The Mindful Body Course
~ Albert Einstein
If one of your resolutions was to lose weight, get your body in shape, exercise more, eat better then you’ll definitely enjoy this interview with Paige Burkes. Paige from Simple Mindfulness has written a wonderful Mindful Body Program (Click here to visit Simple Mindfulness.). This is a comprehensive program that uses mindfulness principles to transform how you think about diet, exercise and health. It shows you how fun it is to be healthy. Here is our talk. I learned a lot and am glad to be part of her program!
Betsy: What is mindfulness?
Paige: Basically, mindfulness is slowing down enough to notice all the little things inside and around you without judgment. While this sounds simple, it can be difficult.
A definition of mindfulness that I especially liked is from Wikipedia: The practice whereby a person is intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindfulness is applied to both bodily actions and the mind’s own thoughts and feelings.
We can be mindful anywhere, any time.
When we’re speaking with our spouse or kids, during yoga practice, while brushing our teeth, walking to the car, walking in nature, washing the dishes, while speaking to someone. All the time.
We can be mindful of our bodies: how hard we’re trying to maintain yoga poses or relaxing into them, our breathing, how strong or weak we feel at the moment, aches and pains.
And we can be mindful of our thoughts: thinking about things in the past (a previous conversation or event) or the future (all the things we have to do next, how we’ll handle certain situations, worrying about the future).
And we can be mindful of our surroundings and the people around us: the temperature, the weather, how someone is reacting to what we said, how others are dressed.
Being mindful is simply noticing what is in the present moment without judging it, without labeling it (good or bad, desirable or not desirable) in any way.
Judging is nothing more than making up stories. We make up stories about people and things based on our background, values, beliefs, past experiences and a million other things.
For example, you could put on a pair of pants that feel tight and simply notice that they’re tight. This is noticing without judgment.
If you put those same pants on, notice that they’re tight and then follow with thoughts like: I’m so fat! I look horrible in these pants! People will reject me because of how I look in these pants. – those are forms of judgment.
Lack of judgment is a critical component of mindfulness as it allows us to get past our old stories and see the world, other people and ourselves in a whole new light.
Betsy: What is mindful eating?
Paige: Mindful eating is simply taking the time to notice every aspect of ourselves and our food before, during and after we eat, without judgment.
It’s impossible to be mindful if you’re watching TV, reading or doing anything else while you eat.
To eat mindfully means to savor how your food looks, its aromas, its textures as you slowly chew each bite. Notice how those foods make you feel physically and emotionally.
It means being in tune with your body so you don’t eat things that aren’t good for you, and you don’t overeat because you take the time to tune into your body and emotions and listen to the messages that are always there for you.
An example of mindful eating is to take three full minutes to eat a small piece of chocolate or a luscious berry. Before you bite into it, observe it, notice how it feels in your fingers, take a moment to savor all the smells and textures. Taking very small bites, notice how it tastes when it first hits your tongue as compared to the tastes when you’re almost finished. Notice how it feels as it melts on your tongue. When it’s gone, notice how you feel physically and emotionally.
Betsy: Why did you write the Mindful Body Program?
Paige: When I got pregnant for the first time, I was hit with the revelation that everything that I put in and on my body would become part of a new person growing inside me. That’s a pretty daunting thought.
I started reading ingredient labels on foods, drinks, personal care and household products and anything else that came in or near my body or in the air I breathed. I looked up everything I didn’t understand.
I began to see that the conventional food system does not have our health in mind. We’ve been led to believe that harsh, highly toxic chemicals are required to clean our homes, cars and bodies and that cancer-causing chemicals are just fine to add to our foods.
Rather than turn to medications, I opted for natural ways to manage aches, pains and illnesses. I studied and began to understand how different types and qualities of foods affect our health and emotional state.
As I slowed down and implemented more mindfulness practices in my life, like yoga and meditation, I learned how strongly our emotions affect our health and habits.
During this time period, I realized lasting solutions to long-standing health issues for myself and my family, and I began to teach what I had learned and experienced to others. These people implemented these concepts into their own lives and experienced improved health, especially in areas where they had chronic issues.
My quest is to share this information with as many people as possible, in hopes that it can open people’s minds to new ways of thinking about health and wellness. This program can help people realize that they don’t need expensive and risky medications, special programs or anything else outside themselves.
Everyone has the ability to heal themselves from the inside out.
Betsy: What can I expect when I take the course?
Paige: In this program, I’ll hold your hand on your journey from wherever you are now to your own happy place with your body. We’ll be changing the way you think about yourself and how you see yourself.
This isn’t a diet or something you do for a few weeks before resuming life as normal. We’re creating a new normal.
We’ll re-examine how you look at food and what it means to your body.
We’ll also re-examine how you see exercise. Just like diets, there are many reasons why most people don’t use their gym memberships or maintain their exercise programs. There’s a different way and it’s a whole lot of fun.
This program will change the way you see yourself and your body. The conclusion of the program will be the beginning of your journey to lasting health and happiness with your body for the rest of your life.
Betsy: Why is it important as a parent to practice mindful eating?
Paige: If you have children, they’re observing your habits and behaviors and making them a part of their own lives in their own ways.
Practicing mindfulness with your eating, movement and everything else in your life is the best way to teach the practice to your children.
As mothers, we tend to put ourselves last while we sacrifice our own self-care to care for others. This sets an example for our children to follow. If we want better for our children, we have to be better mothers for them.
We can talk about what our kids should do until we’re blue in the face but it’s our actions and beliefs that have the most impact.
When our kids see how much happier and healthier we are because of our habits, they’ll want to learn and practice these habits in their own lives. What better gift could a mother give to her children?
If you’re interested in learning more about Paige’s Mindful Body Program, Click here to visit Simple Mindfulness.
Paige Burkes, author of Simple Mindfulness Blog
bio picture: http://www.simplemindfulness.com/Paige
“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
~ Albert Einstein – what a fantastic and apt introduction to this beautiful post, Betsy.
Paige – huge hugs and great to read this interview. I find it inspiring even though I know about your course. Mindfulness is one of those things that one can afford to be reminded about often! From childhood up, we were encouraged with mindful eating..I remember how my Mom would talk about the positive benefits of everything that was served on the children’s plates – which is probably why I like everything I eat
We also enjoyed shopping at the local vegetable market (no supermarkets back then). We could even visit fields nearby. There’s something so joyous about harvesting directly from earth and cooking and eating it. So – health consciousness was introduced from an early age.
But with all the changes we’ve gone through, along with the times, it is never too late to get back to begin mindful. What a superb concept you’ve chosen to base your wonderful program on!
Thank you Betsy. I particularly loved the part about parents setting an example.
Love, Vidya
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Thank you and huge hugs to you Vidya! When you mentioned going to the fields to get your food, it reminds me of the CSA (community supported agriculture) that we’re a member of. It’s a big organic farm in our area and we buy a share for the season. A share means that every week we pick up a big box of fresh veggies (whatever they picked that week), straight from the farm. We can go visit the farm whenever we want and they have big festivals in the spring and fall where all the members are invited to the farm. They have live music, great food, beer and wine from local producers and a great sense of community. There are CSA’s across the country. Readers can find one near them (even in big cities) at http://www.localharvest.org.
I always love reading your descriptions of how you grew up – everything steeped in tradition and mindfulness. I can feel the sense of calm that surrounds you. Thanks so much for being you and always sharing yourself with the world. We need that!
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Congrats Paige on your Mindful Body Program. Great role modeling for your children. That is wonderful. I can so relate to what you are saying about savoring chocolate or a berry. I practice yoga which helps with being mindful, but one thing I am working on this year to slow down when I eat. I feel that I eat too fast and don’t appreciate the food as much as I could. Three minutes would be a challenge for me, but I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing the interview Betsy!
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Given how most of our environments are generally fast-paced, most of the time we don’t even realize how quickly we eat. I started noticing how much I eat while standing up (another mindless way to eat). I’m now at a point where I’ll start to take a bite of something while I’m standing, catch myself and move to a table so I can sit down. I’ll do it even if it’s for a bite of two. Can’t say I catch myself every time but it’s a practice. No judgments.
If three minutes is too much for you (as it would be for many people), start with 30 seconds and work from there. Start with whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ve found that my food tastes different (or I taste it for the first time) when I slow down and focus on what I’m eating.
Yoga is a wonderful place to begin a mindfulness practice. Once you’re comfortable with it on the mat, start to move it into different aspects of your life, like eating. As long as we can stay away from the self-judgment, it can be a truly fun experience.
Hugs!!
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Wonderful interview Paige & Betsy!
Congratulations on your lovely program, which is so much needed nowadays.
I think mindful eating is something that needs to be instilled in children right from the time they are young, though often we tend to take the other path and encourage them to eat what they shouldn’t! I think being mothers we feel it’s our care or way of showing love towards them, though don’t follow the more harm than good we are doing on the long run.
I remember the time when my Mom used to do the same with us when we were kids, or the general notion our end was to have chubby-cute babies – so the fat in the diet was always there. However, it was my Dad who was very careful about what we ate when we grew up, and always made it a point to take us to the vegetable market, and explained to us their calories and other aspects. I try and do the same with my kid’s, though visiting the marketplace isn’t their cup of tea.
And yes, enjoying each morsel you put in your mouth is so-so important, something that I started doing only a few years back when I had read a book about mindful eating. I think the whole concept of food and eating changes thereafter.
Thanks for sharing this with us and reminding us to be careful of what we eat.
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Hi Paige and Betsy-
Fran
great interview. I am in the middle of pulling back from any sweets and focusing on being able to not just fit into – which I do- but look fantastic in the dress that I have for my daughter’s wedding in April. It’s the same one that I wore to my son’s 2 years ago.
And because I wear no spanx or pantyhose, every bulge shows….good motivation~
Regardless, Paige – you know I love your program and am large part doing it.
Congratulations though on a job well done.
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Thank you Harleena! Yes, without being mindful ourselves, it’s so easy to instill unproductive habits in our kids without even realizing it. The more mindful we are with our food choices, cooking, eating and just about every other habit we have, the more we can help to consciously shape the future of our children.
That’s awesome that you’ve discovered the many benefits of mindful eating! You’re absolutely right that the concepts of food and eating are then forever changed.
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Thank you Fran! A big congrats to you and your daughter on her upcoming wedding!
I know that you already look amazing in the dress you’re going to wear. You have a radiance that shines your inner self on the world. And I’m sure you show no bulges given how well you take care of yourself.
Big Hugs!!
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even though that was not one of my resolutions but i still think that this is a great post
thanks for the tips:)
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Thanks Farouk! Sometimes it doesn’t take a big resolution to make small but very powerful changes. Best wishes on the resolutions you did make!
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Paige & Betsy: It was a pleasure to drop by and read your interview! I learned some good tips from it and I plan on becoming more of a mindful person. I am familiar with Paige’s site so she has already helped me a ton in that area and I really look forward to practicing a more mindful lifestyle. I don’t know if this has to do with being more mindful, but I planned to start listening more than talking and being aware of what people are saying and what is going on around me without feeling like I have to add my two cents in to the conversation. It cool growing into a more mindful person, but I must say that it is extremely hard not to be judgemental. I am a judgemental person and I have realised that and I guess that is part of the reason why I am trying to do a better job keeping my opinion out of what happens.
Best Wishes,
WIlliam Veasley
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Great to see you here William! You’ve definitely come a long way! Yes, it’s definitely a challenge not to pipe in whenever others say things but, as I think you know, you’ll begin to see and understand people on a deeper level which results in you understanding yourself much better. The first step in any change is awareness. The next step is to feel why change is important to you – your ‘why.’ With your ‘why’ firmly in place with a sense of commitment, any change is possible.
You’re on an amazing journey! Enjoy the ride!
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Paige.
Your program is fantastic. We are all racing around at 100 MPH all the time multi-tasking. No wonder we are not fully present in our own lives. Mindful eating reminds of the “slow food movement” which sounds really appealing to me as well.
One of my dear friends went to Italy about 10 years ago and walked into a cafe and asked for a cup of coffee to go. They looked at her like she had two heads. Then it hit here, “Oh these people sit down and enjoy their coffee and do nothing else but people watch while doing it. What a way to live!”
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Thank you so much Angela! I couldn’t agree with you more on the slow food movement.
Single-tasking and enjoying what we’re doing seems to be such a challenge in our society. I know that when I’m consciously doing one thing at a time, that old programming is still nagging me to be more “productive,” whatever that really means. I used to have my oatmeal and coffee in the morning while checking my emails, trying to keep up with their constant inflow. I’m finally getting comfortable with simply enjoying my breakfast while doing nothing else. I remind myself that all those emails will still be there and the world won’t come to an end if I don’t get to every one of them within a couple hours of receiving them.
I love the norm that you referred to, Angela, of not even considering taking coffee to go. I can’t stand eating while driving and refuse to do it anymore.
The more we all come together and start acting in ways that support us, the more we can change the norms to something slower and more sane.
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I read a book about mindful eating once. It was very helpful!
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Great interview about a sure to be successful program. Especially when put in the context of the opening quote. That is brilliant, and true about most everything. Look at war, for example. Or the continuing political battles in the US. How many times have I tried to fix a problem by using the very same means that caused the problem in the first place?! Hmm, I have to give this one a lot of thought.
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Adding a little mindfulness in our day can be very powerful. Thanks Missy!
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Thanks Galen! It’s easy to stay entrenched in our ways and wonder why the world around us won’t change. I recently used the revelation of thinking completely differently when my husband and I got into an argument (I wrote a post about it a few weeks ago). I felt like we were getting nowhere. My mind and mouth went quiet because I got tired of repeating myself. In the moment, I closed my mouth and opened my mind to what my husband was really saying instead of trying make my point and be right. Suddenly I saw the situation in a whole new light and quickly found a way for us to work through the issue together. It was a huge Aha! moment.
Simply slowing down and not thinking or doing for a moment in any situation can open the doors to all kinds of new insights.
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