When Eating, Just Eat

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Food is nurturance. To be able to digest and assimilate nutrients from our food, it is best to be present to the experience. If our attention is taken away from the sensory experience of appreciating our food, we miss out on the comfort and pleasure that eating can offer to us.

Make a date with yourself and try just eating rather than eating while doing something else at the same time: reading, scrolling the cell phone, watching TV or driving.

Just eating lets you notice when the first sense of fullness of your stomach arrives, so you don’t eat more than you need to feel satisfied in the moment.

Yoga suggests letting the stomach have a third solids, a third liquids and a third of remaining space. Try it. You may be surprised at how enjoyable it feels to just eat.

Food is on the Table!

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At each meal, pause to consider the long chain of inter-related events that brought the food to your table. Sun rain, soil, and all the hands that tended the plants or raised and fed the animal or caught and the fish.

Recognize if the animal was likely to have received humane treatment. Consider the love and labor of those who prepared the meal.

Let your breath slow down to settle your nervous system into rest and digest mode.

Allow your senses to take in the colors, textures and aroma before the first bite. Digestion actually begins in this way, so take the time to enjoy observing it as it happens.

We are Made of Food

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We literally are what we eat as our food and water provide the constituents for the life cycle of our cells. We are constantly changing on a cellular level.

It can shift our perspective on what we eat and drink when we pause to ask ourselves if we really want our next round of tissues to be made of this? If your hair lacks luster, your skin does not appear bright and your tongue is not pink and smooth, consider the perspective of Yoga that teaches your body is a covering made of food. What are you made of lately?

Unburden Your Shoulders & Neck

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When you settle in to read for a while or work on a computer, take time to find a comfortable way to support your elbows and forearms. This relieves the pull of the considerable weight of the shoulder blades and arm bones off of your neck and skull. Compare the feeling of this pull with and without the arm support. Rolling up a throw across the belly or a u-shaped nursing pillow can make convenient, comfortable arm rests.

Make circles with the shoulder blades often and slowly nod the head gesturing Yes and No to release tension from the base of the skull, promoting circulatory flow to the brain.

Close your eyes periodically and make slow circles of the eyes in clockwise and ante-clockwise directions to keep the eyes moist and muscles of the eyes toned. Staying current on eye exams to identify and correct visual deficits can also reduce neck strain and headaches.

Feel Your Feet

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It seems such a simple thing to feel your feet as you move, but we rarely pay attention. As bipedal creatures our feet are the contact point with the Earth.

Paying attention to the way your feet and the ground interact as you move, is a convenient way to become immediately more present. Newton’s law of every action has an equal and opposite reaction is a reminder that the Earth is pushing back up through each foot with every step. This ground force travels up the foot through the bones of each leg into the pelvis, to meet at the sacrum, strengthening your bones along the way. Learn to feel the ever-present support of Mother Earth.

Blessing Yourself

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Our prayer life is an intimate topic. Naturally, gratitude, praise and blessings for loved ones may be part of the ritual. Sometimes we may feel inhibited about extending blessing to ourselves.

Somewhere within your ritual, notice how it feels to reach out from the depths of your heart to whatever source you deem a higher power with May my ________ be blessed. Heart’s wisdom will know what to fill in the blank when attention is allowed to rested there quietly for a few minutes beforehand.

Change it Up!

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We sit too much in the West. If you are a TV watcher, consider making it a practice to stand up and take deep breaths through the commercial breaks. In your home or work office, create a standing work area.

Height adjustable computer stations are becoming more widely available. Set an alarm on your phone or kitchen timer to remind you to change your posture every 20 -30 minutes. Leave the work space and walk about the house, or take an outdoor lap to stay mentally refreshed and reduce circulatory congestion in your legs.

Affirm It!

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Our inner dialogue is powerful. Thoughts typically occur as words. Practice noticing what thought streams you are thinking by pausing often to make the inquiry. It is likely you will notice some repetitive themes. Observe if the words are kind and supportive or unkind and defeating. Our inner dialogue influences our emotions, so it is helpful to become conscious of the content. However, you wish to feel, create a brief present tense statement to affirm that feeling. For example: I am strong and steady. Moving forward with right intention. Responding lovingly. Keeping my cool. Speaking clearly. Have fun becoming your own advocate!