How to Eat Mindfully

Eating nutrient-dense, properly prepared, whole foods is a great start to eating mindfully, but of equal importance is making sure that you are in the right state of mind to fully benefit from the nutrients contained in your food.

REST TO DIGEST

Digestion is obviously much deeper than this, but we’d like to quickly touch on the importance of eating in a calm and relaxed state. For food to be properly broken down and absorbed the body needs to be in what’s called a parasympathetic state.

Here are a few ways to help get you shift your nervous system to this “rest and digest” mode before, during and after eating:

• Sit down at the table instead of standing.

• Avoid eating on the run or in the car.

• Avoid multi-tasking. Turn off phones, computers, televisions, etc.

• Take a few deep breaths.

• Feel gratitude for what you are about to eat. Do a short meditation or say grace if that suits your beliefs.

• Lightly rub the area just behind and below your earlobes (this can help stimulate the vagus nerve, which sends signals throughout the digestive tract).

• Pay attention to the food before taking the first bite. How does it look? How does it smell? What are the colours like? Then, take your first bite. What are the textures you sense? The tastes? What is the temperature like?

• As you eat your meal, savour it like it were a fine wine.

EAT SLOWLY

Try to chew each bite 25 to 30 times, making sure the food has been liquified before swallowing. If needed, you can sing the alphabet song in your head from A to Z to give you an idea of how long you should be chewing eat bite. It can also be helpful to put down your fork between bites. The slower and more mindfully you eat the deeper your nourishment and satisfaction.