What is Mindful Eating?

What is mindful eating?

There are a variety of approaches to mindful eating, some rooted in Zen and other forms of Buddhism, others tied to yoga.

Simply put, mindful eating is learning to pay attention. Instead of eating mindlessly, putting food into your mouth almost unconsciously, not really tasting the food you’re eating, You just need to notice your thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

Listen to your hunger cues! Learn how to eat intuitively. Mindful eating is a tool that can help foster a healthy relationship with food. Learn to pay attention to:

1. Why you feel like eating, and what emotions or needs might be triggering the eating.
   
   
2. What you’re eating, and whether it is healthy or not.
   
   
3. The look, smell, taste, feel of the food you’re eating.
   
   
4. How it makes you feel as you taste it, as you digest it, and throughout the day.
   
   
5. How full (or sated) you are before, during and after eating.
   
   
6. Your emotions during and after eating.
   
   
7. Where the food came from, who might have grown it, how much it might have suffered before it was killed, whether it was grown organically, how much it was processed, how much it was fried or overcooked, etc..