January 12, 2012
Mindful Eating with Alison Gaines
We gathered together for an experience of eating mindfully led by Alison Shore Gaines, a nutrition and lifestyle educator. She believes that how we eat is almost as important as what we eat. Mindful eating is a practice of slowing down, relaxing and tuning into one’s body and chewing each mouthful fully.
When we focus on fully experiencing our meal, food tastes better, we tend to eat less and we are more deeply satisfied. Chewing well also aids digestion. Every meal is an opportunity to tune in, to nourish and nurture body, mind, heart and soul.
In this program, Alison guided us to feel where we sense physical hunger in the body. We took a few minutes at the beginning of the meal to focus on chewing and to learn the points of “mastery” in eating mindfully. After we finishing the meal, we shared our insights in a safe, compassionate circle.
Bio: A Holistic Health Educator and Transformational Life Coach, Alison’s background includes training in many diet modalities (ayurveda, macrobiotics, raw foods) as well as yoga, mindfulness practices and transpersonal psycholology.
www.sacrednourishment.com
Alison has been leading life changing retreats since 1988 at Kripalu Center, Omega Institute and other centers nationwide. Her work centers on healing one’s relationship with food through mindfulness exercises, holistic nutrition and a sensible, balanced approach to cleansing.
The evening program was preceded by a brief annual meeting.