Mindful Eating

"Greater Awareness of Self breaks the emotional attachment link to food" - Paul Pitchford

How often do we give any thought to how we eat, what we eat and/or give any appreciation of where our food comes from and how fortunate we are for having the foods in front of us?

Eating mindfully is just about these ideas and a lot more. Learning to take the time to really appreciate the foods we choose to eat, where it came from and who might have prepared it, and even the people who grew it and picked it, can help us strengthen our appreciation for the outside world.

It's also about savoring the bites that we take and being aware of how they make us feel when we eat. Some foods can help us stay happy and satisified like sweets and carbs, and others can trigger an emotional or nostalgic past time or make us down right spit it out! We not only learn about other cultures and traditions through food but we also learn more about ourselves.

It's not always convenient to become mindful to our meals, but if we can just stop every now and then and become a little more aware of how we chew, taste, feel and enjoy (or not!) we can begin to open ourselves up to an entirely new habit of mindful eating. By doing this, we strengthen our inner connection to spirit and create happier meals thus, improve our mental wellness and not to mention pay more attention to nourishing our bodies with good wholesome foods.

So the next time you sit down for a meal or snack, I encourage you to sit with it for a minute and think about the farm, or maybe the person/people who prepared it and how they might have felt during the process or what they might be going through. Then pay attention to your senses as you chew and swallow the goodness you have chosen, will it do your body good in the end or does it cause you to feel guilty? What can you learn from eating this food(s) and is it something that will support your overall wellbeing? Does it make you happy? Are you enjoying the company around you and how does that affect your experience?

As a chronic disease patient, I've had to take on the practice of logging my foods including my moods, feelings, etc... on a daily basis. This practice has impacted my mindful eating even more because I'm forced to write down my meals, times of day, moods, even the weather and by seeing my journal entries, it's definitely kept me on track and wanting to do better by my health and at the same time, my doctors are noting the patterns and foods that may or may not trigger my symptoms. Acquiring the discipline has been the hardest part but I'm glad to be getting better at it!

I hope that you give a little more thought to this and that you try it for yourself the next time you sit down at the table or on a park bench with something tasty. Give yourself the time to truly be present and enjoy your food. You deserve it!

Stay well and mindful,

Angelic x

P.S. Feel free to connect with me!