Feeding Your Soul

by Roma Palmer

When people think of mindfulness, they often think of someone sitting cross-legged in meditation. This is certainly one way to practice mindfulness, but we can find mindfulness in many ways throughout our day. Gardening, cooking, and eating are daily activities that can be practiced mindfully. I know these areas, particularly cooking and eating, can be triggering for some people. A heads up that this is the content of this post. Even the thoughts, emotions or physical sensations you notice when food-related content is mentioned is a form of mindfulness. For some people that may be positive, for others the sensations may be negative. For those for whom it is negative, perhaps this is as far as you can go with this post. That is okay. 

Food is a tricky one if we have issues around eating, our weight, or rules we have about food and eating. Of course I do not want to be insensitive to these issues, but I hope to share ideas for how to encourage a positive connection with food.

Getting our hands in soil can be a healing and grounding activity. Whether growing food or flowers, being in nature has a positive impact on mental health. We connect with our senses and focus on the present moment. Cooking can also be a mindful activity. Our senses are engaged, we slow down, and there are opportunities to share the activity with others to create community. Lastly, eating can be a mindful, grounding activity. Too often we rush through cooking and eating as if they were a means to an end rather than an end in and of themselves. How can you create time in your day to consider the food you eat and how it cares for your body, mind and soul?

A big part of gardening, cooking and eating mindfully is perspective. It takes time to slow down and consider our food choices, set aside time to grow food and to plan our meals in advance so we can then take the time to prepare and eat a delicious meal. I do understand that the thought and time required can be barriers to prioritizing our physical and mental health. All I ask is that you put this information into your brain to use when you have the capacity. Maybe you only take one small step, but that step can be the start of a new relationship with yourself and with food.