Do You Practice Yoga While You Eat?

You might want to, but not in the way you think

Yoga is more than poses, so when I ask if you practice yoga while you eat, I’m not suggesting that you eat while in Downward Dog. Please don’t do that. What I am suggesting is that you apply yogic principles to how you approach food and eating. What you learn on the mat is what you take with you off the mat and into your life.

When it comes to healthy eating, how you eat can be as important as what you eat.

• Do you eat your food while on the go or do you sit while you eat?
• Do you rush through your meal or do you eat slowly, tasting and savoring your food?
• Do you eat when you are not hungry, mindlessly stuffing food into your mouth without tasting it?

Slowing down, sitting, and chewing your food well can aid in digestion and can affect how your feel after you eat. It also encourages you to take a pause in your day, and to do something meaningful and supportive for yourself.

Yoga teaches Mindfulness (Sati) and Intention (Sankalpa) and when it comes to eating, these are both useful principles that will benefit you in different ways.

Eating to Numb

I am not always mindful. Sometimes I eat when I am doing other things (like writing this post). Other times I use food to numb (aka eat my feelings). When either of these things happen, there is no tasting or enjoying the food. There is only the drive to squelch whatever unpleasant feeling I am feeling. Like I describe in my book Intentional Eating: Finding Peace and Balance in Your Relationship with Food:

I feel a gnawing inside so I go to the cabinet. I find popcorn or chips and start eating, mindlessly putting my hand into the bag and shoving fistfuls into my mouth. I feel so hungry, yet even as I swallow down the whole bag, my hunger doesn’t recede.

I still feel the emptiness, like a pit in my stomach, and I go to the fridge. There are only healthy foods to choose from, because that’s what we have, but after an apple, some turkey slices, and a yogurt, I still feel the same. This vacuousness consumes me, yet my stomach feels full to bursting.

No amount of food will make this hunger go away. My mind and body are at odds and I can’t reconcile it. This hole inside will not fill with food, yet I keep trying to feed it.

This kind of hunger will never be sated with food. It’s emotional hunger, not physical hunger. That empty feeling inside won’t go away with food, it’s seeking connection, sleep, amusement, companionship, or many other possible things. Food isn’t going to fill that hole.

Applying my yoga and meditation practice to how I approach food has made this less of a problem for me in recent years. When I notice the behavior I can pause and feel what I am actually feeling. In that pause I can address my needs and change how I feel with something useful. Like a nap or a hug.

Eating from shame

When you feel ashamed, you might turn to food to manage that feeling. This is not from choice or from a grounded place, but rather from a wounded place. Shame makes you feel small, alone, and isolated. No good decisions come from shame. In order to make good decisions for yourself and feel good, you need to feel empowered.

When you eat on purpose, you take responsibility for the choices that you make. When you take responsibility, there is no shame. Shame comes from feeling like you did something bad. If you make the choice intentionally, and own it, you have no reason to feel bad. There are no “good” or “bad” foods, there is only food.

Intentional vs Mindful Eating

Mindfulness (Sati) and Intention (Sankalpa) both have a place in how you relate to eating and your food choices. Yoga teaches us to pause and breathe. When you do this when eating you feel more comfortable physically, and can pay attention to your hunger cues over all.

It takes about 20 minutes for the brain to catch up to the stomach to tell you you’ve had enough. If you eat quickly, it might be too late, you’ve overstuffed yourself. If you eat slowly, mindfully, and intentionally, you pay attention to each bite, noticing if you are still hungry and stopping when you’re not.

Eating with Mindfulness (Sati)

Mindfulness applied to eating means noticing what you are doing as you are doing it. You bring your full attention and awareness to the food that you’re eating. You aren’t also reading, watching tv or driving, you are only eating. When you eat mindfully, you pay attention to what is on the plate. You take in the colors, textures, tastes, and smells.

When you put the food on the fork, you notice the different aromas, and you may start to salivate. When you put the food in your mouth, you notice the taste, feel the textures, and feel the food in your mouth.

When you begin to chew, you feel the food mixing with the saliva and breaking down. When the food becomes liquid, you swallow. Pause. Take a breath, and start the process over again with your next bite.

Mindful eating encourages you to slow down and experience your food. It also raises your enjoyment levels. How often do you make time for joy during your day? Shouldn’t eating be joyful?

Eating with Intention (Sankalpa)

Intentional eating is similar to Mindful eating, but is a bit different. While Mindful eating is being present with your food, Intentional eating is eating on purpose. Here is when you gain control over yourself.

When you eat mindlessly to squash a feeling (boredom, anxiety, sadness, frustration, etc), there is no choice involved. You grab whatever’s there and eat until you are going to burst. There’s no control or joy, only numbness and potentially physical discomfort.

When you eat Intentionally, there IS choice. With choice comes power over yourself. You are choosing the foods you eat and are doing so on purpose. You choose the chicken and broccoli, or the grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. Maybe you even choose the ice cream. When you make a choice, there is no shame. Your decision comes from a place of grounded intention. There is no rush, only space to make the best decision for yourself at that moment.

You may choose to treat yourself. You might feel the need of more protein. If you realize you haven’t had a fruit or a vegetable lately, perhaps you make that choice. The idea is to move away from shame and emotional eating by taking back control over yourself.

With choice comes power over yourself.

Coming in September!

I am running a 6 week online course called Intentional Eating: Finding Peace and Balance with Your Relationship to Food (same title as my book. They they work together, but each also can stand alone).

This program will help you feel more confident and in control over your eating habits. I give you tools to regain power over yourself to make the best decisions for you. Discover the beliefs that are holding you back, learn what drives you to eat when you are not hungry, and understand your behaviors without shame or judgment.

Learn to be kinder and gentler to yourself around food. Let go of shame. Learn common sense strategies to guide you toward food that fuels your body and gives you energy. Feel supported by a small community of people who have the same struggles that you have. Feel safe, seen, and supported without judgment.

This is a mindset reset, no diets or restrictions.

Limited to 5 people. Recieve my book Intentional Eating as part of the course! Click the button below for more information or to sign up!