Feast with Intention: Honing the Joy of Mindful Eating During the Holidays

2024 is almost coming to an end, and the holidays are right around the corner, which means it’s time for food, celebration, and making merry.

It is that time of the year when rules for healthy eating are paused for the time being. After all, you do not want to be the party pooper by denying a lovingly made loaded pumpkin pie. So how do we deal with this dilemma of balancing not wanting to overeat and choosing indulgence?

The answer is simple; we eat mindfully.

A lot of you may even say that you’ve heard of the concept of mindful eating and perhaps tried it yourself but received discouraging results – the mind is a strange thing that habitually wanders off, especially when eating feels like such an automatic process, and so we go back to our less healthy ways of eating while talking, or eating while watching the television, or, indeed, eating while staring down at the phone.

As we gather around the table with our family and friends, it’s pretty easy to lose our centeredness in the commotion and chaos of the holidays. You can get drawn into a thousand pleasant and unpleasant things during the holidays- right from the endless to-do list to cooking for a village to entertaining and managing family members and sometimes their egos. And with the intense animated conversations going on, we tend to forget to savor our food; to enjoy every spoonful, every bite, every morsel. That’s where mindful eating, complemented by meditation, comes into play. It helps create a deeper appreciation for the food and the moments shared during this festive season.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is, as Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “eating with a sense of offering.” It is simply about being present in the moment. It’s when we slow down and engage with food. It teaches us to embrace the entire meal from the flavors, colors, and textures, to the smells, and even the sounds.

It’s when we take time to tune in our senses before each meal and appreciate each mouthful, from the moment we lift our spoon to the last grain, instead of rushing through it on autopilot mode.

It’s when we cultivate a deeper connection with our plate, and feel satisfied with smaller portions, as we feel our stress levels drop, creating a more lasting connection to the people and traditions surrounding the meal.

Why should you eat mindfully?

Believe it or not, conscious eating supports your mental and physical health in multiple ways including helping you lose weight, control diabetes, manage depression and anxiety, feel light after meals, reduce portions, and counter eating disorders.

Here’s the science behind mindful eating and how it affects our digestion and the autonomic nervous system.

The Difference Between Mindful Eating and Unmindful Eating

How do you feel after your meals? Let’s reflect on the two eating experiences: One is when you had a small serving of the best apple pie in the world. You remember its flavors, texture, lightness, and the feeling of joy you experienced post-dessert. You felt satisfied, and grateful, and remembered the sensory experience associated with it.

In the second experience, you had a big bowl of pasta that you hurriedly polished off because you were too hungry. You ended up feeling heavy and lethargic, with no food memory and plenty of regrets. You probably felt bloated and uncomfortable. Overall, nothing about this meal was memorable (at least in a positive way) or pleasurable.

The first experience is an experience of conscious eating and the latter is unconscious or mindless eating. In either case, your digestive experience will signal if the meal is supporting your metabolism or if it is rejecting or overburdening it.

How Does Meditation Enhance Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating requires focus and patience, and meditation helps with cultivating this patience effortlessly. As we focus on the here and now, we learn to tune out the distractions with meditation, as we practice mindful eating. Then, you could be sitting along with ten others, you will not lose your awareness of the food in front of you.

While we may not have time for a lengthy meditation session during this hectic season, small moments of awareness of just stealing 20 minutes from your day for a guided meditation can go a long way. We could practice meditation before our meals with a small group of people, or even before each course. This allows us to reflect on the meal so far, and look forward to what’s to come!

Meditation enhances mindful eating by more than just allowing us to be present in the here and now:

• We’re more attuned to our body’s sensations. That means we can feel hunger, satisfaction, and even a full stomach. With this, intuition kicks in to tell us how much to eat.
• Our stress levels drop. We feel less anxious around the festivities, which helps us enjoy and appreciate our meals more.
• It cultivates a culture of gratitude and appreciation within us as we acknowledge the effort, energy, time, and love that goes into preparing each meal.

Mindful Eating Tips for the Holidays

Set an intention before each meal. It could be as simple as creating a specific space for each meal. Consider using beautiful cutlery, with flowers and other festive decorations to bring in the festive cheer. An inviting atmosphere as such is a good approach to appreciating and enjoy food with our loved ones, no matter how chaotic it gets.

It is just as important to prep the food mindfully. As we do this, we get a real sense of the ingredients and deeply understand the process of creating a nourishing and scrumptious feast. Also, your care and mindful preparation will reflect in the taste and quality of the food. In many cultures cooking food is regarded as an expression of love.

Sit down to savor each bite with zero distraction. It’s best to stay focused on our plates and avoid standing, walking around, watching TV, or scrolling through our phones. As we stay rooted to one spot, we hone in all our senses to what’s in front of us to truly appreciate it.

Pay attention to details; it helps form an inner connection to the meal in front of us. Savour the plate that brings an array of colors, textures, and aromas. As we take small bites and chew slowly, we’re allowing the flavors and taste to unfold bit by bit.

It’s okay to get distracted and overwhelmed, but we must recognize it and be able to gently bring ourselves back to our food. Mindful eating is a practice that doesn’t set in overnight, it takes time.

Reflecting on our food is an important aspect of mindful eating, that meditation helps us with, as we reflect on the journey from farm to fork, we become more cognizant of the interconnectedness of everyone involved in making this meal wholesome-from the hands that prepared it to the hands that ate it.

Take time to express gratitude for the meal, either before or after, with a simple “thank you”. This adds to the festive spirit and allows us to acknowledge the abundance of food in front of us.

This holiday season, let’s all make a conscious effort to practice mindful eating. We might just find our meals to be tastier, and our hearts fuller!