You've heard this before: when you eat, just eat. To just eat, and not let mind wander, is a lot. But why should you just eat and not read a newspaper or watch TV? After all, it's just eating. But it's not just eating! Mindful eating is a commitment to being present, it's eating in real time. As such, mindful eating teaches about the essence of time: time isn't minutes, time is moments , moments of awareness. When unattended, these fleeting moments of our lives are lost from conscious experience, never to be recovered. Form a habit of starting your meal with just one bite of just eating . As you've heard a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Set a precedent of presence: take just one mindful bite at the beginning of a meal while you appreciate this opening moment of eating as a noteworthy moment of your being alive. Pledge allegiance to being present. When else will you have a chance to be right here-and-now?
Pavel Somov, Ph.D., author of EATING THE MOMENT: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time (New Harbinger, 2008) www.eatingthemoment.com
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