Email This PageMindful Eating Practices
• Eat until you are two-thirds full, then take a drink and rest a bit.
• Eat slowly, savoring each bite. Find ways of pausing as you eat, such as putting down your fork or spoon between bites.
• Chew your food thoroughly. This not only allows you to derive more pleasure from the textures and flavors, it also enhances nutrient absorption.
• Above all, know when it is not the body but the heart that is asking to be fed. Give it the nutrition that fills it up—whether that be prayer or exercise, or time with friends, family, or pets.
From Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (Shambhala Publications, Boston, 2009) by Jan Chozen Bays ’66. The book was edited at Shambhala by Eden Steinberg ’90 and incorporates research done by Jean Kristeller ’74. “So it was really a collaborative Swarthmore girls’ project,” says Bays.
