Nowadays we read and hear a lot about Mindfulness and the need to be in the present moment. But what that really means?

To be present means to be totally aware of what it is happening in the present moment, being completely aware of what is happening within us and around us without any judgement or preconception. This way we feel more peace in the inside; we feel more connected with ourselves and the others and we place us on the life flow. There, we can witness the life unfolding in front of us and live each given experience as an opportunity to learn and evolve in better human beings.

Mindfulness can also help us in losing weight. It is a magic tool that can help us a lot in improving our eating habits and facilitate our digestion, this away avoiding from the blowing stomach episodes and from irritability, from lack of energy and raise in weight. Yes, Mindfulness can do all that! And it is at your reach.

We need to adopt the same principles of mindfulness during the act of eating.

When we eat, we need to be completely aware of the act of eating, savouring each single bite, feeling the taste and the nourishment it brings.

But to do that we need to silent the noisy mind and bring it to that specific action, to that bite, to its flavour and taste. This way we will dedicate time (and mind!) to one of the most important actions in the day, recharge our machine that we so preciously need, to live this existence. There, being present in each moment, we will catch the real nature of our essence and the relation that connects us to every other thing.

The same fact of eating with awareness will make us wanting to chew more slowly and more times, in gratefulness of the food we are receiving. Feeling how that food is nourishing us.

When we will get in touch so deeply with the food, we will also wake up our sensitivity towards it. We might also realize then that one food is healthier than another or that one food is not making me feel so good.

Moreover, if we chew with presence, slower and more times, we help the digestive system to make less effort in digesting the food. It is common knowledge that the digestion starts in the mouth but that really happen when we give the enough time to grind the food, this way making the digestion faster. And when we digest faster, our organism can invest time in something else, for example defending from external agents and boost the immune system. And we avoid from phenomena of fermentation. The body who digest fast is a body with more energy as first thing. More energy, more focus, more beauty from within. The metabolism can easier get to balance, we won’t witness so many phenomena of blowing stomach and we won’t take extra weight.

Lets go a bit further. The will to lose weight shall be seen as an opportunity not as a battle; an opportunity of deep comprehension of the source of that difficulty which is not just the condition of the single person. It is a collective condition. We are bombarded by a wrong nutrition message. The promotion all around us is pushing us to eat heavy and fat food and circumstances make that we eat not only unhealthy food but we also over eat.

So the big change stays in recognizing our personal condition and the one of the community we are part of.

Being in the present moment allow us to perceive the community influence on our eating habits. It will give us deep comprehension of the mechanisms that are activated that drive us to eat that package of chips or that bar of chocolate. If I am present, I can perceive those emotions that are making me willing to cover them with food and suffering. But If I get aware of all this, If I embrace my sufferance, if I realize the wrong promotion around me,  I might stop from those wrong habits and in the next moment of calm, try to understand where all this comes from. Once I am connected with my inner self, in the present moment, I can find peace in the inside and use the food to nourish me instead of punishing me. I would embrace my suffering and I will give it the right place to be.

The deep comprehension will allow the wished and long lasting transformation. Once we are more aware of our body and feelings, we will have more intuition on which food is better for us and what its consequences on us. This way, transformation will deeply occur and you will be able to control your weight and live a healthier life. As a consequence this new approach to life will give you more and more inner peace.