In the last decade, with the onset of social media and the emergence of disruptors, we have been hurtled into a fast-paced world that exceeds our capacity to process and digest it. As a result, we suffer from shorter attention spans in everything we do, including eating, relationships, sex, building wealth, and more.
This creates an intensely stressful environment for us to live in. We are not thriving anymore. We are literally jumping from one to the next, barely tasting what we did earlier, with no sense of relish or pleasure. We have forgotten what it is like to slow down and be more present and mindful. We are always on a “what’s next?” mode and “Fear of missing out” mode.
We have forgotten Rest, Relaxation, Recuperation, Relish, Presence, Mindfulness, Slowing Down, Deep Breaths, and Deep Sleep.
In the midst of all of the busyness, we do today, a small tribe of communities around the world are rediscovering the joys of mindfulness and presence. These also include some of the top Fortune 500 companies, media and movie celebrities, the biggest tech giants, presidents of nations, jail inmates, school and university kids, and yes, regular people like us.
Mindful Eating forms an important part of this. Slowing down the pace enough to taste, relish, chew, breathe, digest, focus, and allow the body to do what it does naturally without the added burden of fast-paced stress.
What are the benefits of mindful eating?
- Greater body nourishment and nurturance from every bite of food
- Through deep breaths, taking in vitamin “O”, oxygen in sufficient quantity so as to allow the body to burn fat and increase metabolism.
- Eliminating stress, therefore no stress hormones interfering with your digestion.
- Instead allowing the happier hormones such as oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine to be released that create greater satiety value, relief for the body, and a sense of security.
- Witnessing your emotions and thinking during the eating and seeing how we tend to jump onto the food instead of using all five senses to truly eat.
- Moving from consumption-based eating to pleasurable eating.
- Acknowledging all food without judgment and eating guilt-free.
- Being able to know exactly when the body is not hungry anymore and the difference between that and being full.
- Knowing when to stop eating.
- Deep gratitude to the Earth, farmers, and everyone that is a part of the processing of having that food on your plate.
- Changes in body weight due to elimination of emotional stress, binge eating, emotional eating.
Slowing down overall is now proven to be way more beneficial. Even when it comes to all other areas of your life, try not rushing just for one day and feel the difference. It’s amazing how you can actually get lots more done on that day by being truly present to everyone.
Let me know how that goes for you.
