Mindfulness and Eating: Divine Desk Dining

Are you stuck eating lunch at your desk again?

Lucky you.

You see, staying put can be surprisingly soothing compared to making a mad dash to the cafe for a sandwich and running back to your office, all the while worried that you'll miss an important call.

If you feel chained to your desk, try viewing it instead as a powerful anchor that keeps you from drifting mindlessly.

Desk dining can be the epitome of mindlessness-or a remarkable opportunity to slow down, reconnect, and enjoy a delicious moment or two. You can choose a chug-and-chew cubicle lunch or settle in for a session of mindful mastication.

Mom always told us to slow down and chew our food properly. She was more worried about choking, indigestion and bad manners than she was about the possibility that we would grow up to be disconnected from our experience of dining.

As usual, Mom made good sense. New research indicates that becoming more mindful of every mouthful is a powerful way to reduce our food intake, increase our meal satisfaction, and savor more than just the taste of our veggie on rye.

Jean L. Kristeller, Ph.D., is professor of psychology and director of the Center for the Study of Health, Religion and Spirituality at Indiana State University. Over the last ten years, she has been working on ways to help overweight individuals develop greater awareness of their eating triggers using mindfulness meditation. Her program is being applied in a number of different settings, and the results have been quite promising.

There's even a fancy term for her technique of paying attention to what you put into your mouth-Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training, or MB-EAT for short. It's not rocket science-just a simple way to assess your needs and attend to the process of eating slowly.

Even if you don't have an eating disorder, chances are you've had more than a few meals on the go. Perhaps you are a practiced drive-and-diner, grabbing your order from the drive-thru window and perfecting your food balancing technique. More likely, you've eaten an entire lunch while simultaneously answering phones and typing out email messages-and not really tasting a single bite.

Don't curse your go-go lifestyle. Instead, choose to savor a slow-slow moment-even if it's just a two-minute yogurt break.

Your divine desk dining experience starts with a couple of deep breaths and a commitment to focusing for two-count 'em, TWO-minutes. Feel your belly, and pay attention to any hunger pangs. Check in to see if you are eating now because it's lunch time, because you are ravenous, or because you know you won't get a chance to eat for several more hours. Take note.

Then, take a bite. Put down your fork, spoon or sandwich, and simply chew your food slowly, relishing the flavors and textures, just like Mom taught you. Do this for one minute, and then pause. Feeling better now? Sometimes the simple act of chewing mindfully for just a moment can help us slow down enough to recognize that we're not that hungry.

Savor another minute of mindful mastication without getting wrapped up in thoughts of work or anything else. Come back to "just this bite" until your two minutes are up. After that, feel free to eat at your normal pace, and even if you get caught up in the type-and-swallow routine, simply note it.

We spend a lot of time and energy bemoaning our busy lives. Instead, spend two minutes tasting mindfulness right there at your desk.

It's simply divine.

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches playful and powerful eyes-wide-open ways to get calm, clear and creative. To read her free special report, "The Dirty Little Secret About Meditation" visit http://www.MayaFrost.com.

---

Meditate to Unlock Your Hidden Potential ? Part 2

You can be the creator of your own manifest destiny. Through daily meditation practice and focus on changing your life for the better. In fact, you have... Read More

Meditating - Staying Awake

Why is staying awake while meditating important? Falling asleep is certainly relaxing, and can be good for you, but to get the full range of benefits from... Read More

Understanding Meditation

It is impossible to overstate the importance of daily meditation. The benefits are enormous. They are: improved physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health; greater personal power, enhanced... Read More

Basic Meditation Exercises

(Authors Note: Before reading this you should see my other articles on Breathing and Full Body Awareness)Now that you've begun to develop the ability to move energy... Read More

You Can Meditate Right Now

Why Should You Meditate?What if you could close your eyes, then open them a few minutes later and be relaxed, alert, and able to think clearly? Meditation... Read More

Meditation: How to Enter a Deep State of Relaxation

There are many methods of meditation that can lead to channeling, mediumship, or simply a greater spiritual awareness. Here is the method I use: Find a comfortable... Read More

Enlightenment through Meditation

Helping the broadest range of people attain enlightenment through meditation is my lifelong preoccupation. I have more than 20 years of daily interaction with people helping them... Read More

A Hypnosis Cd - Getting the Most from Them

You should treat the use of a hypnosis cd just like you use a tool. In other words, any tool has the potential to do a great... Read More

Bhagavad Gita Commentary

Most of us have heard the story of the centipede who, when asked how he managed to walk with so many legs, could no longer do so,... Read More

How To Meditate?

We are surrounded by negative forces like jealousy, hatred, fear, doubt, worry, despair, guilt, resentment, anger, pride hatred and anxiety. These are the dominating forces of the... Read More

Fitness Workout - Exercising the Present Moment!

The following exercise program has been designed to get the mind firmly in the present, not yesterday or tomorrow but right here, right now. It's a particularly... Read More

Body Talk

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzHow many times have you zoned out in front of the television, only to discover an empty bag/bottle/carton of _______ (substitute your current no-no food) sitting in... Read More

Relaxation Techniques to Revitalize Body and Mind

We all get to a stage where we've just had it. We need a break. Well if a holiday is out of the question, try these relaxation... Read More

An Algorithm to Remove ?Hurt? from Pain

The behavior of pain was enigmatic. Its responses were strange. It was only a pin prick, but the surrounding skin reddened and the child cried out in... Read More

Herbal Teas

If you want to get hold of a particular tea and can't find it, then it is fine to use a combination tea, which contains the ingredient... Read More

The Relationship Between Meditation and Self-Analysis

These are two very powerful tools for self-improvement, but how can you use them in harmony? For example: Self-analysis and meditation cannot be performed at the same... Read More

How You Can Unite Meditation, Divine Essence, And Personal Tenacity to Serve Your Highest Purpose

1. Meditation:Meditation is a sacred practice. Shamans, gurus, priests, medicine men and other wise beings have practiced meditation for over 5000 years. In the 20th century, Maharishi... Read More

Active Meditation / Visualization

Part OneChoose a nature scene. For instance scenery of mountain, meadow or ocean to picture and imagine during your session. You might consciously choose a particular scene... Read More

Quieting the Mind Opening the Heart

To put it simply, the act of meditation involves quieting the mind so you can open the heart. That's it in a nutshell.We often believe our hearts... Read More

Meditate to Unlock Your Hidden Potential ? Part 1

Meditation is often misunderstood by those who do not practice it. Very often, I hear meditation referred to as, "altered states of consciousness." That sounds more like... Read More

Muraqaba- The Sufi Meditation By Sufi-Master Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi

When we try to learn a new skill or try to gain knowledge about a specific subject, we follow a guideline or a system, which demands that... Read More

Meditation

Hello, sample some of the arguments below. But mind you, this is not an opinionated writer that is trying to forward his profound knowledge on an altruistic... Read More

4 Little Known Secrets of Meditation

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Secret #1:The True Purpose of Meditation=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Many people feel a sense of fascination when confronted with the possibility of mystic visions, psychic intuition and heightened mental functioning.... Read More

Mastery Through Meditation

Are you still looking? For Love? Self-Worth? To know, truly KNOW, that you are of value to others and the Universe as a whole?What is it that... Read More

Full Body Awareness

Now that you're comfortable working with your breath it's time to bring the rest of the body in. Continue breathing as I've outlined in my article on... Read More

A Forty-Five-Second Meditation

Is Meditation Too Much Time And Trouble?If you haven't meditated before, you might think it's too much trouble to learn. If you do meditate, you know it... Read More