Let’s face it, we are heading into the season(s) of a lot of food and a lot of us will be eating a lot-of-it!  Hard to avoid the “it’s just once a year” mentality when it comes to those holiday treats.  But rather than woofing down those treats, hoping no one else is watching (or counting), why not use the “it’s just once a year” mentality to SLOW down and ENJOY ourselves.  Really have the experience, savor it.  After all, it’s just once a year.

The benefits of this approach are twofold.  First, when you have to get back to the stationary bike in January, to lose the extra pounds you might feel it was for a good cause because you really did enjoy the pie or stuffing with extra gravy.  Secondly, by slowing down and really tasting the treat, you might discover that it is not as good as it was in your head and you probably don’t need the second or third one after all.

Mindfulness is simply the practice of being in the present moment with things the way they are. With informal practices like eating, we take the technique of formal meditation and apply it to an ordinary activity. The technique requires two things.  The first is that we put aside our distractions and habitual thought patterns and secondly, that we turn our minds toward something specific that is actually happening right now in the present moment.  For example, in mindful eating we put aside the distractions of watching TV or reading, and the habits of planning our day or finishing that argument in our head with our co-worker to turn our attention to the physical experience of eating our food.  We give ourselves something to pay attention to in the present moment, tasting our food.  We slow down not by demanding it of ourselves but by gently encouraging ourselves to simply put down our fork/spoon or burger after EACH bite and not pick it up until we have completely swallowed our food.  And in the meantime, when our minds return to our habitual thought patterns and we start thinking, we simply let go of those thoughts, whether they are brilliant or mundane and return to the physical sensation of tasting our food; noticing the texture, temperature or taste.  This trains our minds to recognize the difference between the present moment, experienced through our senses and our habitual thought patterns of worry, regret or fantasizing that focus on the future or the past. With mindful eating we get the benefits of meditation without having to schedule in yet another thing.

Specifically, putting down the fork gives us the opportunity to discover whether we are eating too much food or unsatisfying food.  It can all begin with one meal, eaten one forkful at a time.  This practice can spill over to other areas of our lives because it is the same speedy mind that we bring to all the other hours of the day. By mindfully eating we won’t get anything else done during our meal, except nourishing ourselves, physically and perhaps, even spiritually.

Remembering to put down the fork is a practice.  It does not come naturally to us in this fast food, eating on the run, just grabbing a bite culture.  The busyness and speed of our lives has disconnected us from our experience, including our experience of hunger.  So many of holiday foods are closely tied to our childhood memories.  When we slow down, we have the opportunity to ask ourselves, what are we really hungry for?  Jan Chozen Bays, MD in her book Mindful Eating suggests that there are different things we can be hungry for.  Some foods satisfy what she calls heart hunger.  They are the comfort foods that can transport us back to a time when we actually felt comforted.  Mom’s homemade Christmas cookies, turkey with stuffing and gravy, pork pie, etc.  This hunger is actually satisfied by intimacy and connection. The holidays can be challenging for many reasons including being a reminder that our family relationships have changed over time and may not be the way they once were.  Slowing down gives us a chance to connect to how things are now which might not be the way we want them to be. This can be difficult but it also gives us a chance to be honest about what ails us.  And what can truly comfort us now.  It might just be the cookie that smells like home but it might also be the phone call to a friend.

 

Bon Appetit!     Happy Holidays!