Tag Archives: Mindfulness

Not Your Typical Holiday Eating Tips

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Healthy Eating

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Minimize holiday weight gain by eating with mindfulness.  When you deviate from your regular healthy eating, do it with awareness. Decide what you want to indulge in. Really taste what you eat and drink. Savor each bite and sip. Eat slowly and put your fork down between bites.

Check in with yourself after each bite and stop eating when that food item no longer tastes delicious, since the first few bites are generally the best tasting and most satisfying.

Serve yourself “taste size portions” to sample rather than a plateful. Then go back for more of only the foods you really found worthy of having more of. Remember that calories of holiday foods, drinks, desserts and candies can add up so much faster than you can burn them for energy.

Decide to eat a small meal, soup, salad, raw vegetables or a piece of fruit before you go to a holiday event, dinner or party, rather than arriving hungry. Then enjoy a sampling of foods while focusing on connecting with people rather than focusing on the food.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

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Movement and Focus

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Healthy Body

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Movement and focus are two aspects, that when paired together can provide the benefits of calming your body’s nervous system, leaving you relaxed and centered.  The use of movement and focus, takes us from over thinking or being on auto-pilot, to a new awareness as we are mindful about how we are positioning or moving our body.  This can have a profound calming affect on your body’s nervous system, decreasing stress and anxiety, and increasing your feeling of well-being.

In yoga the focus is on holding positions and breathing. I have tried yoga a handful of times and have had difficulties with the positions, yet loved the focus on the breathing.  The alternative I found almost 10 years ago is The Feldenkrais Method, created by Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1950’s. With Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes, the focus is on the movement and sensing the movements, this can also include sensing your breathing. There are Feldenkrais practitioners teaching this method throughout the U.S., Canada and around the world.  If you don’t find a class or practitioner in your area you can visit the online bookstore for books, CDs and DVDs.  I highly recommend the book Running With the Whole Body, by Jack Heggie. The lessons in it are great for anyone who walks, jogs or runs. 

Both yoga and the Feldenkrais Method provide additional benefits such as, better movement, posture, flexibility, coordination, athletic ability, and in many cases reduced pain. 

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

A Way to a Healthier and Happier Mind

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Healthy Mind

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I’m at my most favorite place to meditate! On the balcony overlooking the waters of Cancun. 

There are many ways to meditate, including focusing on a mantra or word like peace or love, or putting your attention on your breath as you breathe in and out.  There are also walking meditations, mindfulness meditations, prayerful meditations and recorded guided meditations.     

When first learning to meditate you may find peace and tranquility. Yet, if you are like most people, you may have runaway thoughts and feel fidgety.  Learning a form of meditation is worth the effort.  The journal Psychiatry Research, published a recent study on Neuroimaging, from Massachusetts General Hospital.  The results showed meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s grey matter.  Studies have shown that those who meditate almost 30 minutes a day on average, for eight weeks, have measurable changes in brain regions associated with their memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress response.   

With practice, meditation can provide a sense of peacefulness and stillness.  It can increase creativity, wisdom, and awareness.  Other benefits documented by research include: stress reduction, improved sleep, reduced pain levels, lowered blood pressure, decreased anxiety and depression, and even improved relationships and job performance.   

Find a meditation that works for you.   Learn more by reading about meditation, taking a class or talking with people who meditate regularly.  Or just start on your own by sitting quietly for 5-10 minutes and gradually build up to 20-30 minutes. 

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

 

Enjoy What You Eat

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Healthy Mind

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Do you have certain foods you really like, even though they may not be the healthiest?  If you don’t want to give them up, there is a method to keep you from over eating them.  Mindfulness is the act of paying close attention to what you are doing.  By applying mindfulness to eating, you slow down the process.  Here’s how it works.  Take your first bite, forkful or spoonful of food.  Smell the food as it enters your mouth.  Savor it in your mouth before you chew and swallow it.  Feel the texture on your tongue.  Chew it slowly and thoroughly before swallowing. 

Before taking another bite, ask yourself if the first one was really delicious.  You could rate it on a scale of one to three.  A one would be good but not very satisfying and not really worth the calories, a two would be good but not great, and a three would be great, delicious, satisfying, or wonderful, and worth every calorie! Then based on your rating, ask yourself if it would feel good to have another bite.  If so, then repeat the same mindfulness approach with the second bite.  Mindfully taste the food, savor it, chew it slowly and thoroughly.  Then rate that bite.  Ask yourself if you would like another bite.  Continue to do this until you reach a point where you don’t desire another bite.  Usually the first, second and maybe the third bites of anything are the best, and after that we just eat what is in front of us, not thinking about if the food is satisfying to us any longer.

Enjoy what you eat, one bite at a time!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis