When I tell other moms that we observe 2 minutes of silence before dinner, they often quip “I couldn’t get my kids to be quiet for 20 seconds!”
Now I totally get that, my kids can certainly talk up a blue streak. But our 2 minute meditations started not because I want my kids to be quiet, or even because we have a big gratitude practice (which I’d like to do more often than we do) – it’s because I need to slow down when I eat.
You see, when I cook dinner, I cook up a storm and I cook fast. Everyone is hungry, there’s a lot to do and I move at top speed. Then dinner is ready and we sit down to eat. I’m still going a million miles a second and really, in order to digest my food I need to slow down.
Let me say that again…
In order to digest my food, I need to slow down.
Now that’s actually true for everyone, not just me.
Here’s how it works:
When we are hurrying along with stress fueling us, our sympathetic nervous system gets activated. That’s our fight-or-flight mode. That’s our primal response to a threat like a tiger chasing us. But here’s the thing, when our body is in fight-or-flight mode – our digestion, assimilation and calorie burning abilities slow way down.
Think about it, if you are being chased by a tiger, you need your blood and energy in your arms and legs to run or freeze, not in your belly, to enjoy and digest your dinner.
So basically, in my mad dash to dinner, I’m in a low level fight or flight – which isn’t going to let me enjoy, digest or metabolize my meal well.
That’s where the 2 minutes of meditation come in!
The mindful practice of meditating, activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Parasympathetic nervous is that “all is well in the world feeling” it’s our “rest and digest” mode. When we add mindful rituals into our relationship with food, our body can digest, assimilate and metabolize our food so much better.
But it’s always a little harder than it seems.
We know we “should” slow-down, we “should” meditate, we should eat slower and with more awareness, but how do you create those new habits and rituals that you know will heal your body?
Join the Nourished Woman Nation for compassionate support and a dynamic community of women who want the same thing.
It’s simple to join and it’s free!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every women deserves to feel good in their own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life! She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com
She helps busy women look and feel their best. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food. She helps women step into a new wellness paradigm that makes self-care real and do-able and turns it into sustainable healthy habits that
She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
What a great way to explain the difference between the sympathetic and para sympathetic nervous systems and the value of slowing down to eat our food. Thanks for a very thought provoking article.