Mindful Eating
Often undervalued and underappreciated, mindful eating is a simple, free, and powerful habit that can directly impact your health and energy levels.
Mindful eating is a practice that can have incredible benefits to our physical and mental well-being, without the high cost of many health programs. It engages individuals to incorporate all five senses into the process of eating. We all have the power within ourselves to be more intentional about eating and create healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime.
What is mindful eating?
Eating mindfully means paying attention to the food you are consuming, including the taste, smell, and texture of food, as well as the emotions and physical sensations associated with eating that food.
Akhila Health workshops are rooted in the Vedantic philosophy that we are not just the physical body but are a composite of five layers or koshas – Body, Breath, Mind, Intellect, and Spirit. Even the simple act of nourishing the body with food engages the intellect and spirit in choosing what and how to eat. The process of eating can be further enhanced by engaging the mind and the senses.
When we are intentional about using all five of our senses as we sit down to eat a meal, the overall experience is immediately enhanced. Many of us have a tendency to eat without much thought (mindlessly), whether it's while we're working, watching TV or scrolling through content on our phones.
How many times have you eaten something and then realized that you couldn’t truly describe what you just put in your body? If we allow ourselves to be distracted while we’re eating and don’t pay attention to our senses, we often miss out on the joy and happiness that food can bring us.
Why practice Mindful Eating?
- Make healthier food choices: When you're eating mindfully, you're more likely to pay attention to the ingredients and nutritional value of your food, and how that food makes you feel. This can help you make better choices about what you're eating and putting into your body.
- Reduce stress and anxiety: Eating mindfully can help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, as well as improve your overall mood. By taking the time to enjoy your food and savor each bite, you can create a sense of calm and relaxation - even in the midst of a hectic day..
- Prevent overeating: By paying attention to your body's signals of hunger and fullness, you can learn to eat when you're truly hungry and stop eating when you're full. This can help to prevent overeating and can lead to improved digestion.
- Improve your relationship with food: Mindful eating encourages you to be present and fully engaged with your food, which can help you live in the present moment. This can also help to reduce feelings of guilt and shame and improve your overall relationship with food.
How to get started?
- Set aside time to eat without distractions - put your phone down, turn off the television, and avoid multitasking. Also sit down for meals.
- Use all five of your senses to engage with your food - these include sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch. Look at your food, smell it, listen to how the food sounds, savor the taste and even touch the food (depending on the setting and the food!)
- Paying attention to the taste and texture of your food, and savoring each bite, will bring you more satisfaction and help you slow down.
- Our senses are more powerful than we often give them credit for and when we incorporate them into the act of eating, it can lead to a more enhanced, rewarding eating experience - which is great for the body and mind!
- Take small bites and chew your food thoroughly. We’ve probably all heard this, but taking a pause in between bites and putting your fork down helps us eat more slowly, and gives our body time to tell our brain when it’s full. It also gives us a chance to focus on what we’re currently chewing.
- Reflect on your emotions and physical sensations before, during, and after eating - why are you eating?
- Eating is often driven by factors beyond hunger - and the more intentional you are about reflecting on your emotions and physical sensations while you’re eating, the more in tune you’ll be with your body.
- Start with just one meal a day, then build up to incorporating some aspect of the practice each time you eat.
- We’ve also included a Mindful Eating recorded exercise to help get you started! Amita R. Shah (Ed.D.), one of our fabulous facilitators, provides a step by step audio tutorial on how to eat mindfully. The exercise can be found on the Akhila Health Resource Page. Her example uses a raisin, but you can choose any type of food you’d like!
Each of the above can lead to more happiness and joy in life, and an overall better sense of well-being.
At Akhila Health, Mindful Eating is a critical component of our holistic health curriculum. Our facilitators teach the women we serve what mindful eating means along with the benefits to one’s physical and mental well being.
To help get you started, here are two delicious recipes from our latest newsletters.
So next time you grab some food and eat - take a moment to focus on what you’ve selected, as well as your senses and your body - and see the difference it can make. To learn more about the Akhila Health program, click here. And look out for future articles on programs that can positively impact your mental and physical health!