Non-judgment

Non-judgment

Mindfulness is the practice of paying close attention non-judgmentally, to paraphrase Jon Kabat-Zinn. Therefore mindful eating involves a tricky process. How do we observe carefully the way, the times, the amounts, the foods we eat without judging?

Mindfulness meditation or Vipassana involves noting and following the breath. In meditation we follow the in and out of air through the nostrils or the rise and fall of our chest as the air naturally enters and leaves our body. We also become acutely aware of how much our mind interferes with this simple focusing process. We think and plan and recall and worry and have all sorts of mental activity as we sit with the intention to focus on our breath. The non-judgment comes in here. We do not waste time or energy berating ourselves for “doing it wrong” when we note we have lost connection with our breath. We simply return to focus on the breath. And if we find ourselves judging, we just note, “judging” and return to our breath. If you have practice mindfulness meditation, you know how amazingly simple and yet so challenging this process is.

So, when it comes to mindful eating, it is important to note which aspects of awareness of your eating bring about the most judgment. Do you have a list of shoulds in regard to eating that bring major self-judgment when you do not perfectly attain them? If you remember that you have chosen to eat mindfully after you’ve eaten 3/4ths of the giant bag of potato chips, can you gently, kindly, remind yourself of your intent? And notice how it feels in your body, your spirit and your mind in the present moment? Just notice and learn. This would be the way of non-judgmental acceptance on the journey toward more mindful eating.

Mindful eating in a non-judgmental fashion does not mean that we have no guidelines for eating or that we throw out the reasonable food plans which help us heal and strengthen our bodies. Being non-judgmental means that we accept that we are human, we will falter, and when we become aware of eating non-mindfully, we simply return to an awareness of what is currently happening.

You can see how tricky this is – if I don’t judge, how will I know if I’ve arrived at my goal? If I don’t judge, how will I stop myself from over-eating  or mindless eating? The answer lies in viewing eating mindfully as an ongoing journey. This is not a diet that we graduate from. Learning to and committing to mindful eating calls on us to remain present in all of our eating – the times we feel proud that we are following our eating plan, and the other times when we forgot we ever had a plan and dive head long into a jelly donut. Mindful eating is the process of accepting that we do not always do it right and learning from every mindful moment.

When we pay attention non-judgmentally to our relationship to food, we will grow in understanding of our patterns and in the grace of non-judgment gain self-acceptance.

JME Affirmation for the Day:

Every day, every moment, I grow in awareness and acceptance. I treat myself lovingly today.