Ways To Practice Mindful Eating For Increased Wellbeing

Disclaimer - The post is developed in partnership with BetterHelp.

Imagine going on a mountain hike. You’re surrounded by beautiful, rugged mountains hiking, yet you just stare at the path and don’t look around. You also don’t stop to smell the intoxicatingly fragrant wildflowers growing along the path. Being mindful helps train our minds to become more conscious of the world around us. And it’s a skill we can be bring to our daily meals with mindful eating.

Mindful eating is the practice of focusing on our mealtime experience and its many sights and smells. By focusing on your physical and emotional sensations, it’s possible to become more attuned to the eating experience. By becoming more immersed in the experience of eating, it’s possible to develop more positive experiences around mealtimes.

This practice is a healthy part of building a healthy relationship with food that centers on using food as fuel for the body. In this way, mindful eating may be able to help someone interrupt their disordered eating patterns.

If you are experiencing disordered eating or binge eating, please don’t hesitate to seek support with a therapist who can help you build a healthier relationship with food. There’s hope out there for people experiencing eating disorders, and you don’t have to go it alone. Visit BetterHelp to get a valuable guide to treatment options for binge eating: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder-treatment-options/

In this article, we’ll look at what mindful eating is and how the practice of mindful eating may help improve a person’s relationship with food.

Mindful Eating

If we’re being honest, most of us know the routine of grabbing a meal on the go without thinking twice. Many of us grab food from a drive-through and consume it while driving our car or doing something else. For some, it’s even a form of multi-tasking. If they can get eating out of the way while driving, then it’s one more thing to check off the to-do list.

Mindful eating encourages us to deepen our relationship and appreciation for the nourishment food gives us. We’re encouraged to focus on every experience and sensation involved in consuming our food. In a larger sense, mindful eating is related to the more general principles of mindfulness and mindful living. Both practices encourage awareness of the present moment. Let’s take a closer look at how to practice mindful eating.

Practicing Mindful Eating

During the practice of mindful eating, the goal is to observe what you’re eating and all of the bodily sensations, emotions, tastes, sights, sounds you experience without judging them. The goal here is awareness of the moment taking place – while eating. With the potential benefits being an improved relationship to food and even improved digestion, according to research.

Tips On Mindful Eating

So, how do you practice mindful eating? First of all, remove all distractions. This means turning the television off. Switch off your phone. There’s no listening to podcasts or playing video games. Without all those distractions, you can potentially experience your mealtimes in a new way.

Begin your mindful eating practice with saying grace or giving thanks. Practice being grateful for food and the nourishment it provides. Your gratitude can include acknowledging the people who grew the food and honoring the source of your food.

Another tip is focusing on the sensory experience of eating. When you sit down to take a bite, think of how the seat feels underneath you. What does your plate look like? How do the weight of your fork and knife feel in your hands as you start to cut. Feel the taste of the food as it moves over different parts of your tongue as you slowly chew. Take each bite slowly to savor every morsel. Then feel the food moving down your throat to your stomach.

There are so many interesting new things to notice when you take the time to observe what’s going on around you, all the while giving nourishing food to your body. For some, the practice of mindful eating can help them to change their relationship with food. By taking time to appreciate and savor food, it can be a healthy step toward strengthening the connection between physical hunger and eating.

In Conclusion

Mindful eating can be a way for almost anyone to increase their enjoyment of food and nurture a more positive relationship with food. While mindful eating may be part of a recommended treatment course for an eating disorder, it’s important to consult a therapist if you’re feeling overwhelmed by unhealthy eating patterns. Don’t hesitate to seek support with a therapist, you don’t have to try to do it alone.