WHAT Are You Doing?

It turns out this is the pivotal question if you are going to eat "mindfully."

So much is about taste ~ the eating experience being "over" once you've swallowed your last bite.

Do you feel bloated, "stuffed", or are you craving more to eat? Then you haven't really nurtured yourself ~ you've just ingested calories because maybe you liked the taste, and perhaps the volume.

If that's the case, you probably find yourself on a pretty low energy frequency that matches well with TV programs that roll one after another, or hours surfing Facebook, or playing video games.
Our bodies, our minds and our hearts gain nothing from it ~ except the desire for more of the same.

It makes it so much easier to ignore our relationships, our inner conflicts, our frustrations and our disappointments. They all make for a good emotional salve, but the energy frequency remains the same ~ sluggish.

What would it be like to unplug, smile into the eyes of the person sharing the couch with you, and take time to appreciate and be grateful for a meal that you know will nourish your body?

Honestly, I used to read stuff like I just now wrote and think that it was all "too far out" for me. I couldn't relate ~ because I didn't want to be fully present when I was sitting down to eat. I saw food as a great escape ~ salivating over mashed potatoes and and salty gravy, buttered bread, meatloaf ~ and anything else that appeared on the table. Back in the day, I was after taste, and I was looking for volume. And I don't remember the people around me really "listening". We were all talking.

I came from a big Catholic family. We said grace before we ate, but I don't think it was with hearts filled with gratitude ~ it was what we had to do before we could eat. It was hard to feel nurtured and satisfied with all that guilt and shame that got dished up routinely in that culture.
So food helped with that sense of deprivation.

I see that now, but I didn't then.

So I offer to you that eating mindfully opens up a whole new world that operates on a much higher frequency.

I like it here so much more!