How to practice Mindful Eating? - Benefits & Strategies

Mindful eating is choosing to eat with our full attention directed to the act of eating. It means focusing on each mouthful, tasting every bite, using all our senses to really appreciate the food that we’re eating. It means eating with the intention of eating, and with little distractions - so ideally this would be sitting at your dining table, with no phone, or iPad, or laptop open, and also no TV! Therefore being able to fully focus your attention on the meal before you. 

Now you might be thinking oh my goodness I don’t have time for that! Or I’d be bored! and like to watch tv and do other things while eating! But the reality is that for most of us the act of eating has become so automatic and mindless that we often don’t even taste the food that we’re eating, have eaten something so quickly that we almost are surprised when it’s all gone and we don’t even remember eating it. At times when we are very time poor then yes the skill of being able to eat quickly and mindlessly is probably a benefit, but mostly it may mean that we don’t get to enjoy what we eat, and remember we do this thing called eating 4 to 6 times each day! and for some of us it may also lead to over-eating. Over time it may also mean that we become quite disconnected from our body cues of hunger, fullness and satiety. 

So if this sounds like you, then here is a simple exercise you can try to see if mindful eating practice could be of benefit to you: the next meal you have I invite you to challenge yourself with putting it on a plate, sitting down at a table, turning off any distractions from devices and simply bringing your full attention and focus to the meal. 

Then I invite you to first look at your food and notice the texture and colour of your food - does it look appealing? After all we often eat with our eyes. 

Now smell your food, perhaps closing your eyes and letting yourself really breathe in the smells of your meal. Our sense of smell contributes greatly to the taste of a meal.

Now turning your focus to the taste, take each mouthful with intention and notice the act of bringing the food to your mouth. Notice the texture of the food - is it smooth? Crunchy? Soft? Hard?

Notice the act of chewing your food - chew slowly, and notice how your tongue moves the food in your mouth around so as to chew it better.  If you are someone who usually only chews for a little bit and swallows quickly, then I invite you to chew for longer and really notice all the flavours that you are eating.  Then when you are ready, swallow your first bite and notice what this feels likes.

Before taking your second bite, see if you can pause for a moment and really appreciate your whole sensory experience of that first bite. 

Also notice any feelings of boredom, and frustration, at focusing on eating in this way. Or perhaps notice that your mind has started to wander - perhaps to your daily do list, or to something you have on later in the day, or even to what might be happening on social media. See if you can simply notice that these feelings and thoughts are showing up, and bring your focus back to the meal in front of you.

You may also notice that you really enjoyed eating your first bite with such full attention to all your senses and experiences, and hopefully you may also notice more and more of the wonderful flavours of the food your eating. If however you notice that you are not particularly enjoying the food that you are eating, then this might be an opportunity to see if there is anything else you could have, or to use this as an opportunity to realise that often we have been eating things for years without really tasting them, and without therefore realising that we’re not really enjoying them!

See if you can continue to eat the whole meal in this mindful fashion. 

Over time, if we practice this method for a while, then we reshape our overall way of eating to be more mindful and aware. Increasing our enjoyment of eating, increasing our awareness of sensations of hunger and fullness, and also reshaping our relationship to food and  how we nourish our bodies.

If you’re interested in finding out more about mindful eating, and to change your relationship with food please contact us, and we would be more than happy to help.