So I couldn’t help thinking about the Simon and Garfunkel song when I read about the latest research coming out in the Journal of Consumer Research. The research demonstrates the need to “slow down” if you want to get more pleasure out of your life, particularly during activities such as eating. As you know, we are
As a health psychologist working with people who are trying to change their relationship with food and their bodies, I don’t put a focus on weight. That is problematic for a wide variety of reasons and it usually doesn’t help. Instead, I ask people to pay attention to how their bodies feel as they do certain activities
If you have been getting my blog, you might have noticed that I recently changed the name from Tips for Mindful Eating: it’s more than just about food to Tasting Mindfulness. This new name resulted from a project I recently completed with a group of four fantastic journalism students here at the University of Missouri. They
It may sound surprising to hear that your body needs a break every 90 to 120 minutes throughout the day. Why does that shock us? In many ways, it’s because we might not be aware of our body throughout the day. If you feel like you’re on autopilot, plowing through the day and turning to
Did you know you had so many hungers? Jan Chozen Bays, MD, presents us with the model of them in her book “Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food.” The seven hungers are eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, mind hunger, cellular hunger, and heart hunger. According to
A few years ago Jon Kabat-Zinn and others within the mindfulness community were given time to spend with some members of Congress. The message seemed to take with Representative Tim Ryan and he now has a book out, A Mindful Nation, describing his belief in the power of “meditative mindfulness” to effect change in people’s
I’ve mentioned the benefits of local eating in previous posts, such as by gardening and by frequenting the Farmer’s Market. Now I want to explain how seasonal eating relates to this idea, and why we should consider the sustainable alternative to the industrial food industry. Eating sustainably includes eating locally because it’s a great way
If you’ve needed an affirmation about eating, here it is. The Eater’s Agreement (from the book, Nourshing Wisdom) goes like this: “I recognize that at its deepest level, eating is an affirmative of life. Each time I eat I agree somewhere to continue life on earth. I acknowledge that this choice to eat is a
I know it is really hard to be a conscious consumer all of the time, but I think it’s important not to put our heads in the sand. My mother sells fair trade chocolate (and other goodies) at her store called the Global Market at the Community United Methodist Church. She sent me this link
This week in my Eat for Life class I asked people to explore the world of food in order to so have more pleasure in their eating experiences. You know how you can get in a rut with food–eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, dinner day in and day out. This week I implored
