Additional resources for CHTA attendees

While I won’t include my full Powerpoint from this morning’s presentation, Digging into Our Food and Amending Our Soil with Mindful Eating, below you’ll find a few snapshots of slides we weren’t able to go into due to time constraints, highlights worth reviewing, and follow-up to several much-appreciated questions.

If you’d like to re-experience these mindful eating guided exercises, please visit here and here. Also, don’t forget to check out The Center for Mindful Eating for a comprehensive research list and many, many other resources worth accessing.

For information about the benefits of mindful eating for those that fast, I’d direct you to another mindful eating leader in the field, Dr. Michelle May, who provides this helpful article. As our own family prepares for the Jewish High Holidays, which begin tomorrow and end with Yom Kippur, including a period of fasting for those who of us who observe such spiritual rituals, I’ve found it helpful to explore the various “hungers’ that arise. For example, given my own childhood of food insecurity, anxiety can arise when I’m intentionally fasting, so I like to engage in the fast in a self-compassionate way, connecting with the meaning and purpose behind the fast (which for me personally is an opportunity to go inward, reflect upon the past year, and commit to skillful, valued actions in the year to come), and I allow myself water or even small, mindful snacks if necessary. When we do “break fast,” I find that I’m especially aware of and grateful for the nourishment I receive.

Finally, mindful eating with families is one of my passions and ironically, as this important question came up, my tween literally began knocking on my office door in the background. Such timing! I love playing with food and our children are great teachers in this area, too. This article is worth visiting and I’d heartedly recommend several books written explicitly about mindfulness practices with children – Child’s Mind, Planting Seeds, and The Mindful Child.

Of course, don’t hesitate to contact me at savor@drmcwatters.com and for those that are interested in the intersection of mindful eating + therapeutic horticulture, stay tuned for future free or low-cost educational offerings.