Food, The Body, and Self Care during this Time of the Year
As we approach the holiday season and continue with many of the shelter-in-place restrictions that are being re-introduced or re-enforced due to the pandemic, I wanted to address topics that come up often in my work: food, eating, and body image. This comes up regularly during this time of year and is increased now due to the anomaly that is 2020... more stress, less connection and people inevitably reaching for self soothing from outside of themselves. An easy go-to is food and behaviours surrounding food.
We all have intricate and long relationships with food. In utero, we relied on our gestational parent’s nutrients for sustenance. After birth, we relied on our caregivers to nourish us with food, love, attention, and care. It’s no wonder that our relationships with food are intertwined with love, attention, and care...self and otherwise. Food is a profound symbol of nourishment in the deepest sense. It can represent safety, scarcity, abundance, comfort, fear, satisfaction, resentment...to name a few.
Food can be used to ground in this embodied experience and it can also be a more easily available “substance” that people can use to escape reality, to comfort themselves, or to experience excitement or celebration.
See if you notice any of the following behaviors in your own eating habits:
Instead of consciously enjoying the food you eat, food becomes tasteless and something you put in your mouth regardless of whether you’re actually hungry or not.
You find yourself grazing throughout the day, rather than having solid meals. (Grazing can mean snacking a few times an hour or an entire afternoon.)
You tend to overeat (or undereat) at mealtimes when there aren’t set schedules or when you may be seeing people less. (After all, seeing others may help increase oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine chemicals in the brain, thus decreasing loneliness and the reliance on food (or starvation) for comfort.)
You find yourself thinking about your day, worrying about the past, or future tripping while you’re eating.
You eat while standing up or while watching Netflix.
Firstly, if you are engaging in any of those behaviors, know that it’s OK. The last thing anyone will benefit from is judgment around the way they interact with food and the behaviors they practice around eating!
Oftentimes shame can arise when we talk about food, especially if someone has had a more complicated past with it. As you begin to practice mindful eating, which I’ll share more about shortly, be gentle with yourself as feelings such as shame, blame or embarrassment may arise. Notice as you read this any sensations you may be experiencing in your body right now as you reflect on your current behaviors around food. Remember, raising consciousness around behavior allows for more choice.
Next, I invite you to try mindful eating if it interests you.
Mindfulness is a practice that can be applied to many areas of life, arguably all, from sex to driving, to washing the dishes to walking, and yes, even and especially, to eating. Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally, according to Dr. Jon Kabat-Zin, who bridges the world of Zen and Western psychology.
Mindful eating is a practice I highly recommend to people with whom I work so they can create a better relationship with their bodies, and thus potentially enjoy eating, and living, in a more embodied way.
When speaking of mindfulness generally, it’s a state of being rather than doing and gives a person the chance to step back from automatic behaviors and thought patterns. Mindful eating then means incorporating the practice of mindfulness with food.
Some of the benefits of mindful eating are that you’ll know if the amount you’ve eaten is the correct amount and way to eat for your body. You’ll know this because mindful eating helps you listen to your body. And listening to your body increases the chances of knowing when you’re hungry as well as when you’re full. You’ll be in touch with what it means to be hungry on a physical level. And having an internal awareness of when you are full on a physical level can, and will with practice, translate to knowing when you are full on an emotional level. Living in this way can lead to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and a relationship with your body that is deep, real and more easeful.
Here are some ways to begin the practice of mindful eating:
Contemplate:
How did the food make it to your plate or your hand?
How the sun was a source for the energy needed to grow the food on your plate, how the farmer grew it, and how her workers picked the vegetables.
The folx involved in transporting the food, and the grocery store workers who stocked the shelves.
How you or someone else prepared the meal.
If you eat meat, honoring the living being that was sacrificed for your sustenance (can also be applied to plants) and the land on which it lived and the peoples who originally occupied that land.
Focus:
Notice sensations in your body as you eat – in particular, the smells, textures, and tastes of food.
Make it a sensual experience and take your time as you chew. Feeling, tasting and experiencing it.
Instead of judging the food or drink as “bad” or unhealthy, try to focus on the actual experience of it. (Attempt to engage with food as neutral, not good and bad/right or wrong)
If you’re interested in mindful eating, I invite you to try this practice on your own and, if you desire, to explore it through the Mindful Eating Meditation I created for you. It’s a guided audio and script to guide you step by step in the process of mindful eating so that you can deepen your connection with your body and find more ease, joy, and balance this holiday season. Click here to listen to a sample and purchase the mini program if you are called.
Remember that any practice is about progress, not perfection.
I would love to hear how it goes! Reach out if you’d like to share.
For ideas and ways to stay connected to and learn more about the unconscious through the body, feel free to stay connected.