By Kathrine Burr
In a day and age of ever growing meal portions and
convenience, taking time to sit down and simply eat without the distraction of
work or screens can be excruciatingly challenging. We often think it harmless
or even productive to work our way through the lunch hour or eat breakfast in
the car on the way to work. Didn’t have
time to pack a lunch? You might be thinking about that meal replacement bar in
the back of your desk drawer.
In the name of all things human, social, and healthful-you
deserve more! Not more junk food, not more convenience, MORE MINDFULNESS! More
time spent simply being present, enjoying the uniqueness of each moment, and
especially sitting down and having a meal with the people you care about. When
we start to investigate our hunger, listen to our bodies, and nourish ourselves
with every bite and sip, there is no need for “diet foods.” Choose foods with
intention and in balance, variety, and moderation. Healthy can be enjoying a
seasonal salad or a chocolate chip cookie- it all depends on what your body,
mind, and soul are hungering for.
Get more in tune with the process of eating by trying this
meditation. Begin with one raisin or a small piece of food and read through the
meditation to explore all the aspects of hunger you experience.
Holding
First, take a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand or
between your finger and thumb.
Focusing on it, imagine that you’ve just dropped in from
Mars and have never seen an object like this before in your life.
Seeing
Take time to really see it; gaze at the raisin with care and
full attention.
Let your eyes explore every part of it, examining the
highlights where the light shines, the darker hollows, the folds and ridges,
and any asymmetries or unique features.
Touching
Turn the raisin over between your fingers, exploring its
texture, maybe with your eyes closed if that enhances your sense of touch.
Smelling
Holding the raisin beneath your nose, with each inhalation
drink in any smell, aroma, or fragrance that may arise, noticing as you do this
anything interesting that may be happening in your mouth or stomach.
Placing
Now slowly bring the raisin up to your lips, noticing how
your hand and arm know exactly how and where to position it. Gently place the
object in the mouth, without chewing, noticing how it gets into the mouth in
the first place. Spend a few moments exploring the sensations of having it in
your mouth, exploring it with your tongue.
Tasting
When you are ready, prepare to chew the raisin, noticing how
and where it needs to be for chewing. Then, very consciously, take one or two
bites into it and notice what happens in the aftermath, experiencing any waves
of taste that emanate from it as you continue chewing. Without swallowing yet,
notice the bare sensations of taste and texture in the mouth and how these may
change over time, moment by moment, as well as any changes in the object
itself.
Swallowing
When you feel ready to swallow the raisin, see if you can
first detect the intention to swallow as it comes up, so that even this is
experienced consciously before you actually swallow the raisin.
Following
Finally, see if you can feel what is left of the raisin
moving down into your stomach, and sense how the body as a whole is feeling
after completing this exercise.
1. Eye Hunger- Does the sight of a certain food induce hunger? Is the
way a food is presented or appears make you hungry for it?
2. Nose Hunger- Does the smell of a certain food induce hunger?
3. Mouth Hunger- Do you desire a certain texture of food- crunchy,
creamy?
4. Stomach Hunger- Are you experiencing grumbling in your stomach because you haven’t
had food in awhile?
5. Cellular Hunger- Can you sense food nourishing your body, moving into
your body’s cells?
6. Mind Hunger- Examine your thoughts about the food you are
considering eating. Are they positive, negative, or neutral? Do you think you should or shouldn’t eat the food?
7. Heart Hunger- What are your emotions or memories that you associate
with certain foods? Are you reminded of a certain event with the sight or smell
of food?
"Everything
in moderation, including moderation.”
-Julia Child
I was asked at a health fair recently if I knew any good
foods to melt belly fat. (After I had watched ten packets of sugar go into a
12-ounce coffee in my inquirer’s hands.)
I surely hope that everyone can see the irony in this situation, but it
outlines an interesting philosophy that some people have about nutrition. There are many individuals that want to know
the short cut to weight loss, the secret to losing 5 pounds in one week; as
nutrition professionals it can get exhausting trying to explain that there is
no such thing as cheating weight loss and losing more than 1-2 pounds in a week
is actually unhealthy. There seems to be
a widespread notion that “diets” are only for weight loss, and the said way to
follow a diet is to cut out “enter arbitrary, long list of foods.”
Mindful eating in a sense can then be viewed as
countercultural and is often labeled as an “anti-diet.” Mindful eating requires that we take time to
examine our hunger and listen to our bodies, so in essence it is not a quick
fix. It is an enduring solution to
regulating intake based on natural cues and mindful moderation of desire; it
allows for any and all foods but requires examination to observe and understand
our hunger.
So if you find yourself experiencing a craving for
chocolate, potato chips, zucchini, or anything else, take time to examine why
you are hungry for that food. Examine
the process of your hunger, and you will be able to make decisions that fit
better into an overall diet plan.
Sometimes, mindful eating means choosing to eat a food you crave, and
sometimes it means knowing that it will be there for later. Being mindful of every food choice you make
during a day is probably not practical, but taking a little more time to
consider your food choices and enjoy them for how they nourish your body, mind,
and soul is a step truly worth taking.
Sources: http://www.thecenterformindfuleating.org/resources/documents/adifferenttypesofhungerhandout.pdf Raisin
meditation: http://hfhc.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/114469 Photographs: https://www.wellnationclinics.com.au/articles/mindful-eating-to-health-and-wellness
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