I came upon this book accidentally in the new cook book section at the Carnegie library. I took a glance and the contents seemed interesting. So on my driving home, I listened to the guided mindfulness exercises CD that came with the book. This was not what I expected--my way home felt like a transformed journey to self discovery: the exercisers were simple, practical; the voice soothing; the effect, however, was profound. I was intrigued by how was it possible that our body would know the foods that we need at a particular point in time? I eagerly plunged into the book and read all about the seven kinds of hungers. I was very pleased for the insight I gained from the reading. This book inspires. The writing is lucid and thoughtful. Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food--includes CD
As a consequence of the American search for the perfect healthy diet, we have developed a love-hate relationship with food. Confusion reigns about what foods we are to eat and which we are to avoid. Our reliance on scientific evidence has simply added to the confusion. We can't even agree if we are naturally carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore.
"Mindful Eating," written by physician and Zen teacher Jan Chozen Bays, provides a way back to sane eating. Bays does not prescribe what we are to eat but provides gentle guidance about how to eat. This book provides numerous exercises to help us be present to ourselves and our food.
Bays teaches us to become aware of our seven forms of hunger--eye, nose, mouth, stomach, cellular, mind, and heart hungers. Each hunger satisfies legitimate needs. Bays instructs us with understanding and humor on how to recognize and satisfy each hunger. Her approach is a return to an intimate and joyful relationship with food. Stop dieting. Read this book and discover how to physically, mentally, and spiritually relate with food and return to sane eating.
This book does an excellent job of exploring all aspects of mindfulness in eating. The book's weakness, and the reason I gave it four stars instead of five, is that mindfulness is not the whole answer to emotional or compulsive eating. It's necessary, but not sufficient. In the recovery method I teach, Normal Eating, mindfulness corresponds to Stage 2, "Reconnecting". But then there are two more stages after that. Dr. Bays even gives examples of people who continue to eat emotionally or compulsively despite awareness of the triggers. That's because awareness isn't enough - there's more work to be done.
I don't think Dr. Bays understands the addictive aspect of compulsive eating, as evidenced by the one wrong note the book struck on page 72 about "going unconscious". She says, "The point of mindful eating is not to forbid ourselves to ever use food in this way." I disagree. That's like saying the point of recovery from alcoholism isn't to forbid the alcoholic from ever taking another drink. Uh, actually, yes it is. Compulsive eaters can't eat addictively in moderation any more than alcoholics can drink in moderation.
"Going unconscious", as Dr. Bays calls it, is the essence of what it means to use food addictively, as she well knows because she discusses binge eating in this section. Not using food addictively has to be a "bottom line" if a compulsive eater is to recover - something you never do. I'm not saying people should never eat just for enjoyment. But eating for enjoyment is not the same as "going unconscious" or numbing out with food. I wrote about this at length in a recent newsletter, "Is Eating to Numb Out Ever Okay?":
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Except for this one quibble, I liked "Mindful Eating" very much. Dr. Bays is a Zen teacher, but the book isn't weighed down with details of Buddhism. Her purpose is not to teach Buddhism, it's to teach mindful eating. And she does a superb job of it.
Most explanations of mindful eating encourage people to focus on the food's appearance, smell, and taste. Bays goes much further, encouraging mindfulness in all aspects of the eating experience, emotional and physical. She lists seven "hungers" - seven areas to survey in yourself as you are eating:
1. Eye (what the food looks like)
2. Nose (what it smells like)
3. Mouth (sensations in the mouth - feel, taste)
4. Stomach (sensations in the stomach - growling, fullness, emptiness)
5. Cellular (the body wisdom that gives you a yen for what you need nutritionally)
6. Mind (your thoughts on what you "should" be eating)
7. Heart (how soothing or comforting the food is to you)
This is an excellent summary of the experience of eating - clear, concise, and thorough. If you practice mindfulness in all these areas when you eat, you will fully reconnect with yourself, and this will put you on the path to recovery.
The author is a physician, so the book also is filled with interesting information about the experience of eating on a physiological level. These details don't come off as ponderous or dense because they're presented through interesting anecdotes from Dr. Bays' practice or personal experience.
"Mindful Eating" is readable, insightful, and full of interesting information. I highly recommend it, with the caveat that lack of mindfulness in eating is not the only reason for emotional or compulsive eating. To stop compulsive eating requires some further steps.
Sheryl Canter
Author of "Normal Eating for Normal Weight"
An excellent book. I came upon this book by chance while browsing through a Yoga magazine and this book was suggested as a newly published book. It looked interesting and while I was at the bookstore, I bought it. I'm so glad I did. It is written in simple humanistic terms explaining the different kinds of hunger we have that we're unaware of and how we view food. Humans truly should only eat when hungry and somehow such a simple truth is overlooked by so many. She explains how we ate as children. The author is a spiritual teacher who explains zen way of eating in a very calm peaceful way. This is an eye opener for all of us trapped in the thought of why most all diets do not work. Treat yourself to this book! - Eating Disorders - Mindfulness - Food Addiction - Zen'
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