MINDFUL EATING (forthcoming workshops in March and April with Jan Eaton)

Eating is a very complex activity, and many of us have a poor relationship with food. In our busy lives we often don’t pay enough attention to the experience of eating, and this can lead to a loss of enjoyment of food, a chaotic style of eating, and over- or under-eating.

We have lost the ability to eat when we’re hungry rather than according to the clock, and to stop when we’re full. Most of us are familiar with comfort eating, of being persuaded to have another piece of cake when we don’t really want it, of being tempted to eat more than we need at a party, or of eating whilst surfing the internet or watching TV.

We end up riddled with guilt or shame, we beat ourselves up, we put ourselves down, we lose trust in our own judgement, and on top of that we’re overwhelmed with conflicting messages from the media about what we should be eating.

Mindful eating addresses our thoughts, feelings and behaviours in a very gentle, compassionate and non-judgemental way. It explores how, where, why and when we eat rather than what we eat – though of course this is important too and is not overlooked.

Mindful eating helps us to increase awareness, on all levels, and to be more tuned in to our needs. It explores physical, emotional, social, environmental and cognitive cues to eating, and helps us to increase our enjoyment of food by learning to savour every mouthful.

Mindful eating can be beneficial for weight management, for exploring unhelpful patterns of eating, and generally improving our relationship with food.

I offer one-to-one sessions at the Open Door Clinic, or group sessions/courses, which are a safe and supportive way of learning how to eat more mindfully.

There are 2 five-week courses starting this Spring:

The first starts on Monday 4th March, from 10 – 12am;

The second starts on Tuesday 23rd April, from 2 – 4pm.

You can find more information about the mindful eating approach on my website (www.janeaton.co.uk), or feel free to call me on 07891 325819 if you have any queries.