Major Benefits of Mindful Eating

Can you remember the last thing you ate? How did it taste and what was the aroma like? Mindful eating is about taking the time to settle down with your meal and connect with this experience. In this blog post, you will learn how to practice mindfulness in this necessary activity.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is being present in the moment while consuming food. This practice has great benefits if you are trying to change your eating habits or change your lifestyle, though it doesn't have to revolve around this purpose alone. We sometimes take the appreciation and beauty of eating for granted by absently eating in front of the television or eating in between working.

Taking a moment to practice Mindful eating increases your awareness of what you put in your body and allows gratitude for your body and the world around you.

Increase Gratitude

Having a meal prepared for you is a form of love in some way, shape, or form; even if you are sitting at a restaurant, eating food prepared by someone you have never met. The person preparing your food has to follow safety guidelines to keep you from getting sick. They prepare the meal so that it follows a recipe, put together by someone who believes you would enjoy it.

The meal that sits in front of you to enjoy and consume has gone through many acts of love that you have the privilege to ingest and this mindful form of realization increases gratitude. Many people show a form of mindful eating by saying a prayer before they eat, showing their gratitude and appreciation for the meal.

You show your body another form of love by nourishing it and giving it energy so that you can continue to do all the beautiful things in life you were set to do.

Related Article: Gratitude: The Ultimate Key to Receiving

Connection to Everything

The meal prepared in front of you has gone through many acts of love. We are connecting with the earth and the people around us by mindful eating.

The water that comes from the earth and the process of the vegetables and grain sprouting from the ground is now in front of you. It is a precious moment to take in that with each bite, you are a vessel on this earth. You are nourishing your body in this act of love.

While eating, many people connect over food as well. This is a sacred time to “break bread” with a friend. You are both participating in this act of self-love together.

To have a discussion that includes the shortcomings of others seats the purpose of a mindful meal and invites negativity.

Unfortunately, you can taste negativity in food as well. HAve you ever heard the expression ‘Don’t eat from just anyone’? This expression means that people are not always well intentioned when they prepare the food, either speaking horribly over what you are about to ingest or cooking with a sour spirit. How do you know the difference between food made with love versus food made with hate? It’s in the taste and effect but to avoid the negative impacts, taking the time to pray over your food is the best thing you can do.

Practice

We can begin our mindful eating practice while we are preparing our meals or preparing to be served. Take a moment to be thankful for the ingredients and the journey that your food has made to be on your plate.

Take note of the smells and aromas of your meal. Take some time to breathe in and welcome this food into your body. As you are taking a bite, think of this as the act of love you are showing. Smile within yourself and taste the flavors of the food.

This is a moment of gratitude and connection and love. You can put down your utensils in between chews to appreciate your meal as well. If you are with a friend, invite them to a whole and positive conversation. Bring attention to the meal and the flavors to keep yourself in the present moment and when you are finished, appreciate the satiation of your hunger.

Take Away Trail

Mindfulness is an important practice that invites peace and happiness into our world. It is a tool to use when manifesting anything our way and when going through certain situations we may not understand. Mindful eating is a good introduction to mindfulness that can be practiced as often as you would like. It is an awareness journey that reminds us of our connection to this earth and how loved and cared for we are by the people around us.

Join the Trail

Everything starts with YOU. Begin the journey to creating your trail.

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