Health & Wellness Magazine HealthQuest Spring 2018 | Page 14

DARYA
ROSE
When To Be
Mindful
(And When to Stop
Worrying About It)
By Darya Rose
IT’S NO secret that I’m a big fan of
mindful eating. Research has repeatedly
shown that mindful eating helps people
make better food choices, stop bingeing,
enjoy meals more and naturally eat less. sounds great and all, but at what price? meal is also not the point.
How can you enjoy your meal when
you’re in a tug of war with your own
mind? It can help you break unhealthy eating
patterns and replace them with healthier
ones. It’s a good question and one I’ve wrestled
with myself. Your brain is very clever at
coming up with reasons why it doesn’t
need to be mindful. While mindful eating (and mindfulness
in general) does eventually transition
from difficult and frustrating to simple
and peaceful with regular practice, being
mindful 24/7 isn’t practical, nor is it
necessary.
And it is often the last piece of the puzzle
for healthy eaters who still struggle to lose
those last few stubborn pounds. Thinking is useful!
But mindful eating is hard to do. Your
brain naturally rejects mindful awareness
and desperately seeks to follow your
impulses to think and/or judge your
current situation rather than simply
observe it.
These impulses are STRONG. And fighting
them to bring your attention back to the
present moment can feel exhausting,
especially in the early days of your
practice.
This is usually when people start to
question if mindfulness is even worth it.
Enjoying your food more and eating less
14
SPRING 2018
This is my time to relax!
I want to eat with my family!
This is boring!
Let me be free!
If you get caught up in this kind of
resistance during your mindful practice––
arguing with yourself about why you
shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing––
that’s a sure sign that you need to keep
practicing.
Learning to stop clinging to your thoughts
and letting them take you out of the
present moment is the whole point.
That said, torturing yourself during every
Your brain is right that thinking is valuable.
Letting yourself relax during meals is
healthy. And eating with people you love
is wonderful.
The purpose of mindful practice is to
enhance those experiences, not get rid of
them.
The question is: how do you find the
balance? When should you be actively
mindful and when shoul