A Mindful Approach to Nourishing Ourselves and Our Work
We talk about cultivating mindfulness in our daily lives and work, but how does that relate to our eating habits?
What does it mean to bring our mindfulness practice to our plate each day?
The nutrition we consume has everything to do with our ability to focus, feel inspired, and find success in our daily work. The fuel we choose for our workday is something we can, and should, invest energy into.
Greek physician Hippocrates, born in 460 B.C., widely known as the ‘father of modern medicine,’ regarded food as medicine. His theory is still right and has shaped much of the holistic health world’s mentality about diet. But not only is food our medicine, it is also our most important source of daily fuel. Food literally feeds our brains and provides us with the foundation to thrive, stay focused and remain productive.
Even with this crucial knowledge, eating mindfully at work can cause anxiety because we tend to operate under one or both of these false beliefs:
a) Nourishing food is too time-consuming and elaborate.
b) We are too busy to eat.
Neither are true. And neither have to remain our reality. Here’s how:
When we think of food as a key factor to our success, we understand why it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. And instead, it becomes an important part of our routine.
A ‘food as fuel mindset’ empowers us to make decisions based on our desire for success and productivity vs. our tendency to eat for convenience or comfort (or not eat due to a lack-of-time mindset).
Food as Fuel
Our food directly affects the way we think, feel and act so it’s important to be mindful of what we choose to consume. The body can use food as clear, focused energy or an inhibitor to optimal brain and cognitive function. By choosing our nourishment mindfully we are giving our bodies the chance to re-energize with nutrients it’s naturally designed to understand.
When the gut is happy, the brain is happy.
Here are a few key elements to staying mindful when it comes to your fuel:
Water:
Hydration is the key component to our energy levels...
- This blog post was brought to you by Lyndsay Anderson. See full blog here.