The Venerable Vietnamese Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, is probably the most well-known exponent of mindfulness.
Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, he has worked tirelessly--and mindfully--for world peace.
His very long list of books extoll the multiple, rich benefits of applying mindfulness in every part of our everyday lives. In this short video, he focuses simply on living in the present moment.
Although his English is sometimes challenging to understand, the effort you expend in doing so will be richly rewarded in gaining a clearer understanding of what mindful eating is all about.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A Taste of Mindfulness
The only way to gain a personal understanding of mindful eating is to experience it.
To this end, the audio below provides guidance in eating five "morsels" of a favorite food mindfully.
In order to benefit from this guided experience most fully, first prepare five bite-sized portions of a favorite snack food--such as chips, pretzels, pieces of chocolate or fruit, popcorn, nuts, or whatever.
Do whatever you can to remove yourself from all forms of distraction or interruption for the duration of this guided process.
Then, when you're ready, simply hit the play button:
To this end, the audio below provides guidance in eating five "morsels" of a favorite food mindfully.
In order to benefit from this guided experience most fully, first prepare five bite-sized portions of a favorite snack food--such as chips, pretzels, pieces of chocolate or fruit, popcorn, nuts, or whatever.
Do whatever you can to remove yourself from all forms of distraction or interruption for the duration of this guided process.
Then, when you're ready, simply hit the play button:
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If you're interested in becoming involved in a premier weight loss program that includes Mindful Eating as an important adjunctive resource, I invite you to CLICK HERE.
Weight Loss--Natural and Long-Lasting Through Mindful Eating
Summary: Mindful Eating offers a superb alternative to yo-yo dieting and a method of natural weight loss that is optimally healthy and long-lasting. As a bonus, it adds markedly to one's level of satisfaction in eating.
In spite of massive evidence that diets and dieting don't work and--even worse--typically result in greater weight gain over time, they continue to be pursued avidly by vast numbers of people.
Most methods of weight loss--natural and otherwise--continue to leave out what is perhaps the single most important factor in achieving truly healthy and long-lasting weight loss--namely, how to eat much less without feeling deprived. Regardless of how healthy, natural, and well-balanced one's diet may be, weight gain will inevitably occur if average total caloric intake exceeds total calories burned.
Although this truism is recognized almost universally, it continues to present what is perhaps the greatest challenge to successful weight loss and long-term maintenance of such loss. To date, the most common healthy ways of overcoming this challenge have consisted in exercise programs, building increased muscle mass, and low glycemic food plans that aim to lessen hunger by stabilizing blood sugar levels. Arguably, some natural appetite suppressants could be included on this short list as well.
There is, however, another completely natural and highly effective solution to this problem that most people have never considered--or most likely even heard of. It's called Mindful Eating.
Mindful Eating is one of many applications of the simple, albeit challenging, means of living in the moment that is now commonly referred to as "mindfulness." Mindfulness, a form of meditation, consists in simply paying careful, moment-to-moment attention to all internal and external experience while simultaneously accepting it and allowing it to be just as it is, without judging or trying to change it in any way whatever. It is, in other words, a means of living fully, consciously, and non-reactively in the present moment, instead of reacting negatively, or getting attached, to current experience and/or getting lost in thoughts about the past or the future.
Although we are all endowed with the capacity to be mindful, most of us spend the vast majority of our waking moments being relatively "mindless,"--that is, acting automatically while simultaneously being "lost in thought."
Not surprisingly, this is also how most of us eat. That is, instead of staying focused fully and continuously on all of the varied, rich, and ever-changing sensations associated with the food we're eating, we are prone to engage simultaneously in various forms of "multi-tasking" such as reading, watching TV, talking, or being caught up in endless forms of thinking.
By contrast, mindful eating consists, quite simply, in maintaining full, continuous awareness of all aspects of eating. Very importantly, this includes full awareness of the rich array of ever-changing visual, olfactory, auditory, textural and gustatory sensations associated with the food being consumed. The richest and most subtle flavors of most foods can be savored fully only by chewing them thoroughly with full, continuous awareness.
Mindful eating, then, entails relating to food in a very full, one-pointed and leisurely way. Not uncommonly, the time taken in eating just a few bites mindfully is greater than the duration of a full meal for most people.
This natural weight loss solution has other major advantages as well. First, it places absolutely no restrictions on the particular foods you eat as long as they are enjoyed fully and mindfully. This removes the common feeling of being deprived that often sabotages other weight loss strategies. People who eat mindfully commonly discover that they gain far greater enjoyment and satisfaction from markedly smaller portions of their favorite calorie-laden foods than when they eat them "mindlessly."
Secondly, since mindful eating entails thorough chewing of all food, it's a healthy aid to complete digestion. The same can be said for the intrinsic relaxation and stress reduction that accompanies all forms of mindfulness.
A strong argument can be made, then, that mindful eating may well be the ultimate strategy for achieving weight loss that's natural and long-lasting. It also lends itself ideally as an adjunct to nearly any other weight loss strategy.
-------------------------------------
In spite of massive evidence that diets and dieting don't work and--even worse--typically result in greater weight gain over time, they continue to be pursued avidly by vast numbers of people.
Most methods of weight loss--natural and otherwise--continue to leave out what is perhaps the single most important factor in achieving truly healthy and long-lasting weight loss--namely, how to eat much less without feeling deprived. Regardless of how healthy, natural, and well-balanced one's diet may be, weight gain will inevitably occur if average total caloric intake exceeds total calories burned.
Although this truism is recognized almost universally, it continues to present what is perhaps the greatest challenge to successful weight loss and long-term maintenance of such loss. To date, the most common healthy ways of overcoming this challenge have consisted in exercise programs, building increased muscle mass, and low glycemic food plans that aim to lessen hunger by stabilizing blood sugar levels. Arguably, some natural appetite suppressants could be included on this short list as well.
There is, however, another completely natural and highly effective solution to this problem that most people have never considered--or most likely even heard of. It's called Mindful Eating.
Mindful Eating is one of many applications of the simple, albeit challenging, means of living in the moment that is now commonly referred to as "mindfulness." Mindfulness, a form of meditation, consists in simply paying careful, moment-to-moment attention to all internal and external experience while simultaneously accepting it and allowing it to be just as it is, without judging or trying to change it in any way whatever. It is, in other words, a means of living fully, consciously, and non-reactively in the present moment, instead of reacting negatively, or getting attached, to current experience and/or getting lost in thoughts about the past or the future.
Although we are all endowed with the capacity to be mindful, most of us spend the vast majority of our waking moments being relatively "mindless,"--that is, acting automatically while simultaneously being "lost in thought."
Consider, for example, how many times you have driven for miles over a familiar route with little or no conscious awareness of the passing scenery. In this common "driving trance," it's not uncommon to miss a turn that deviates from the habitual route.
Not surprisingly, this is also how most of us eat. That is, instead of staying focused fully and continuously on all of the varied, rich, and ever-changing sensations associated with the food we're eating, we are prone to engage simultaneously in various forms of "multi-tasking" such as reading, watching TV, talking, or being caught up in endless forms of thinking.
By contrast, mindful eating consists, quite simply, in maintaining full, continuous awareness of all aspects of eating. Very importantly, this includes full awareness of the rich array of ever-changing visual, olfactory, auditory, textural and gustatory sensations associated with the food being consumed. The richest and most subtle flavors of most foods can be savored fully only by chewing them thoroughly with full, continuous awareness.
Mindful eating, then, entails relating to food in a very full, one-pointed and leisurely way. Not uncommonly, the time taken in eating just a few bites mindfully is greater than the duration of a full meal for most people.
An inevitable result of this marked slowing down is that the appestats in the brain signaling satiety are activated by a much reduced total quantity of food (and calories) from what occurs through "normal" eating. By applying this simple strategy consistently over time, then, the bottom line result, is weight loss--natural, healthy, and long-lasting.
This natural weight loss solution has other major advantages as well. First, it places absolutely no restrictions on the particular foods you eat as long as they are enjoyed fully and mindfully. This removes the common feeling of being deprived that often sabotages other weight loss strategies. People who eat mindfully commonly discover that they gain far greater enjoyment and satisfaction from markedly smaller portions of their favorite calorie-laden foods than when they eat them "mindlessly."
Secondly, since mindful eating entails thorough chewing of all food, it's a healthy aid to complete digestion. The same can be said for the intrinsic relaxation and stress reduction that accompanies all forms of mindfulness.
A strong argument can be made, then, that mindful eating may well be the ultimate strategy for achieving weight loss that's natural and long-lasting. It also lends itself ideally as an adjunct to nearly any other weight loss strategy.
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NOTE: I've created a special CD that provides an indepth introduction to Mindful Eating, along with complete guidance in eating a full meal mindfully. You can purchase it here.
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