At the heart of my mindful eating training is mindfulness meditation. Now, before you get all freaked out and worried about the idea of meditating, let me assure that your meditation is probably not what you think it is. In fact, mindfulness-based meditation may surprise you. If mindfulness is about awareness, then mindfulness meditation is about becoming aware of what your mind is doing.
Is it thinking? Planning? Rehearsing? Repeating? Worrying? By spending time with your mind each day, you will become better able to notice where it’s going, and what it’s doing. As your awareness of your mind increases, so will your awareness of everything else. Eventually, that will naturally translate into being more aware of your food and eating habits. Awareness, as you will come to experience, creates the opportunity for change. And change is what we are moving towards. If you have not already started a meditation practice, here is a simple way to start:
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- Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down
- Loosen any tight-fitting clothing or shoes
- Close your eyes
- Take deep breath in through your nose and then exhale through your mouth
- Focus your attention on your breath and continue breathing for one minute
- If you mind wanders, and it probably will, simply notice that it has done so and turn your attention back to your breath
- After a minute, you can open your eyes and go back to your day, or you can continue longer if you so desire
Congratulations you have just meditated! Practice this one-minute meditation once a day, beginning today. If you miss a day, no worries, simply start again.
Can you meditate for a minute?
