3 More Ways to Be Mindful in Everyday Life

Hello friends,

Last week we talked about 3 ways to be mindful in everyday life, and today I have 3 more! As a reminder, mindfulness is just paying attention-giving your full attention to whatever you’re doing. This week, our mindful ways involve eating-yes, you can eat mindfully! In fact, all 3 of our mindful ways this week involve eating:

1. It starts with giving your full attention to your food, without distractions such as watching TV, reading news on your phone (that’s me), or even chatting with someone else. Mindfulness uses the 5 senses, so really look at your food, noticing and appreciating the colors and shape of it. Next, take a moment to notice and appreciate the aroma of your food.

2. Take a bite of food and then put your fork down (this is so you can focus on the bite in your mouth and not reach for the next one). Notice how the food feels in your mouth, and the different flavors you notice. Chew that bite thoroughly, and pick up your fork to take another bite only when you have completely swallowed this bite.

3. Lastly, notice when you feel mostly, but not completely full. If you are eating mindfully, you will probably eat slower, and after about 15-20 minutes you might begin to notice that you’re not hungry anymore, even before all of your food is gone. When you notice that you are satisfied, but not necessarily full, stop eating.

I learned mindful eating while attending a retreat several years ago. It was my favorite part of the retreat! And when I practice mindful eating, I usually eat less and lose weight. So that’s just another possible benefit of mindful eating-enjoy!