Mindful Eating For Healthy Body And Mind

Mindful Eating Exercises Before we start practicing how to eat mindfully and what we explore and discover doing this mindfulness,

A little bit purpose of why this mindfulness eating exercise is very important.

Eating is part of our life to eat and stay healthy,

To nourish our body,

Mind and to stay strong.

In many cases,

We eat too fast or maybe we don't pay attention to what we are eating,

While maybe we are cooking,

Cleaning,

Driving,

Talking,

And we are missing that pleasure or the sensation of that food could bring to ourself.

As important the food is,

We seem we don't take that time for it to enjoy it.

And we don't explore our sensations that is the taste of the food,

The feel of the food,

The color,

The texture,

The temperature and all that deals with our sensory,

Our senses.

We don't quite exercise them or use them while we are eating.

This mindful practice not only bring a sense of knowing what we are eating,

But it reforces the core,

The important skills of concentration.

Allow us to concentrate on the food we are eating,

We also connect to our sensory clarity,

Which is what we see,

Vision,

The sound we hear when we eat,

The smell of the food,

The color,

The taste,

The temperature.

So while we exercise the mind,

The body,

The senses,

The taste,

The temperature.

So while we are exercising mindfulness eating,

We are actually strengthening our sensory and we become more clear our senses.

And also it's emotional,

We are creating emotional equanimity.

We've noticed when we enjoy something,

Eating,

We kind of close our eyes and mesmerize by the sound of it or the taste of it.

And we kind of disconnect with all the other thoughts,

Thinking,

And that is creating really nice emotional equanimity.

So the eating mindfully can even increase your physical health and removing that fast eating,

The obesity,

Which create adding more weight to our body,

Or sometimes eating too fast and missing the joy and the taste of the food.

So by eating slowly and mindfully and bringing awareness to our body during the activity of eating,

We will probably eat quite a bit less and put less weight in our body.

So it's that magic that can bring the mindful eating to our body.

So this is the mindful eating exercise.

So let's see how we can begin this mindfulness today.

Then how we can explore and take our senses to next step.

So eating is the most important part of our lives,

So that we know that.

So let's come sit comfortably and practice this slowly.

Find something that you really like,

Could be a piece of raisin,

Or could be a dry apricot,

A plum,

Or could be even your favorite vegetables.

Once you get that food in front of you,

Just sit again to look at it first,

See how it looks.

So we're increasing that sensory of our vision,

Our seeing.

Notice the color,

The shape,

The size,

Just look at it.

As you look at the food that you're planning to eat and practice,

See if you have the urge if you want to just eat it right away.

Pause for a moment.

There is nothing wrong with rushing sometimes when we're hungry to eat,

But sometimes we miss that opportunity of sensing the food,

Of feeling it,

Or perhaps going to eat too fast.

So allow this craving to grab it fast,

To let go.

Return to look at it and enjoy the way it's looking.

Now next,

Look at this piece of food,

Whatever you're practicing today.

Does it smell?

Can you feel the smell of this food,

Whether it's raisin,

Plum,

Apricot,

Or vegetables?

And sometimes you can't really smell it when it's far away.

They might have stronger aroma as you bring them closer to your nose,

And that's okay.

Just be present for the experience of smelling if there is anything.

When the mind begins again craving,

Just return to the smell that is in front of you and just look at it.

Before you start eating it,

Take a brief moment to appreciate the energy that went into this piece of food that you're about to eat.

Perhaps you want to think about the people who worked to grow this food,

This plant,

And the energy that needed to grow from water,

Soil,

Even maybe rain,

Even maybe sunshine.

And maybe somebody actually cleaned it and prepared it and cooked it and packaged it for you.

Just bring into your mind all the energy from all these various reasons and sources that they put all together to bring this food in front of you.

Now with a great gratitude,

Slowly pick up the food.

And gently,

If you need to use utensils,

Spoons,

And just forks,

Make sure slowly you're picking up that piece.

And if you're using your hand,

Just have that piece of food in your hand.

And now see if you can feel the food.

Is it stiff?

Is it soft?

Is it cold?

Is it smooth?

Is it sticky?

Or is it warm?

And as you sense the food in your fingers,

And as you put the food now in your mouth,

Notice the desire to chew and swallow quickly.

And instead of that,

Start by feeling the temperature of the food,

The smoothness.

The texture.

And holding the food in your mouth,

Can you still feel the shape of that food in your mouth?

The texture of it?

As you begin chewing slowly,

Notice the texture of the food.

Is it changing?

Does it change as you continue chewing it,

Become smaller and smaller?

Is your mouth watering as you're chewing and feeling all the taste?

Whether it's sour or sweet,

Or salty or spicy,

You can feel the flavors in your mouth.

And you can tell which flavor is your favorite and which one is okay.

And sometimes it's really hard to label so many flavors.

You can take one at a time and enjoy the taste and the flavor.

Now try to go a little deeper into these flavors and taste you're experiencing at this present moment.

Pay attention to the changes of smoothness,

Texture,

Flavor,

As you continue to chew.

When you swallow your little bite,

Tune into the experience.

Feel the pleasantness and the good taste of your food that you're swallowing.

How does it feel like as the food moves down to the throat?

Do you have a desire to quickly go grab the other piece?

Do you have a desire to quickly go grab the other piece?

Sometimes if we're enjoying the texture and the taste,

We might have that desire quickly to go grab another bite.

Just pause and notice if any flavors still remain in your mouth for a moment as you move your tongue around,

Searching for more flavors and taste.

You can continue eating like this,

Piece by piece,

Enjoying the texture,

Paying attention to all those senses which we create in clarity in our sensory.

Our smell,

Touch,

Being,

Taste,

And we're really concentrating in all the texture and smoothness of the flavor of this food.

Perhaps we have those moments of just being present in that moment,

Creating emotional equanimity.

Continue enjoying the rest of your food.

Continue to check in with sight,

Smell,

Taste,

Feelings,

And thoughts that are arising in your body,

Enjoying eating your food.

When you finish eating,

Allow yourself to feel gratitude for the food that is nourishing your body,

Nourishing your mind,

And bringing joy and love to your heart.

Let the mind relax into a state of appreciation for the energy and for life.

Thank you so much for practicing mindful eating exercise,

And you can do this with any type of food.

And as you develop the skills of eating slowly and enjoying the food,

Perhaps you will explore and enjoy some food that you never experienced the pleasure out of them.

Thank you for your practice.