A guided mindful eating session to try today (Video)
In the video above, our coach expert Sabrina Cadini guided us through a mindful eating practice to encourage us to stop that automatic habit of mindless eating. We’re all guilty of that and it’s mostly because we get busy and easily distracted in our fast-paced life. But we need to give ourselves enough time to nourish our body, and we need to give our body the right time to digest, process, and absorb the foods we eat. We can prepare the most nutritionally balanced meal, but if we’re not taking the time to chew it properly, even multitasking while eating, we’re stressing our system and, as a result, digestion becomes impaired. So, instead of getting a lot of energy at work after our lunch break, we deal with brain fog and fatigue, and our productivity suffers.
Why are we eating? The obvious answer is, to fuel ourselves, but we’re also eating to nourish and create all those beautiful cells in our body, and to provide the right energy to our brain so that it becomes a powerhouse for our busy day. When we start thinking about food in this way, we can appreciate our breakfast time or lunch break or dinner with family in a completely different way, with more gratitude and more intention to eat the right foods, and to supercharge our digestion to process food and absorb its nutrients more efficiently.
If you’re taking a lunch break, that’s perfect! You can just follow Sabrina’s prompts in the video as you eat. Or you can also try with a snack, some almonds, or an energy bar, whatever is quick and available at your desk or in your kitchen.
Ideally, you should be able to eat in a place reserved for food, like the dinner table, or in a place that is not distracting you (so away from your TV or away from your work desk, for instance).
With the food right in front of you, become aware of your posture: you should be seated with a straight spine, but not tense. Take some time to get settled and comfortable and focus on being present in the moment. This is the mindfulness component. Focus on what we’re doing right now. Your to-do list should not be in your thoughts.
Take a few long breaths to relax. Why breathe deeply? Deep breathing relieves stress and anxiety thanks to its physiological effect on the nervous system, and it triggers a relaxation response in the body, so you prepare it for your meal.
Notice the anticipation of eating in your body. Are there emotions present? Is your salivation starting?
Begin by exploring the food in front of you, using as many of your senses as possible. First, look at the food and notice its color. Notice its size. Notice its shape. If there are many ingredients, notice the different shapes and colors and sizes.
If you’re eating your meal with a fork, put the fork in your hand and notice how it feels like between your fingers. You probably never paid attention to that before! You just take your fork and start eating, it’s something we do on autopilot. The fork is the tool that allows you to eat, it’s not that important. But, if you think about it, it actually is!
Pick up the food with your fork and notice the movement of bringing the fork close to your mouth. If you’re just having a snack, put it in your hand and notice the movement of your hand.
Before you eat, explore the food with your sense of smell. What do you notice? Does it have a scent or an aroma?
Now put the food in your mouth but don’t start chewing it yet. Put the fork down on the table and focus on your food now.
Keep watching the video for a multi-sensory experience while you taste your delicious meal!
Enjoyed this video? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get fresh tips and tricks delivered every two weeks!
Mindful eating may be difficult to practice at every meal, but you might want to practice it once a week, and Mana can easily remind you by creating a goal for it.
Want to know more about Mana? Download the app today and schedule a call with one of our coaches to learn how to spend your time better!
