Most people live thinking about the negative events that have happened to them, or worrying about everything bad that could happen.
In situations like this, the mind forgets the present and wanders between the past and the future Therefore, through Mindfulness, psychotherapy professionals aim for people to be able to live their lives, experiencing their present and with full attention.
The official Spanish translation of Mindfulness is “Atación Plena”. And what is Mindfulness?
The practice of Mindfulness consists of pay attention to a single thing, sustained over time and without passing judgment The goal here is not to leave your mind blank, since the more you try to do it, the more complicated it will be, but to focus your attention on the present moment.
If you give your mind something to focus on, such as your own breathing, you train your mind to redirect your thoughts and attention to where you want. When we pay attention to just one thing, the mind calms down and takes us to a state of greater tranquility
Meditation is not something simple; We are used to the famous multitasking (doing many tasks at the same time) and when we try to concentrate on a single thing our mind begins to wander: we are assaulted by worries, negative thoughts, limiting beliefs, etc.
In Mindfulness workshops it is common for patients to become frustrated for not being able to stay in the present and getting carried away by their distractions. However, It is very important not to live the process with impatience, judgment and frustration
Having understood these basic concepts of Mindfulness, we can introduce the concept of mindful eating.
What is Mindful Eating?
Living your life from Mindfulness does not only apply to the moment of meditation as such. We can watch a series, go for a walk and even eat from Mindfulness.
Mindful Eating involves eating while being aware of the taste and smell of food, being attentive to signs of satiety and be connected to the emotions we experience in the present.
This is where the concept of emotional hunger comes in. How can we differentiate between emotional hunger and physiological hunger?
Emotional hunger appears suddenly, it does not do so gradually, and When it arises, we tend to crave more sweet or high-calorie foods We usually start eating because of a specific emotion (anger, sadness, boredom, etc.) and we feel a certain relief when eating the food.
However, this relief only lasts a few seconds. Immediately afterwards, the initial emotion that causes us to start eating appears, and this time it may be stronger, since guilt is added to it.
If we turn to food to calm an emotion, the most dangerous thing is not to gain weight, it is to ignore an emotional need that is not being attended to. Emotional hunger comes into our lives to scream something at us. It can come from a lack of self-care, poor management of work stress or problems in interpersonal relationships. However, if we eat instead of attending to our real needs, emotional hunger will scream louder.
I always explain this metaphor to my patients: eating to, for example, calm sadness, is like scratching a mosquito bite. In the moment it relieves, but in the long run it is worse
The HEVA technique
One of the most used techniques in psychonutrition sessions is the HEVA technique. Do you want to put it into practice?
During this week I want that you answer the following questions at every lunch and dinner
h for hunger
From 0 to 10, rate the answer to this question: What is your real hunger level?
E for emotion
Do you think you are calming down or have you tried calm some emotion with this intake ?
V for speed
How fast or slow are you eating? If we eat too quickly, we often do not detect that we are already full If you wait a few minutes, you will give yourself the opportunity to check if you really need to eat more food or if, on the contrary, you already feel completely satisfied.
A for attention, Mindfulness
Where are you putting the focus? It is essential that when we eat we avoid the famous multitasking
Watching television, working, studying or doing any other activity while eating means that we are not focusing our attention on the activity of eating. This precisely invites us to eat faster, not enjoy the taste of food and therefore can facilitate binge eating or compulsive eating.
