Bringing some soul back into eating! For many of us, eating has become either a monotonous activity done more out of necessity than pleasure, or an intellectual math quiz of counting calories and nutrient content.
Do you ever find yourself driving, or in front of the television and you’ve finished eating, but barely remember actually eating? Or, do you become so stressed at meal times trying to perfectly balance the grams of protein and carbs, that you’ve started to lose that innate enthusiasm for eating altogether?
Many of us are either too distracted to truly enjoy a meal, or too stressed to properly digest it and I’ve certainly experienced both. To help you create a more delightful relationship with food are the two pillars of Soulful Eating: Mindfulness and Celebration!
Let’s first explain the effects of stress and why it is so vital to avoid during meal times. Stress activates your fight-or-flight response, the sympathetic nervous system, which draws blood away from your vital organs and digestive system sending it to your extremities and brain. This means your stomach is going to have a much harder time digesting and assimilating your meal. Stress also activates your hypothalamus and increases cortisol levels which can lead to distracted eating, over eating and even binge eating.
Here are a few side effects of prolonged stress:
Weakened Immunity
Weight Gain
Faster Aging
Hormonal Imbalance
Mood Disturbances
Low Libido
Doesn’t sound fun, does it? This is where the two pillars of Soulful Eating come in, mindfulness and celebration!
“How we eat can have as much of a positive and transformational effect as what we consume.”
Marc David, Institute for the Psychology of Eating
Mindfulness, simply explained, is tuning into what we’re sensing and experiencing in the present moment. It is paying attention to our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, without judging them as good or bad. In the context of eating, it means slowing down at mealtimes without unnecessary distractions and noticing all the wonderful sensory experiences of food.
Tips for Mindful Eating:
Give thanks and appreciation
Sit down, relax, and be present
Turn off distractions
Eat in silence
Eat more slowly, chewing 30 times for every bite
Take a moment to breathe
Taste, smell, and savor your food!
While all these tips certainly help us to practice mindfulness while eating, you may be asking, “how do I turn off the fight-or-flight response in the first place?”.
Here are some of the most reliable solutions to chronic and prolonged stress:
Abdominal Breathing or Alternate Nostril Breathing
Yoga and Meditation
Inversions
Walking in Nature
Relaxation Massage
Float Tank Therapy
Being part of a community!
Mindfulness is only one part of Soulful Eating and I’ve noticed when mindfulness is focused on exclusively it has its limitations. It can be connotated with a certain seriousness and sense of isolation.
This is where celebration comes in!
Celebration means getting excited about the whole process of eating from; finding a recipe, to shopping for the ingredients, preparing and cooking the food, and then sharing the meal with loved ones! It’s having excitement, gratitude and love for food and welcoming others to partake.
I invite you to make eating a more soulful experience, where you come together in celebration and mindfulness with gratitude for food and each other. Let’s truly feel nourished by our food and enjoy some smiles and laughter along the way!
As Marc David says, “Allow yourself to have a soulful relationship with food!”