Mindful eating
We go through most of our day being completely un-present for the present moment. Mindful eating is a way to create a new habit in your brain that can relate to reduced anxiety in other areas of your life. If you can conquer mindful eating, maybe you can conquer your anxiety.
There are so many reasons to be anxious in a day. Eating is one of them. Often when were overwhelmed we stuff whatever into our mouth. Our objective is to feel satisfied and worry about the rest later. As you can guess this creates a whole host of other issues in our lives. Whether it’s from putting unhealthy things in our bodies or eating too little or too much.
What is Mindfulness Eating?
Mindfulness eating is a form of meditation. It’s about truly considering what it is you put in your body. Let’s take it a step further and put things in our body that we know is beneficial for specific functions of our bodies. Meditating on your food seems like a mountain to climb every day. But what if it can make you feel less anxious?
Mindful Eating Techniques
The ultimate defense against anxiety is preparation. If you prepare properly for things in life, you have less reason to feel anxious. In this case, it’s planning out your meals. Also, the act of cooking itself is a form of meditation and a great way to exert extra mental energy. Giving you less energy to think about things making you anxious. You also get a delicious and nutritious meal for yourself. Here are the techniques listed out:
- Create a well-thought-out grocery list.
- Visit the store with ease and do not rush yourself.
- Romanticize your food preparation by putting on your favorite music, lighting a candle, or placing a decorative item in your eating space.
- Plate your food in a visually appealing way.
- Eat slowly and remind yourself how lucky you are to be eating a nutritious meal.
The issue with choosing whatever to eat on a whim is the familiarity of the pattern of anxiety in the mind. We rush, rush, rush into what makes us anxious and then we rush, rush, rush into nourishing our bodies. If we want to resolve our anxiety once and for all, we can start by changing the processes of other things in our lives. This forms new habits, ways of thinking, and patterns for our mind to operate with. This is the idea, “If I can change the way I do this thing, in a mindful matter, then maybe I can change the way I deal with things that give me anxiety.” It is a small step in the right direction.
The purpose of this fall’s mindful eating menu is to change the items on our menu based on how it helps different parts of the body function. By the end of the year, we will have covered every organ, bone, muscle, in our body that requires nutrients to perform optimally. It feels good to feed yourself something that you know is actively making you better. You are taking time to nourish yourself to maintain your longevity.
If you are a highly sensitive person, have general anxiety disorder, or are some form of empath. You might be overwhelmed easily by many things in life. Realize that by not nourishing your body with a good diet is a form of self-neglect. This season is about getting deeply in touch with self-care.
How to start a mindful eating practice
These are the key characteristics of Mindful Eating:
- Engaging your senses
- Coping with anxiety around food
- Maintaining nourishment for the body
- Paying attention to how foods make you feel
- Having gratitude
How each one relates
- Take notice of how certain textures, smells, sounds, or visual appeal of foods make you feel. This can look like being bothered by smells from certain foods, enjoy certain textures over others, or finding happiness out of visual appeal.
- Our anxieties can manifest in different areas of our lives. Either through comfort eating or avoiding eating as a form of control. Prepare your own meals and have a plan. Embrace how amazing it feels to eat something that is truly nourishing for you.
- The chemicals in unhealthy foods are so addicting that it can be hard to quit. Take the slow approach to healthy eating. Start by making a change in the way you think about healthy foods. Healthy foods taste incredible because they help you function better! Healthy food is medicine for the body. There is a type of radiance you feel when you consistently nourish your body.
- When I eat foods that are not good for me I feel totally uninspired physically and mentally. When I eat a delicious salad full of roasted chicken, cucumbers, chickpeas, apples, feta cheese, and green goddess dressing, I feel like I can conquer anything. The food we eat will supply us with either low energy or high energy. If you crash shortly after drinking a sugary latte at 8 am, it will make you feel terrible about yourself. Pay attention to which foods are affecting your body negatively and positively.
- Be grateful for the food you have, your efforts into eating better, and the ability to consume the things you do. Always choose gratitude when you are trying to change old habits. It can be difficult at first, but always keep a spirit of love about you.
benefits:
- Regulates eating habits
- Support weight management
- Foster appreciation for food
- Better food choices
- Encourages healthier habits
- Increase self esteem
Soothing Pomegranate Meditation
If you’re looking for a soothing mindful eating meditation practice, then check out this pomegranate meditation.
The feel of every ruby red bubble on your fingertips is highly satisfying. The smell is delicious and the act itself is soothing.
Place a towel down underneath your cutting board. A lot of red juice will splash about so be sure you are in comfortable clothes that are not light colored. Start by cutting the pomegranate in half. From there, gently tear each half apart. The pomegranate seeds are very delicate so take your time brushing them off into a bowl. After gently pushing them out of their pod, you will need to start picking them out with more force. Repeat the process with each half until you get every single seed. It requires just enough of your time to relax your racing thoughts. Meditation comes from silencing our mind and being fully present in the act of what we are doing.
The way that we eat food is a reflection of ourselves. It could show us how we are feeling on the inside or what we’ve been through in the past. Learn how to let go of feelings from yesterday. Instead, live in the present. Eat food with full awareness and appreciation.
