Sometimes we fall asleep at the wheel of life, lol…hey, it happens! Meditation allows us to take a step outside of ourselves and see the big picture. If you think about it, most of the eating we do is in fact MIND-LESS, but, by reprogramming your mindset, you can in turn become more MIND-FUL about your decisions and kick bad habits to the curb. Creating more awareness through mindfulness takes time and dedication. Here are some of my favorite ways to create awareness through mindfulness.

But before we do that let’s get clear on what I mean when I say awareness, identification of triggers, and behavioral prevention.

AWARENESS: meditation allows you to become more aware of your thoughts and actions around food. It also opens up your eyes to WHAT and HOW you are eating.

IDENTIFICATION OF TRIGGERS: the WHY and WHEN. Mindfulness allows you to focus on your environment and the cues that cause you to over eat and make poor choices.

BEHAVIORAL PREVENTION: once you are aware of the unwanted behaviors and triggers, you can start to reshape your mindset and routine to eliminate them for good.

Now that we understand what we want to practice let’s talk about how to take action!

Ways to get started:

-pick a time you can devote 5 minutes of silence to consistently (no PHONES!) just be still and silent for 5 minutes
-start paying attention to your thoughts when you are driving, in the shower, walking, etc
-before you get out of bed each morning, take 3 deep breaths and affirm out loud “I will honor my body and mind today”
-write down 3 truths about your body and health, keep them with you, and affirm them several times a day. 🧘🏼‍♀

Select a safe and quiet location. You can choose where to meditate; your favorite chair? On the porch? It’s up to you.
Relax in a specific comfortable posture, such as sitting, lying down, standing, or walking.
Choose your focus of attention. You can focus on a word or affirmation, your breath, or something else.
You are an innocent bystander. It’s normal to have other thoughts while you meditate. Try not to get too caught up in those thoughts. Simply notice them, and keep bringing your attention back to your breath Remember that meditation is the PRACTICE of focusing your attention in order to find calm and clarity. Detach from your thoughts, no judgement.

Pick an area or two in terms of your personal development or wellness goals where you are wanting to be a tad more mindful. *the goal is to challenge yourself to push just a little more by creating more awareness around your behaviors.

My favorite ways to create more awareness/mindfulness:

Create conscious awareness 3 times a day.

Techniques to foster this:

Grounding: breat hwork, journal, feet in grass or sand, go out in nature, meditate, however you can connect to your body and mind without distraction.

Journal: try to stream whatever thoughts are present, even if it takes a minute for them to come to you. Try to resist the urge to “flow” or create some organized narrative – take time to move through and observe some of your thoughts and patterns that maybe you didn’t even realize were there.

Meditate: guided meditations are great but I would love to challenge each of you to attempt a silent meditation, where you just sit quietly and breathe.

Play/Create

Quiet time

Breath work

 

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