Aware Consuming: The Raisin Exercise and Guided Meditation | Healthy Living Heaven

Have you ever ever discovered your self reaching for a bag of chips or a sweet bar with out even realizing it? Or perhaps you’ve eaten a complete meal whereas distracted by your cellphone or tv? Right here’s a aware consuming guided meditation.

It occurs to us all! One approach to apply aware consuming is thru the “raisin” exercise, a aware consuming guided meditation that may assist you change into extra aware of your consuming habits.

Keep in mind that meals is a lot extra than simply the bodily nourishment for our our bodies, it’s additionally about enjoyment, connection, custom, social expertise, cultural expertise, inventive expression, and pleasure! It’s regular for us to expertise consuming alongside feelings or distraction. 

Aware Consuming: The Raisin Exercise and Guided Meditation

Many people wrestle with mindless eating or consuming with out being absolutely conscious of what we’re placing in our our bodies. However there’s a answer: aware consuming. By working towards mindfulness whereas consuming, we will be taught to savor and luxuriate in our meals extra absolutely, construct a extra balanced and peaceable relationship with meals, and even enhance our general well being. 

This train is a implausible approach to apply aware consuming and it may be completed with any meals!

I discovered this apply from my current coaching in MBSR (mindfulness-based stress discount). The raisin exercise is a standard mindfulness train used within the context of aware consuming. Whereas it’s not totally clear who first developed this exercise, it’s typically attributed to Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of drugs and the founding father of the Mindfulness-Based mostly Stress Discount program on the College of Massachusetts Medical College. Kabat-Zinn is well known as one of many pioneers of contemporary mindfulness apply and has contributed considerably to its integration into mainstream medication and psychology.

What Is The Raisin Exercise?

The raisin exercise is a guided meditation that includes utilizing your whole senses to mindfully eat a single raisin. This train is designed that will help you decelerate, take note of your meals, and savor each chunk.

Once more, should you don’t get pleasure from raisins or don’t have them available, use any meals you want and have.

Right here’s the way to do the raisin aware consuming meditation: 

1. Begin by discovering a cushty and quiet place to take a seat. In case you have a particular or devoted meditation space in your house, use this house. Be sure to received’t be disturbed for the following 10-Quarter-hour.
2. Take a couple of deep breaths and focus your consideration in your physique. Really feel your ft on the bottom and your again towards the chair. Permit your self to loosen up and let go of any pressure.
3. Take a raisin and maintain it within the palm of your hand. Study the raisin together with your eyes, listening to its form, shade, and texture. Discover any ridges or wrinkles on the floor.
4. Deliver the raisin as much as your nostril and take a deep breath. Discover any scent or aroma that the raisin provides off.
5. Slowly place the raisin in your mouth, however don’t chew it but. Discover the feeling of the raisin in your tongue and the within of your mouth. Permit it to take a seat in your mouth for a couple of seconds.
6. Start to chew the raisin slowly and mindfully, listening to the feeling of every chew. Discover the feel and taste of the raisin.
7. Swallow the raisin and spot the feeling of it taking place your throat.
8. Take a second to mirror in your expertise. How did it really feel to eat the raisin mindfully? Did you discover any new sensations or flavors that you simply wouldn’t have observed in any other case?

The raisin exercise is a robust software for working towards aware consuming. By bringing your full consideration to the act of consuming, you possibly can domesticate a deeper appreciation in your meals and develop a more healthy relationship with it.

Why Apply Aware Consuming?

There are various advantages to working towards mindful eating. For one, it may possibly assist you change into extra conscious of your starvation and fullness cues, permitting you to raised regulate your meals consumption and preserve your distinctive balanced weight.

Aware consuming may assist you get pleasure from your meals extra absolutely and scale back emotions of guilt or disgrace round consuming. Moreover, working towards aware consuming may help you change into extra conscious of your emotional triggers round meals and develop more healthy coping mechanisms.

Suggestions for Practising Aware Consuming

Along with the raisin exercise, there are numerous different methods to practice mindful eating. Listed below are a couple of tricks to get began:

1. Eat with out distractions: Keep away from consuming whereas watching TV, utilizing your cellphone, or working at your pc. As an alternative, focus your whole consideration in your meals.
2. Decelerate: Take your time whereas consuming, and chew every chunk completely. This may assist you savor the flavors and textures of your meals.
3. Take note of your physique: Test in together with your physique earlier than, throughout, and after consuming. Discover how these sensations really feel in your physique with no judgment and lots of self-compassion.