“When walking walk, when eating eat.” – Zen proverb

Bringing mindfulness to our eating habits can change the way we experience food.

When you decide that mealtime is mealtime and not also reading time, tv time, or work time, it can make the experience of eating calmer and more relaxed.  This can actually help digestion.

Being more mindful when eating can also slow you down enough that you actually chew your food instead of gulp it down.  This will help digestion, a process that starts as early as when we start thinking about our meal, but the breakdown begins in your mouth.

Through mindful eating, you will also discover new layers of flavor that you never noticed before, and will start to be more in tune with what you truly do and do not enjoy.

Start small, try eating slowly, in silence, with no distraction, for the first 5 minutes (or 1 minute if 5 feels too long) and notice how you feel.

How does your experience with food change?