4 Mindfulness Exercises for Eating Disorder Recovery
Written by ‘Ai Pono Hawaii Staff Writer
While mindfulness is often associated with meditation, they are not the same thing: meditation is something you do, while mindfulness is a state of being. In a mindful state, you are aware of your experiences in the moment, and do not judge them.
Keep reading to find out:
The connection between mindfulness and eating disorders
How mindfulness-based eating disorder therapy works
Four mindfulness-based exercises you can do right now to become more aware of your surroundings and exist without judgment
Mindfulness and Eating Disorders: What's the connection?
Eating disorders cause a distinct amount of distress and a warped sense of reality. Those suffering with an eating disorder might perceive themselves as much larger than they really are, have constant ruminations about the future or past instead of existing in the present moment, and be unable to ground themselves when food and body related anxiety rises.
Mindfulness works to help those suffering with an eating disorder to take in the facts of their surroundings, root themselves in reality, and get out of a cycle of harmful thoughts. It also helps to bring on a state of calm, and to slow down before committing to any eating disorder behaviors.
Mindfulness-Based Eating Disorder Therapy: What is it and why does it work?
Mindfulness-based eating disorder therapy is focused not on avoiding emotions through distractions, but rather focuses on existing in the moment. It focuses on accepting your thoughts and emotions without judgment, because you know that all thoughts and emotions will pass if you allow yourself to acknowledge them.
With this kind of therapy, patients work to gain a greater sense of awareness around their body, eating, and experiences when they want to use eating disorder behaviors.
Most mindfulness exercises can be done by anyone, anytime. The four mindfulness exercises listed below are just a few of many.
4 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Do In Eating Disorder Recovery
1. Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is about listening to your body’s needs, as well as withholding judgment before, during, and after eating. It can be difficult to cultivate awareness of hunger and fullness in the beginning of recovery, as your body might not send proper hunger and fullness cues. During those times, you may need to engage in mechanical eating to get the nutrition you need consistently.
Start practicing mindful eating at a meal or snack by doing the following:
Try to bring yourself to the present moment. Notice whether you are craving something specific. Do not judge your craving. Instead, honor it.
Sit down with your meal or snack. Do not watch TV, scroll through social media, or do any other distracting activity.
Tune into the present moment. Breathe deeply until you reach a sense of relative stillness.
Enjoy your food with all of your senses as you eat. If your dish is beautifully prepared, enjoy the look of it. If it smells good, breathe it in deeply. (Even if your food does not look or smell beautiful, it is not “bad food.”)
Eat slowly and intentionally, without judging yourself.
Every so often, take note of how full you feel.
If you find yourself having negative thoughts or emotions, acknowledge them. Then, let them pass.
Stop eating when you feel satisfied, both physically and mentally. (Mental hunger is just as valid as physical hunger.)
Related: Read our nine part guide on how to overcome the challenges of intuitive eating in eating disorder recovery.
2. Mindful Breathing
Mindful breathing is useful because it helps you become aware of the pace of your breathing and focus on one single objective movement. Breathing slowly and deeply has many health benefits, such as bringing more oxygen to the brain, and ultimately telling the brain to relax.
There are a number of mindful breathing techniques, including:
Breathing Colors: Choose two different colors, one to picture when you breathe in, and one to picture when you breathe out. Close your eyes as you breathe and picture breathing one color in, and breathing the other one out.
Square Breathing: Start with breathing in for four seconds. Hold your breath for four seconds. Then breathe out for four seconds, and hold your breath for four more seconds. Imagine a square as you breathe to help you remember the pattern.
Deep Breathing: Breathe in deeply through your nose, then out through your mouth. You can say your own mantra as you breathe, or think “in” and “out” as you’re breathing.
Roll Breathing: Lie down and place your left hand on your chest, and the right one on your abdomen. Fill your lower lungs with air. As you do, you’ll notice your right hand lifting while your left one stays still. Do this 8-10 times. Next, breathe into your lower lungs first, then your upper lungs. You’ll notice your right hand raising first, then your left hand. Breathe out slowly, releasing tension until you become more relaxed.
All of these exercises require focus, some more than others. Some also focus on the body, especially feeling one’s body, more than others. If you have negative body image, or struggle with body checking behaviors, you may want to steer clear of these types of exercises.
Related: Read more about the benefits of deep breathing, plus some more breathing exercises.
3. Five Senses Exercise
To do the five senses exercise, choose an activity you do sort of mindlessly, like folding laundry or riding the bus, or simply sitting still. Next, notice what each of your five senses are picking up around you. By doing this, you are bringing yourself to a place of greater awareness, and since your senses tell you only what is around you, you’ll get better at taking in information without judgment.
Let’s use the example of folding laundry. When you do this exercise, you would note:
Vision: What color is the piece of laundry you’re folding? What does the fabric appear to be made of? Is the color of the clothing shiny or muted? Are there interesting patterns or words? Are the stitches loose or tight?
Hearing: What does the clothing sound like when you rub the cloth together between your fingers? Does it snap when you shake the fabric out? Is there a zipper or snaps? What do those sound like when you use them?
Touch: Is the fabric soft or coarse? Thick or thin? Light or heavy? Durable or delicate?
Taste: Tasting clothing might be odd. Consider remembering a time when you wore that article of clothing and tasted something delicious. Maybe you wore it when you met up with friends at a coffee shop, or when you were cooking dinner with a loved one.
Smell: What does the clothing smell like? Are there hints of laundry detergent and dryer sheets? Is the smell light or intense?
Notice how all the answers to these questions are sensory information about the article of clothing as it is, not opinions or judgment about the quality of the clothing. And (hopefully) you’ll notice that after completing an exercise like this, your mind is pulled towards the present moment, not towards anything you’re worried about or ruminating on.
This exercise is especially helpful because you can do it anywhere at any time. Practice it often to increase your state of mindfulness in your everyday life, and use it to ground yourself in times of distress.
Related: The five senses exercise is excellent to do on a nature walk. Read about other forms of nature therapy for eating disorders, including accessible nature therapy techniques you can use even if you live in the heart of a city.
4. Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is not the same thing as meditation, but you can use meditation to cultivate a state of mindfulness and learn to accept your thoughts.
To start, find a place and time without too much noise or distraction to practice. Sit or lie down somewhere comfortable. If you’re sitting, sit up straight enough to allow for easy breathing, but not so straight that you’re more focused on posture than the exercise itself.
Pay attention to the feeling of breathing. Notice your chest rise and fall, the sound of your breath as it enters and leaves your lungs, the feeling of settling down into a deeper, more relaxed rhythm.
Naturally, your mind will wander — and that’s okay. That’s normal. Don’t judge yourself for not being perfectly focused, or the thoughts themselves. Simply accept that you are having a thought, or a feeling. They will pass. When they do, gently return your focus towards your breathing.
At first, you might not be able to do mindfulness meditation for more than a few minutes without getting uncomfortable or restless. That’s normal, considering the constant noise and activity that comes from all around us all the time.
As you become more experienced, though, try to meditate for 10-15 minutes, or even longer.
Mindfulness will not come to you immediately. Keep practicing, and you will become more mindful. And as you become more mindful, it will become easier to tolerate any discomfort or anxiety that comes up in your recovery.
If you or a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder, take the first step today and talk to someone about recovery or start by learning about the eating disorder recovery programs we offer.