they need to keep working efficiently.

And finally,

Give yourself a pat on the back for taking some time out to become more mindful about what you eat and drink and how you go about it.

And if you had your eyes closed,

Open them now and come back into the room.

Reviews

What a great experience! This was my first meditation by this teacher. I think I’ll be going back to this one more than once.

Outstanding reminder and reflection of the miracle of living, of appreciating the entities involved in keeping us nurtured, body and soul. Thank you, Tom.

This meditation slowed down my eating and made it a much more thoughtful and enjoyable experience. 🙏

Man that was close I almost got out my potato peeler!

Great practice, thanks!

Truly the most mindful and insightful eating meditation experience I’ve ever done. I plan to return to this again and again to help me make mindful eating a natural habit.
Thank you. Much gratitude.

Very nice and interesting. I look forward to trying this some more when I am in a different setting.

Thank you, I noticed things I’ve never seen before.

Wow! I picked this up at random and I’m so glad I did. I can’t remember when I enjoyed a piece of marmite toast so much. Thanks Tom!

I made a decision yesterday to pay more attention to my mindless eating.
Amazing how this showed up for me this morning!
Much appreciation for your nourishing words.✨️🙏🍽💖

This was excellent! I am a nutritionist & natural path so this was right up my alley! Cheers!

Love this meditation Tom ! Thank you so much for your wisdom. I appreciate you, and grateful. 🙏❤

Wonderfully inspiring with a splash of humor to remind us that all is not a serious as we think it should be.

Best mindful eating guide I've heard so far, thank you

I love this meditation! I really enjoyed how we thanked everyone involved. I’m am going to listen to this with my next several meals!! Thank you!!❤️

Food for thought. Thank you

First time incorporating food into a meditation. It was a fully enjoyed treat.

Very well structured.

I felt real connection to my system. Thanks Tom i am really connecting truly to your voice and meditation. I wish I can fully relate to you and learn more I want to be more mindful in my daily life affairs.
🙏🏽

Love it! Will keep coming back..would love the whole series.

Thanks so much! I’ve been struggling with eating too fast for most of my 66 years. This meditation helped me want to start yet again to try to trust and slow down.