5 Benefits of mindful eating | Mindfulness and healthy eating

doing things mindfully is becoming popular in west. more and more people are learning ways to incorporate mindfulness in their daily life. its a very good trend and makes me feel very positive about the future of world.

you can do any activity either mindfully or unconsciously. when you do things mindfully then not only you do things in a better way but you also grow spiritually and live a more balanced life.

so it make sense to bring mindfulness in your daily activities like walking, talking, brushing your teeth, talking bath and so on. to get a rough idea how to bring mindfulness in small things of your life, you can check these posts – how to eat food with mindfulness and 10 tips for mindful eating.

5 benefits of mindful eating:

1. you don’t over eat
because your body gives you the signal that your hunger is over and now no need to over stuff the body. when you practice mindfulness in eating then you don’t ignore such signals and pay attention to them. if you want to lose weight and become healthy then practice mindfulness.

2. you enjoy the food
while eating food most people are engrossed in talking or thinking or watching cinema. they hardly get a chance to taste the food because their attention is going in doing something else. so they miss noticing the texture and warmth of food and tasting the different flavors of the food. if you want to really taste and enjoy your food then be present while eating it. give your total attention to eating. be totally engrossed in eating and yet be mindful. its a double edge sword. you have to be total in eating and yet maintain a distance so that you can watch yourself eating food.

3. you eat healthy food
when you start practicing mindful eating then its difficult to give importance to palate than to the need of the body. in mindfulness practice, you become more mindful of the body needs. so slowly your eating habits changes and you start focusing on eating healthy food. it you want to have a more healthy lifestyle then bring mindfulness in your life.

4. acceptance and reverence for food
when you bring mindfulness in your life then you become more sensitive, grateful and accepting to things. you don’t crib about what you don’t have. instead you become thankful to god for whatever he has given to you. you accept things as they come in your life. mindfulness brings reverence not only for food but also for life. it also makes you more content and satisfied person.

5. you grow in mindfulness
you get a chance to incorporate mindfulness in one more activity of life. the beauty of meditation is that the more you practice it, the more it spread its fragrance in your life. mindfulness practice makes your more relaxed, graceful and intelligent person.

so the people who eat food mindfully are more happier, content and healthy. they no longer crave about food. mindfulness teaches you to live in the present moment and enjoy it fully. if you don’t enjoy your food totally then at times you will crave for it again. because your desire to have the tasty meal is not been completed. so you are going to order the meal again in some other day. but unfortunately what happens is that when you actually get the chance to eat your desired meal, then again you will miss it by started talking with someone over the meal. is not it strange? the only solution is to practice mindfulness in eating as well as in other activities of life.

some eastern wisdom – i have always believed that one should eat food in privacy and in a relaxed peaceful manner. enjoy the food. feel its warmth and taste the different flavors of the food. thats why in india we prefer to eat food with hands. because you get more involved with food when you eat with hands. eating with fork is a very distant affair.

mindfulness has many emotional, psychological and health benefits. i hope more and more people start practicing it,