How Can Mindful Eating Improve Your Digestion?

And without changing what you eat....

Fast Food goes back as far as Ancient Rome with food vendors serving up hot, freshly cooked foods along the cobblestone streets. Fast forward to today and Fast Food takes on a whole new persona. Its not just the McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A drivethroughs, its in our own home. Rushing our meals at school & work, grabbing that bar for the convenient "on-the-go" breakfast or the plague of many parents, not even having time to gather for dinner around the table due to a flurry of after school acitivites.

Fast food--beyond just the franchise and chain stores --has infiltrated our homes and with it, our digestion.

Digestive illness & disease affects 60-70 milllion Americans, ranging from Gall Stones to Ulcerative Colitis. Those statistics alone seem shocking but what isn't recorded for research purposes is how many Americans suffer from the first stages of digestive woes: gas, bloating and indigestion. These are among the first stages of disease and heavily going unnoticed, not until the disease process has fully set in.

According to Ayurveda, there are 6 Stages of Disease.

1. Accumulation

2. Aggravation

3. Dissemination

4. Localization

5. Manifestation

6. Disruption

   
   
   
   

In the first 3 stages of disease, the Doshas start to accumulate in their seat (Vata: Colon | Pitta: Small Intestine | Kapha: Lungs) and then start to move into other parts of the body. When the Doshas or energies, are balanced in the body, we have easy digestion, vibrant energy, and strong, healthy bodies. When the Doshas began to move out of their seats, we might notice some general fatigue, gas, bloating, and impaired immunity. These first begin subtle and as they move into stages 4-6, they mannifest into greater issues and diease sets in.

So how do we keep the disease process at bay and regain the balance of the doshas in our body? One of the simplest practices can be that of Mindful Eating.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful Eating is an embodied practice while eating your meals. Taking time to notice how you are feeling--physically, mentally, emotionally--and being present with the expereince of eating your food. When we eat mindfully, we encourage the body to engage with the food that promotes balanced digestion, more satisfaction, and more attention to our feelings of hunger and fullness.

When we eat more mindfully, we can regain the relationship with our food, reforming our intuitive eating and deepening our awanress of how our body reacts to certain foods. This wisdom has been lost and we can inherit this natural wisdom by engaging with our food and mealtimes with mindfulness.

How can you practice Mindful Eating?

Here are 3 simple ways to practice Mindful Eating that will help improve your digestion as well as heal your relationship with food.

1. Sit Down to Eat

   This may seem reductive but how often do you eat standing? Driving in your car? Half-up, half-down while multitasking. Sitting down to eat aids in signaling our digestive system to focus energy to properly digest the food. A seated positon also helps to ground Vata dosha or the Parasympathetic Nervous System. When this is activated, we can "rest and digest" to our best ability.

   
   

2. Take Your Time

   Say it with me "NO MORE FAST FOOD!" And no, I'm not referring to the drive-thru. Do as the Europeans do and take your time while eating. Make it a part of your day. Set aside at least 20-30 minutes per meal time. It's 2025--we've got time to gather around a meal, give thanks for the abundance, and enjoy the dishes with friends and family.

   
   

3. Stop and Notice

   What did you have for breakfast? What did it TASTE like? What did it FEEL like? What did it SMELL like? What did it SOUND like? What did it LOOK like? Engage all 5 sense while you eat helps your body digest the foods by cueing the GI tract--from the senses to the brain to the mouth to the stomach and so on--giving your body what it NEEDS to digest in balance and ease. This will also help you more fully appreciate what you are eating, further heal our relationship with food, and notice when we are hungry or satiated.

Addressing health imbalnces from the root cause can help us not only enjoy life more fully, but potentially stop the prgression of disease in its tracks. Mindful eating is one of many tools we can implement to improve our gut health and begin healing from numerous diseases. Ayurveda can teach us the language and inherent wisdom of our bodies. Its there--we just need to remember. To get started on your journey towards your vibrant, lasting health, consider working with me thorug a personalized approach: Ayurvedic Health Counseling. I am now accepting clients for 2025. Use code FEB25 for 25% off my services. This year you deserve to look and feel your best, healing from the inside out, working from the root cause to do so. Begin today.