Mindful Eating Nitty-Gritty I: Where Are You When You're Eating?

So, my question to you as we start to delve a little more into Mindful Eating is, as you can see from the title of this post, Where Are You When You're Eating?

What do I mean by that?

Well, most of us rarely inhabit our bodies when we do anything. We are usually "up in our heads", worrying about the future or stewing about the past. We are anywhere but in the present moment, paying attention to ourselves and our current experience.

We say that we love food more than anything else, but in reality, we're usually "not there" when eating. We might be driving the car & eating. We might be reading & eating. We might be watching tv & eating. The list goes on & on.

Why does it matter?

We can only truly, effectively pay attention to 1 thing at a time. There is a lot of brain research supporting this assertion. I know, I know. Multitasking is considered the only way to function in our society. Have you ever noticed how much stress, unhappiness & dissatisfaction there also is in our society? Perhaps if we were to slow down, take a deep breath & check in with ourselves every once in a while, life might appear differently to us.

Back to the food issue. If we were to slow down & make thoughtful food choices, we would be off to a good start. If we were then to slowly use our senses to enjoy the food that we choose, we would use our eyes to see the food, our nose to smell the aromas, our sense of touch & taste to be aware of the food in our mouth so that we could savor this food experience.

If you begin to mindfully (& kindly) observe your eating, you might notice that you grab your food, gulp it down & then want more because you don't feel satisfied.

Have you ever sat down with a bag of chips or cookies to watch tv & the first thing you know, your hand is touching the bottom of the now empty bag & you don't remember eating any of it because you weren't paying attention?

I was once advised to eat like a gourmet rather than a glutton. The comparison was made to a wine connessieur vs an alcoholic. The wine connessieur (hope that's spelled right) pours the wine slowly into the glass, holds the glass up to the light to look for clarity, sniffs the "bouquet", & takes one sip which is held in the mouth. An alcoholic grabs whatever is available & gulps it down & down until the desired effect occurs.

When you eat mindfully, you know you are eating. You are paying attention to your experience. Your brain is aware that you are eating. You notice that your body is becoming satisfied, so that you can stop when you have had enough.

Why not bring some mindfulness into your next meal - not to beat yourself up for not doing it right, but to notice where you might be able to create a better, more fulfilling experience?