If you are like so many of us, you go through life on auto-pilot, rushing from one task, activity and event to another, with little attention to what is going on around you. As a student of mindful eating, you will learn how to cultivate awareness, how to pay attention to what is going on, in and around you. As you do, you will find your eating changing and your life improving. To cultivate awareness, practice paying attention. Here’s how:
- As you go about your day, stop a few times and use your senses to experience your world in that moment.
- Use your eyes and see what is around you. What do you see? Anything new? Extraordinary? Special?
- Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. What do you hear? Noise? Music? Laughter? Quiet?
- Take a deep breath. What do you smell? Fresh-baked bread? Garbage? The dog? Perfume?
- Touch something near you. What is it? How does it feel? Soft? Rough? Dry? Pleasant? Unpleasant?
- Take a moment and check in with your body. How does it feel? Stiff? Achy? Move it around a bit. Now how does it feel?
- Lastly, what are you thinking? Are you in the present, here-and-now? In the past? In the future? In your imagination?
Make these assessments without judgment. Simply notice yourself in this moment in time. Then, when you are ready, go back to your life. Is anything different?
