Mindful Eating Forum

The purpose of this blog is to help ourselves and each other to progress along the path of mindful eating.

Please approach reading the blog or making an entry with the same open attitude of deep sharing and deep listening that we assume when we are together as a group. Also, remember that everything that is shared is confidential. To develop a sense of connection to yourself and to the group before you begin, it may help you to do a very brief meditation.

To start, ground yourself in your body. Just sit, and become aware of where your body is touching the chair, sofa, floor, etc. Take three slow breaths feeling sensations at the tip of your nose when breathing in and breathing out. Allow yourself to relax as much as is possible right now.

Take a minute to appreciate something about your body. It can be the very fact of being alive, it can be your breath, your hands or feet, or something else. Can you think of 2 things that you can do only because you have a body?

If you like you can bow to your body and just whisper, "thank you".

We usually want to take care of something (or someone) that is precious to us. A teacher recently asked his students, "Would you put junk in your car?" The unanimous answer was "No". He said," That's because we care about our car. We put junk in our bodies because we don't care about ourselves."

So, at the deepest level, our mindful eating practice is a step by step process of learning to love and take care of ourselves. In order to do this we have to become aware of and alter some very old patterns. It is important to be patient, kind and compassionate with ourselves and each other.