I often discuss eating mindfully with my patients, but the other day as I was completing a meditation centered around mindful breathing I thought why just stop at eating mindfully? Why not live mindfully too? Honestly eating mindfully is quite difficult if you aren’t living mindfully as well. First of all let’s take a look at what mindfulness truly means.
Take a minute to think about what mindfulness means to you, thinking of some keywords you would use to define mindfulness.
A Google search for mindfulness yields the definition below:
1. the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
2. a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
By using these definitions one can not only change eating habits but change their life as well! To start practicing and cultivating mindfulness I suggest meditation.
There are many applications and free meditations on the internet these days, but one of my favorite applications to use for mediation is “The Insight Timer” which provides a mediation timer and guided meditations for free.
I also suggest incorporating yoga into your lifestyle. Many believe that yoga is just a form of exercise but the original yogis’ yoga practice consisted of meditation, asanas (poses) came later on.
Lastly, I suggest loving the life you are living now and living in the present moment. This article gives great tips for doing this: http://tinybuddha.com/blog/stop-waiting-tomorrow-3-steps-loving-life-now/.
Good luck on your journey to cultivate mindfulness!
By Amanda Gilley, RD, LDN, Chef Dietitian at The Body Image Therapy Center. If you would like to get in touch with Amanda please call 443-602-6515 or email [email protected].