Mindful Eating Meditation

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is more than just eating slowly. It isn’t necessarily about weight loss either. Through mindful eating we nourish a new relationship to food and our bodies. One that encourages awareness, compassion, and acceptance.

Benefits of Mindful Eating

The benefits of mindfulness begin with non-judgmental awareness. Mindfulness encourages acceptance of present moment sensations, thoughts and emotions. We learn to be less reactive, and to view our discomfort with greater compassion. Those who practice mindfulness typically find the benefits extend to their relationship with food. Likewise, a focus on mindful eating often brings an expanded sense of peace to the rest of our lives.

How to Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful eating is not a diet or a habit we pick up and let go of. It’s a lifelong journey into awareness of the body and mind. Mindful eating takes place before, during, and after each encounter we have with food. To begin a simple mindful eating practice, consider the following:

• Learn to recognize different types of hunger. When hunger arises, is it physical or emotional? What are you really hungry for? It may or may not be food.

• Respond to your hunger with mindful awareness. Choosing not to eat is not the goal, rather, learn to listen to your body’s cues and intuition.

• Stock your kitchen with healthy, wholesome, nourishing foods. If you live with others who love their sweets, set boundaries if you need to.

• In restaurants and social settings ask, what’s the best option available to me? It’s perfectly okay if prioritizing your health means declining invitations, choosing where to eat, or setting firm boundaries with family and friends.

• As you decide what to eat for each snack or meal, slow down and notice sensation in your body, breath and mind. Let wisdom, not reactivity, be your guide.

• Drop diets and rules around food restriction. Mindfully hone your intuition instead. With each small choice, ask does this bring me closer to or further from health? Listen for the answer in body, breath and mind.

• Eat without distraction and involve each of your senses. Note how your food looks and smells, feel the texture in your mouth, and observe the changing taste. Visualize what occurs after you swallow. Note how this changes food’s power.

• Eating slowly allows you to be mindful of sensations of hunger and fullness. Between each bite ask should this be my last one? Note what satiation feels like, versus what you might expect.

• Practice making meal time sacred. Say a form of grace or a gratitude prayer before each meal. Reflect upon all the hands or lives that contribute to your nourishment.

• Volunteer to help feed those who are hungry. Notice where nourishment and a sense of fullness truly comes from. You may find it has little to do with food.

Mindful Eating & Eating Disorders

Related Topics

Mindfulness Meditation • Body Scan • Secular Mindfulness • Open Awareness • Buddhism • Body Image • Mindfulness • Insight Meditation • Addiction • Recovery & Healing • Psychology • Neuroscience • Stress • Lectures