Enjoy Your Food
Listen to your body
Last weekend we had our Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit, it was full of great tips, strategies and inspiration for us to go forward and be our best selves going forward. To try and capture it all would take a book, or perhaps many books, not a blog so I am not going to try here.
One of the things that came out of the summit for me was the reminder to tune into our own bodies and listen to what they are telling us. I am fascinated by the way that the body and brain operate subconsciously in response to stimuli, for example someone rolls their eyes at a staff meeting which might cause fearfulness (of disconnection from the group, isolation, potential conflict etc) and so our adrenal glands produce more adrenalin, our heart rate increases slightly, our breathing changes, our muscles tense a little and then consciousness hooks in when we notice some discomfort or funny feeling in our chest which might be a while later... but by now we are right wound up! The better we learn to tune in to our body, the better we are able to be aware of the internal conversations that are happening under the radar and then make better decisions for ourselves.
This also relates to our choices around health and wellbeing. So how might listening to what our body is telling us help us make more great food choices for our bodies?
As Catrina Bengree said it is about noticing when we feel hungry, not avoiding any particular food so eating what we want and enjoying it, importantly noticing when we are satisfied and then focusing on something else. We are less likely to have a 'snackcident' if we are listening to our bodies and responding to our hunger/satisfaction cues and then moving away from the food when we are satisfied! Eating consciously, or mindfully, helps us tune in. So focus on what you are eating and enjoy that rather than eating in front of a TV or flicking through social media.
We eat for a variety of reasons that aren't always to do with hunger. For some of us we just eat out of habit like my grandmother who always had a slice of bread with jam at the end of her evening meal, she called it a plug. Tuning in to our body helps us become aware of our habits and adapt them if they are not serving us. For some of us we eat in response to our emotional state- we eat because we are sad, angry, bored, stressed, tired, lonely. This can become a problem if we aren't aware of our emotional state and eat whatever to avoid facing what is eating us! It all comes back to us tuning in and listening.
There is so much wisdom inside us, we just have tune in and listen.
This Joyful January project is part of the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit: Restore your health, boost your wellbeing and embark on a happy healthy lifestyle for 2021 That is exactly what the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit is all about. YOU having the knowledge, skills, support and most importantly the WHY to make your health, energy and vitality a priority for 2021 and beyond. This was held live on 22nd - 24th Jan with 17+ heart centred wellness experts and a 3 hour vision board online workshop- recordings are available NOW Find out all the details here: please follow this link: https://www.spectrumeducation.com/happy-healthy-teachers-matter-online-summit-home/ |
No comments:
Post a Comment