How to begin mindful eating

How to Begin Mindful Eating

(Leave the Raisins in the Cupboard)

Food literally tastes BETTER when we put our “mind in our mouth” as Jan Chozen Bays (author of Mindful Eating) often says in her guided meditations. Paying attention to all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, feels, and tastes can make eating an ordinary food suddenly glorious and adventurous. Putting our “mind in our mouth” sounds like an amazing magic trick that we could access any time we like.

But can we?

Jumping into mindful eating without a foundation of general mindful awareness practice might lead to feelings of overwhelm, thoughts of “I can’t make time for this” or “I’m too hungry to eat this slow.” Many Mindful Eating exercises fall short when it comes to translating them into our real lives.

So let’s rewind to basic mindfulness.

In the beginning of a basic mindfulness practice, we learn to gently bring awareness back to the breath each time our mind wanders. Soon we learn the little secret: your mind is never going to stop wandering. It only stops when we die. Wandering minds are part of the human condition, so don’t waste your time reprimanding yourself for being human.

But is it totally normal for our minds to wander during EATING as well?

(Answer: yes, totally normal)

Mindful Eating can feel inaccessible if we think it has to look a certain way.

Mindful eating can feel inaccessible if we think it has to look a certain way (i.e. eating a raisin as slow as turtles). While the raisin exercise can be monumental and often garners such reactions such as “I can’t believe I’ve never TRULY tasted a raisin before!” Or “I felt that raisin go all the way down to my stomach!” Or “I’m not even hungry after that raisin!” It really is not a template for how humans eat. And it is NOT the only way to eat mindfully.

We have the ability to eat mindfully in the car, with a group of people, on a train, eating potato chips, caviar, or Cheetos. It’s possible to increase mindfulness while eating greasy pizza watching late night television. It’s possible to be mindful while sipping tea or sampling something at the grocery store. We need not always do it in slow motion in order to get the benefits.

My proposal is that before creating any rules in order to “eat more mindfully” such as

• having more meals alone,

• eating super slowly,

• asking your cells, heart, stomach, eyes what they’re hungry for etc,

you simply go about your meal COMPLETELY NORMALLY. Do everything you would typically do. Whether that’s stand at the kitchen sink as you eat your morning toast, or sit at your desk with your afternoon snack and unchecked emails. Just do your normal thing.

Then right as you are about to begin eating, pause for 1 minute.

One single minute.

Don’t change your posture. Don’t deepen your breathing. Don’t pick up a single raisin and start imagining the fields it was harvested from. Just freeze. Become aware of your breathing, however it is. Stay with your breathing for 1 minute. Just pay attention.

And then as you begin to eat your food, (at your normal pace please) just pay attention to what’s in your mouth. Then get distracted by thinking about whatever. Then return to your mouth. Then get distracted by your thoughts about the day. Then remember to check in with what’s happening in your mouth. Then get distracted again. Then remember to notice what you’re chewing. CHEW, CHEW, CHEW, meeting at noon, CHEW CHEW -oh is that a nut?- CHEW, pick up the dry-cleaning, CHEW, CRUNCH, Ooo! That bite was spicy, CHEW CHEW. And so on and so forth until you’re done eating.

Now maybe that won’t be life-changing. You likely won’t have a tear in your eye from envisioning the entire food chain leading up to the morsel you just put your mouth in slow motion.

That’s the point. This is real life. This is how to begin mindful eating, in real life.

Making mindful eating more accessible to you and where you’re at in your OWN mindfulness journey is how you will actually end up incorporating it into your day-to-day life.

What we are doing here is continuing a basic mindfulness practice. Let your mind wander, then bring it back, wander, bring it back. We are just doing it with stuff in our mouths. Starting by being mindful of how you are ALREADY eating, with no judgment and no changing, no tedious exercises, is how you will be ABLE to change any eating habits if and when you would like.

As Carl Rogers (creator of Person-centered Therapy) once said, “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

How to Begin Eating Mindfully:

1. Create a foundation of mindfulness practice before incorporating mindful eating.

2. Become more aware of how you eat NOW before changing mealtime habits.

3. You don’t have to eat at a snail’s pace in order to be mindful.

Pro tip: Your mind WILL wander. That’s part of living. That’s part of mindful eating.

Take good care,

Emma

Seattle, WA

Stay tuned for my next post about creating your “WHY” behind mindful eating. Or check out my post about Mindful Baking here.

Mindful eating does not have to look any kinda way.

Fed Spirit Counseling + Nutrition