Mindfulness and Eating

Dec 28, 2012
Tagged with: Mindfulness and Eating


I am currently 8 months pregnant and have been reading a book on mindful childbirth to prepare myself for the big day. One of the concepts that the book’s author emphasizes is being mindful of the body through pregnancy and childbirth. You might be thinking how does this pertain to me, I’m not pregnant?

Well in one of the chapters, the author has her pregnant women and dads participate in a raisin meditation. The group was instructed to first examine the raisin visually, then the feel of the raisin between their fingers, the smell of the raisin, and then slowly introducing the raisin into the mouth. This was a process where all the senses were being used to experience eating a raisin. Most of the participants stated that they had never had such a delicious raisin and one even said that she hated raisins prior to the mediation but truly enjoyed her raisin experience.

If we could all be this mindful when eating our food, would we enjoy and appreciate our meals more? Would we eat healthier foods? Would we eat only the amount our bodies needed? For one week, try to be completely mindful of your body and your palate when sitting down for a meal or snack. Prior to eating the meal, take an inventory of your body. How do you feel? How hungry are you? Why are you eating? And then look at your food, smell your food, think about where it came from and how it will nourish your body.

Leave a comment for me about whether you experienced any changes in how much you eat, what you eat, or how much you enjoyed eating your food. Happy dining!

For more information on food consumption please check out this article:



Author: Carleton Rivers