Tip #5: The Joy of Mindful Eating!

Welcome!

Currently, I’m sharing my Top Ten Tips for embracing and integrating meditation and mindfulness into everyday life.

There are countless ways to bring meditation into your day, and I have a few favorites that I’m excited to share with you. Why? Because many people shy away from meditation, thinking it’s only for monks or that it’s too hard and out of reach—especially for those with children, demanding careers, or busy lives.

I’ve already shared four of my favorite daily practices, and we’re just at the start of the workday!

So, how else can we find spaciousness and a mindful rest during a busy office day?

Mindful Eating + Lunch

By the time we finally take a meal break (whether we eat or not), our stress response has already been triggered—often starting with the alarm clock or the rush to get everything done for the family before we even arrive at work.

Then, many of us eat at our desks or grab something quickly before rushing to our next meeting, only adding to our stress and making it harder for our bodies to digest properly.

I remember how often I would grab a quick bite in a city food court, choosing the fastest option—not necessarily the healthiest—and eating as I walked between meetings. This led to poor food choices: overeating, eating too quickly, skipping meals, or loading up on carbs and fried foods, which left me mentally fatigued and stuck in the dreaded afternoon slump.

There’s a clear link between slow, mindful eating and a sharp, focused mind—and the opposite, fast, mindless eatingand a fuzzy, distracted state of mind. Digestion requires a lot of energy, and when our gut is busy processing food, it can’t keep our mind fully engaged. Something has to give—guess which one?

But when we eat mindfully, it becomes a beautiful and healthy way to refuel our mind, body, and spirit. My Chocolate Meditation is a great example—it’s always a favorite (and a special treat!), but truly, any food becomes more enjoyable when we’re fully present in the act of eating.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindfulness is the practice of cultivating clear, stable, and non-judgmental attention to the present moment, with kindness.

Mindful Eating is the practice of paying deliberate attention to the whole process of eating. It’s about noticing the colors, smells, flavors, textures, and even the sounds of our food. It also includes being aware of our mood and mental state as we consider eating. What does hunger actually feel like? How does our body respond to this plate of food? Are we truly present while eating, or is our mind elsewhere?

A 2014 study by American researchers found that mindful eating can help reduce binge eating, emotional eating, and overeating. It also enhances our enjoyment of food and helps us become more attuned to our body’s hunger and fullness signals.

Mindful Eating can help us:

  • Recognise the difference between eating out of hunger and eating for emotional reasons or boredom. (Hunger often builds gradually and comes with signals like tiredness, irritability, or a grumbling tummy.)
  • Listen to our body’s signals. Digestion involves complex hormonal exchanges, and it takes at least 20 minutes for the brain to register fullness.
  • Slow down and savour. When we eat quickly, we tend to overeat. By slowing down, we’re more likely to notice when we’re full, or when we’re eating out of habit.
  • Reduce emotional eating. Many of us eat to cope with stress, sadness, loneliness, or boredom. Mindfulness helps us become more aware of our true motivations for eating.
  • Prolong the enjoyment of food. Slowing down allows us to extract maximum pleasure from each bite. D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!

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Simple Ways to Practice Mindful Eating

  1. Savor. I love my coffee! From the moment I think about enjoying one, to walking to the café, ordering, inhaling the aroma, and savouring the first sip—I’m fully engaged in the experience. You can do this with tea, a smoothie, or even a bowl of soup. Fully explore the experience.
  2. Just Eat. Try eating without distractions. Put away your phone, book, or laptop—even for just a few bites. Notice the texture (smooth, crunchy, hot, cold), flavours (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami), and the whole experience from plate to tummy.
  3. Family Time. Make meals more mindful by turning off the TV. Try a five-minute silent eating practice, giving thanks to those who prepared the meal.
  4. Alone in Silence. Once a week, eat a meal mindfully and in silence. If you often eat at your desk, take your lunch outside instead. Relish the fresh air, the environment, and the chance to refresh in nature.
  5. Timing. Set a timer for 20 minutes to slow down your meal. My grandmother used to encourage us to chew each bite 50 times – it really does make a difference!
  6. Mix It Up. Try eating with your non-dominant hand or using chopsticks. Put down your utensils between bites. These small shifts keep you present and engaged.
  7. Check-in. Are you truly hungry, or is there another emotion at play?

A Mindful Eating (Chocolate or Something Special) Practice

We experience so many flavors, textures, and aromas in food, but we rarely take the time to truly notice them. The Chocolate Meditation is a wonderful way to bring mindfulness into eating—and it’s delicious!

Here, chocolate serves as a metaphor for life: richer, more complex, and sweeter when experienced fully.

  1. Choose one piece of chocolate. Yes, just one! Selecting the perfect piece can be part of the adventure.
  2. Sit down with your chocolate in front of you, setting an intention to be fully present.
  3. Observe the chocolate, its colour, texture, and shape, as if you’ve never seen chocolate before.
  4. Pick it up and smell it. Inhale deeply. What aromas do you notice?
  5. Pause and check-in. Do you feel eager to eat it? Are you hungry, bored, excited?
  6. Reflect on all the natural and human effort that brought this chocolate to you—from the cacao trees to the farmers, the sun, the rain, and the workers.
  7. Run the chocolate over your lips before eating. What can you taste before biting?
  8. Place it in your mouth—but don’t chew yet. Let it melt. Notice the texture and how your body reacts.
  9. When you finally bite, listen for the sound. Do you feel the urge to eat more quickly? Can you slow down?
  10. Swallow slowly, savouring the sensation.
  11. Notice how long the flavour lingers. How do your body and mind feel now?

People are often amazed by how intensely they experience chocolate—or any food—when they eat mindfully. I promise you: a single piece of quality chocolate, eaten with full awareness, is far more satisfying than an entire block consumed on autopilot.

I encourage you to try a Chocolate Meditation this week!

Would you like to experience a Chocolate Meditation, or other forms of meditation, in your organisation and with your team? I offer a range of meditation classes, lunchtime learning sessions and meditation programs and would be happy to tailor something that works for your team (onesite or online) – sarah@quietmind.com.au

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Top 10 Tips Series:

Integrating Meditation into Your Day
A Day of Meditation: Tip #1 – Mindful Waking
A Day of Meditation: Tip #2 – Mantra on the Commute
A Day of Meditation: Tip #3 – Moments Waiting
A Day of Meditation: Tip #4 – Mindful Meeting Minute