Mindful Eating: Yoga at the Table

Written by Jennifer Stanley

While everyone is different, a near universal experience as you grow your yoga practice is becoming more mindful in daily life, not just on the mat. It’s one reason talking to the mat is so powerful — it brings about deep change from the inside. Many yogis engage in mindful eating, tuning into what you take into your body and why.

Mindful eating can lead to unexpected benefits, like weight loss. It might even help you uncover hidden health issues like food allergies, giving you the power to address them and improve your well-being. Perhaps the most important perk, though, is that this practice enhances your enjoyment of every meal — and shouldn’t life be about feeling good while being kind to ourselves and others? Here’s why mindful eating is yoga at the table and why you should embrace it.

What Is Mindful Eating?

Think about the last time you ate. Was the urge driven by genuine physical hunger, your appointed lunch hour’s arrival, a special celebration, or a need to distract yourself? Do you remember what you ate, why you chose it, what nutritional value it provided and how the flavor and texture felt on your tongue?

You might come up with some of these answers even if your last meal consisted of a bag of chips at your computer. However, you could answer each one in detail if you ate mindfully. The process entails remaining fully present in the moment, treating each dining experience like a rich and joyous celebration of being human — which it is.

Mindful eating begins with the selection and preparation of your meal to the enjoyment of the dining experience. It’s your chance to dine like the French, who believe you should savor meals and the human relationships that bond over them. You can even think of it as a small act of rebellion against a world that wants you to hurry up and be more like a machine. Food reminds you that you are a living creature, an integral part of the miracle of creation, not a robot.

The Many Benefits of Mindful Eating

Mindful eating does much more than serve as a testimony to the human spirit amid a high-pressure world. It also benefits you. Consider the following perks before deciding you simply “lack the time” to tune into your meal.

1. Gain Awareness of Your Body’s Natural Cues

Millions of Americans struggle with obesity. One reason for the soaring rates is that far too many of us eat mindlessly, grazing at our work desks and pulling through whichever fast food joint is the most convenient when we’re too wiped out from our busy day to cook dinner. This sacrifice comes at a steep price — losing touch with the ability to tell when we are hungry and when we feel full.

Mindful eating rebuilds your relationship with your body’s hunger and satiety cues. Over time, you gradually get better at checking in with yourself before dining.

Doing so gives you greater agency over your behavior. When you recognize that you aren’t digging into the cookie tray out of hunger but rather because they look so good, you must try a sample, it’s easier to stop at just one.

2. Develop a Deeper Appreciation of Food

You might say grace, but when was the last time you genuinely felt thankful for your food? If you haven’t felt physical hunger for some time, you might have lost touch with the simple joy eating brings. It is participating in the cycle of life.

As you tune into your meals, you gain a deeper appreciation for the taste and texture of certain foods. You’ll also learn more about your likes and dislikes. For example, perhaps you always hated the mushy, overcooked asparagus of your childhood but find you love it lightly sauteed with a little olive oil.

3. Cultivate Gratitude and Ease Negative Feelings Around Meal Time

The next time you eat, check in with your emotions. What are you feeling? You might be surprised what a bit of mindful exploration unearths.

For example, you might notice that you feel vaguely guilty for grabbing that bag of chips instead of a healthier snack, especially if you struggle with weight or medical issues. Mindfully explore how you could manage that emotion. You might:

• Opt for something healthier, reminding yourself that you aren’t depriving yourself forever, simply making the best choice for you at this moment in time.
• Remind yourself that life is about balance and allow yourself a small indulgence, resolving to make healthy choices 80% of the time but permitting space for being human.
• Either way, cultivate a sense of gratitude — you can take your choice of snack. Focus on that abundance and give thanks that you have multiple options.

It’s much better than digging in with mixed feelings, mindlessly snacking, then becoming overwhelmed with guilt as you scrape the final salty bits from the bag’s bottom. Becoming aware of your emotions around food may, with time and practice, ease the symptoms of eating disorders and aid in your remission.

4. Enrich Your Relationships With Family and Friends

The fabulous thing about the French is they don’t let life’s other demands stand between their celebrations of friendship and family — which inevitably include food. Meals are an event to savor mindfully, often spanning more than an hour, as people take time to put their forks down, engage in conversation and celebrate their connection.

One of the biggest drivers of the mental health crisis in American society is loneliness and the lack of a sense of connection. The statistics are particularly dire among younger people, as nearly 50% of those aged 18 to 24 reported anxiety or depression symptoms in the past year. Giving people back the time to gather at the dinner table might combat some of them, helping people reconnect and build community.

5. Recognize Which Foods Work Well for Your Body

Guess what? Your physiology is unique, and everything you eat affects your chemistry for better or for worse. Mindful eating allows space to observe how you feel after eating certain meals.

Doing so can help you identify food allergies and sensitivities that affect your well-being, even if they don’t quickly lead to fatal illness. Some intolerances surface as little more than a general feeling of malaise, gastrointestinal distress or an altered mood — the only way to notice and identify the culprit is to pay attention and experiment with eliminating problematic versions to see what brings relief.

6. Control Your Health and Weight Without Stress

Personal aside: I wish I could have back all the energy I wasted worrying about my weight when I was younger. I tried one diet after another, when what I really needed to do was tune in mindfully to what I was putting in my mouth and its effect on how I felt instead of seeking outside validation that I was “doing it right.”

Diet books can be valuable sources of information that provide insight on how various foods affect the human body. However, they aren’t a replacement for knowing yourself, and they aren’t always reliable. For example, we might not have soaring Type 2 diabetes rates had people mindfully tuned into how they felt after overindulging in ultra-processed, high-carb snacks simply because they were labeled “lite.”

Furthermore, there’s a lot that goes into what you eat and why you eat it — physical hunger might not even make your top three list. Taking time to listen to these compulsions is a must for feeling more in control over what you choose to eat and why.

How to Have a Mindful Meal: A Script

Want to make your next meal a mindful one? Here’s a script to follow. Please don’t get too hung up on the details — what matters most is remaining in the present moment and mindfully tuning into each step. Here’s what to do:

• Start with planning your meal. What’s on the menu? Explore what factors you consider. If you’re like most mere mortals, your cravings probably top the list — what are you in the mood for? How can you satisfy that desire while meeting your nutritional needs and creating a dish that tastes great on your plate?
• Amass your materials. Pay attention to the ingredients you use and the cooking method. Are you sharing your meal with others? Consider inviting them to help you prepare the dishes. Explain you’re doing mindful eating and why and invite them to explore.
• As you cook, ask yourself various questions. How does heating change the texture and consistency of the food? How do the colors and flavors blend? Set your table with care when there’s a break in the stove action. How can you make it inviting, so people want to join you at the table? Add aesthetic touches that delight your soul.
• When you sit down to eat, take a moment to mindfully express gratitude for your meal, either out loud or in your mind by observing a moment of silence. Resist the urge to immediately dig in. Instead, plate your meal as if you were serving it at a fine restaurant. Observe how you feel as you anticipate the first bite. Is your mouth watering? Inhale the aromas of your dish and nibble and sample before digging in.
• As you progress through the meal, remain in the moment. Savor each bite. Put your fork down between mouthfuls and enjoy the company, too, chatting or genuinely, deeply listening to what they share. You might be surprised at the complexity in a seemingly simple dinner when you treat the occasion with respect and honor, like the French.
• As you finish eating, give thanks once more. You might want to vocally thank any companions. Tune into how you feel. Hopefully, you are pleasantly sated and also full from the camaraderie you shared or the pure self-love you poured into making a special dish for yourself.

Mindful Eating as an Extension of Your Practice

The mindfulness you develop on the yoga mat spills over into daily life, making each moment richer. Everything becomes an extension of your practice, including meal time.

Mindful eating is like practicing yoga at the table. Although you aren’t doing physical poses, you bring the same energy of awareness and loving-kindness to mealtime, creating a positive ripple effect that may go on to transform your life in other, magical ways.