Eating with Your 5 Senses

Whether you’re trying to lose weight, be more in the present moment, solve some digestive issues or just simply connect more with your mind-body connection, eating with your 5 senses is a great habit to adopt.

Engaging one or all of your senses during one meal a day can improve your mood, stress levels, and overall well-being.

When your 5 senses are brought to the table, your meal or snack is transformed into a mindful meditation that not only connects you with your body’s cues and signals, but also creates a moment of peace.

Here are some tips for eating with your 5 senses:

SIGHT: Before starting your meal or snack, pause and look at it closely. Look for colors, textures, and the different shapes of the ingredients. Do you see steam coming off the meal? Pause and allow your eyes to settle on whatever they are drawn too naturally.

SMELL: Take a moment and close your eyes, then take one deep breath in. What do you smell? Can you distinguish the different scents? Allow the aromas to fill your body and focus your brain onto what is in front of you. When smelling, do any specific memories come up? Allow the thoughts to flood in, and then gently come back to the present.

TOUCH: Grab the bowl, plate, or mug. Do you feel a temperature change transfer into your hands and then into your body? What thoughts/emotions come up regarding the meal you are about to eat? Pick up your utensil, is it heavy or light? If no utensils are needed, pick up the food item using your thumb and pointer finger. Allow your fingers to graze over the food, is it rough, smooth, or have ridges?

TASTE: Bring the food up to your mouth, don’t take a bite yet. Is your mouth starting to salivate? Next take a bite and chew slowly. What are you thinking about when you are chewing? Are you noticing the flavors or textures change? Once you are ready, swallow the food. Let you mouth reset before taking another bite.

HEARING: This one is best done after you finish your meal. Stay seated and put your utensils down. Place both feet flat on the floor and your hands on your thighs. Take one deep breath and close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around you. Can you name them all?

Not only do your five senses help you connect with your food, but also with yourself and how you feel.

Using one or all your senses when eating creates awareness of how foods affect you, your emotions, and your thoughts/feelings.

The more clarity you have on your relationship with food and how it affects you, then naturally you will begin to make more conscious decisions around the topic. You might see yourself having more ease to stop eating when you are full. Over time, you may disconnect with your emotional eating or experiment with other foods to see how they smell, taste or feel.

Just as everything else in life…it’s a beautiful journey to learn, grow and evolve!

Let me know how eating with your 5 senses has changed your relationship with food, your body or your health.