Explore modern Ayurvedic principles of mindful eating, like chewing slowly, eating and cooking with intention, and aligning meals with nature’s rhythms.

Have you gone through an entire meal and realized you really didn’t even taste—or enjoy—what you just consumed? Maybe you scarfed down some food while scrolling on social media or responding to emails or driving in the car. And maybe you felt bloated or heavy or tired 20 minutes later, but maybe that’s pretty normal for you, so you didn’t think anything of it. For many, this is the norm in this crazy, busy modern world. It’s much less common today than any other decade to not make mealtimes their own event. Eating often feels more like a burden or addiction that we fit in out of necessity—or desire—and less out awareness and what’s best for our bodies.

How We Eat Our Meals Affects How We Digest Our Meals

I want to help change that. Not only is food an essential substance that fuels every action in our body, but the way we eat determines how well we benefit from even the healthiest, most balancing foods. HOW you eat affects your digestion, sometimes even significantly. Beyond that, your eating habits has also impact your stress levels, the extent of inflammation in your body, your weight, and how optimally (or not) other systems of the body function.

Ayurvedic mindful eating takes it a little deeper than some modern approaches to eating more consciously—and that’s where I hope to shine some light. The best part about mindful eating is that some of the results are quite immediate—you may quickly realize you’re full before you finish everything on your plate, you’ll feel less stressed following meals and more relaxed and satiated, you may feel lighter and leaner in your tummy, you may quickly get in touch with your natural appetite (verses eating out of habit or cravings), and you may even enjoy food more—even the healthier foods that you didn’t used to love but would eat anyways.

Simple Modern Ayurveda Mindful Eating Practices

While there are many points to divulge when it comes to mindful eating, I want to present 6 unique ones that may challenge your thinking (and eating habits), but all have logical explanations, are surprisingly quite simple to maneuver in to your current routines, and can significantly impact your digestion and health:

MINDFUL EATING STARTS WITH MINDFUL COOKING

While this isn’t always a mindful eating principle I include in discussion, I have increasingly come to appreciate the importance of how we show up for the cooking process. If you are resentfully chopping vegetables and throwing meat in a pan because you’re tired and got home late, but have to cook for your family regardless, what kind of energy are you putting into the food your preparing?

We have all seen how plants respond to various music and how water crystal formation varies based on the intention the water is infused with, making this concept sounds less and less woo woo the more we understand how everything is just energy and frequency—including our emotions—and thus how energy and frequency can affect all forms of matter. So when cooking and preparing meals for yourself and loved ones, aim to be more present and find joy in the process (even if you’re tired or grumpy). You may find that the food grounds you and fuels you better than a typical meal because of it. That’s also why I try to limit my exposure to restaurants and foods prepared by others. I’ve worked in restaurants and have witness time and time again how stressed-out chefs and cooks tend to get. While some love their job, most are overworked and underpaid—so do you think they are instilling love and good vibes into your food? And is it possible that their stressed out, negative energy impacts the food arrives to your table? Just food for thought!

My advice when coking: Feel your feet grounded on the floor before you start prepping food. Check in with how you’re feeling. Do you need to take a few breaths to reset? How can you leave your stressors at the kitchen door so you can find joy and ease in the cooking experience? Figure out how to show up fully for the food prep process and not let yucky thoughts creep in. Turn on upbeat music and enjoy some soothing tea if that sounds good!

EAT YOUR MEAL IN PEACE—AND IN A PEACEFUL SETTING

This mindful eating tips needs little explanation as it makes sense that you would want to remove yourself from any stressful encounter, influence, or situation when working towards having a more mindful meal. While this sounds simple in theory, the challenge is often the implementation. Many of us multitask while we eat—eat while driving to work, eat while working, eat in front of the news, all in which have the potential to really stress one out!

So my challenge to you is to make eating an intentional experience by creating designated meal times and meal locations. How? Consider getting up 15 minute earlier (at least) so you can sit and enjoy your breakfast at a clean and tidy dining room table. Is there a location at work where you can go enjoy your lunch that’s not at your desk or in your office? Can you walk to a park nearby or find a bench outside? Will it kill you to take 20 minutes for lunch even if you’re used to working through lunch? And can you turn dinners into sanctuary meals? Setting the table with nice dishes, lighting a candle, getting your family together, turning off the TV, and just enjoying the meal in peace without other distractions?

We already understand that eating mindfully without distraction and other stressors/triggers present improves our ability to digest our food and to not overeat—so now it’s just a matter of looking at your unique situation and figuring out how to have most of your meals in a peaceful manner so you can optimize your nutrient absorption and digestive capacity.

TAKE THREE BREATHS BEFORE YOUR MEAL AND CHECK IN WITH YOUR BODY

My favorite practice as it’s very easy and requires no more than 30 seconds of effort. All this entails is that you take three slow deep belly breaths before you even touch your food. Why should you do this? Well especially if you’re coming out of a stressful encounter or situation, you may need to bring your nervous system back into the rest and digest state and our fight or flight. If we are in fight or flight, the body isn’t primed for efficient digestion (it’s primed to fight or flee). You can “trick” the body into being relaxed by breathing deeply into your belly, helping to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Now you’re more likely to properly digest and process the food on your plate.

This also helps to slow you down so you may approach your food a little less rushed. And, this gives your brain and body time to prepare to digest the food in front of you—because even by looking at and smelling your food, your body begins to prepare the proper enzymes for the digestive process soon to happen. So slow down. Take three slow, deep breaths. Check in with how you’re feeling in your tummy, mind, and body. Try to relax a bit and tune into the food in front of you. Like I said, this practice takes seconds and can change the entire course of your meal and digestion.

REST BETWEEN BITES AND SAVOR THE FLAVORS

Over the years I have noticed that many people are tired of being told to slow down while they eat (my husband included) as it just doesn’t make sense as to why it matters—the food all gets in at some point, right? While it may not change the number of calories you consume, slowing down, resting your fork down between bites, and taking a few extra moments to chew eat bite and enjoy all the flavors has been observed to improve how well we digest our food—and how our digestion feels as a result.

 When you scarf down food, barely chewing and barely tasting, you’re not thoroughly breaking down the food in your mouth (ideally, chewed food should become an almost liquid mush before shallowing, which could mean chewing 30-40t times per bite) and setting up the stomach for success. You also produce amylase in your saliva, which begins the process to breaking down complex carbohydrates. So if we barely chew, we barely coat the food. And then there is the sensory component: if we tune into the flavors and qualities present in the food, the brain responds more accurately by sending more-appropriately attuned gastric juices, enzymes, and acids to continue the digestive process in later stages of the digestive system. Also, you will likely get more enjoyment out of your food, feeling more contend, less overly full, and you may even realize you don’t need to eat as much as your originally thought!

WAIT THREE TO FIVE HOURS BEOFRE YOUR NEXT MEAL (OR SNACK)

This is a very easy ask for some, and a very difficult ask for others (yes, I am talking to you picker snackers—those who pick at snacks over hours while working or driving or doing any other kind of task). Also for those desert lovers—listen up!

Simply explained: it takes at least three hours for an entire meal to move out of the stomach after being properly digested. If you eat heavier foods (lots of meats, fried foods, large meals in general), this process takes longer. If we are to eat or snack an hour or so after we finish our meal, what does that do to the digestion already in action? It stumps your tummy! Where does the attention go now? To the food currently being digested or to the food just entering the stomach? Which enzymes and acids need to be released in response?

Digestion, when given the proper support by the human, is a perfectly timed and designed process. As the foods is broken down more and more, the environment of the stomach changes to accommodate. If we disrupt that process by adding more food to the mix, the stomach has to shift gears, leaving some food partially digested. This is why some feel bloated, crampy, or heavy after meals—or even small snacks. And the same concept applies to desert. So my advice? Eat your dessert directly after (or with) your meal and don’t eat again for 3-5 hours. If you need a snack, wait three hours (or eat more fats and proteins in the previous meal to hold you over longer). And for those picker snackers, maybe substitute your habit with a lovely tasting digestive tea and try to sip instead of snack.

AVOID COLD BEVERAGES WITH MEALS—AND IN GENERAL

Yes, you read that correctly—goodbye ice water. I will never understand how we got to the point where ice cold water (especially in restaurants) is the norm. We have gradually conditioned our pallets to enjoy ice water and despise lukewarm water—even in cold seasons! I have been drinking warm water long enough where I can’t stand the feel of iced water—I will either not drink water at a restaurant or ask for water without ice (which only half the time arrives without ice).

But why does this matter? When it comes to your digestion, and digestive fire (agni), which is an essential concept in Ayurveda when looking at overall health and digestive capacity, this is a significant topic of discussion. Think of it this way: your body temperature is 97ish degrees, correct? Iced water is not too much above 32 degrees. Your body likes to maintain homeostasis, as we all learned in middle school biology, so that 32ish dree water has to be warmed up to body temperature in order to absorb and assimilate into our system—which takes effort and can distract from the digestive process if we drink iced water with meals. Another way to look at is with the campfire metaphor: as stated above, Ayurveda refers to the stomach as the house of the digestive fire—because we want a hot, balanced flame (aka internal environment) to properly digest and break down the food. If we throw ice water on the flame, what happens? It dulls and disrupts the fire—causing bloating, gas, and other uncomfortable signs of indigestion. Drinking room temperature to slightly warm water does the opposite—it supports the digestive environment, and if you drink an appropriate  amount with you meals (around 4-6 ounces, avoiding drinking too much more than that), then is aids the breakdown and absorption of food. Check out this post to learn more on why you should switch to warm water ALL DAY LONG!

Keep Mindful Eating Simple and Start Today

None of these are difficult—nor do they require you to change what you consume at all (expect for avoiding cold fluids, which I do strongly recommend you try). You can start implementing these practices with your next meal and not have to buy any new equipment or commit to a membership or even feel guilty about what you eat—you just have to start by showing up for yourself. The best part is—once you start feeling better in your tummy and are more conscious of how you’re eating, you may naturally and effortlessly be drawn to eating more wholesome, balancing foods. A big part of why we make poor foods choices is because we lack the awareness of what we are even putting in our body and fail to connect to how we feel when we consume artificial or processed or fried things. But once we slow down, check in more frequently with our gut, and learn how to enjoy food again, the things you used to crave (like that McDonalds’ Big Mac or your daily Starbucks Frappuccino), may start so feel unsettling in your gut even by just bringing it into your awareness.

You body wants to heal, and your consciousness wants to lead that process by directing you to make the most harmonious choices. However, the ego or society’s influences are pretty loud these days and tend to tune out the gentle whisper of our inner knowing. But that voice is always there—and mindful eating practices can be one way to slowly peel back the voices that direct us to make unhealthy choices and clear the way for more conscious, balanced eating and living.