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Paying Attention for Healthier Living
By David Junno Psy.D.
Life goes by very quickly. From the time we awaken until the time we go to bed we are caught up in what we have to do, thoughts about our past, and plans for the future. These experiences can be colored by worry and concern, or excitement and anxious anticipation. When we have nothing to do we may sink into boredom and distraction. Before we know it another day has passed.
What’s missing from this picture? A sense of agency, an experience of conscious awareness, is what is missing. Without this agency and awareness we sleepwalk through life, living by routine and habit. Now there is nothing wrong with routine and habit, these make our lives more manageable. However, if the routines and habits we live by are not good for us, this becomes a big problem.
Making changes in our routines and habits so we make healthier choices requires paying attention. We need to shift out of automatic pilot and begin attending to the choices we are making. We need to live in our “here and now” experience. This is often referred to as mindfulness. By increasing our mindfulness we increase the possibility of making conscious choices.
Three Ways to Making Healthier Choices- Mindfully
- Stop and notice what you are eating. Notice the smell, texture, and taste of the food. We need to slow down. Too often we just shovel the food in and the next thing we know we are getting a second helping. By eating mindfully we allow ourselves to become aware of the experience and reintroduce pleasure and sensuality into the process. Try noticing every bite. Get off the merry-go-round of habit, and stop and smell the coffee.
- Notice why you are eating. Are you hungry, are you bored, are you upset, or are you eating out of habit? Just be aware of when you eat and why. What does that tell you?
- Notice yourself. Stop and reflect on yourself, what are you feeling, what are you thinking, what is important to you? Get in touch with your experience. Take time out to notice your life. Start a journal, take up meditation or yoga. Find ways to slow your life down and live it fully in the here-and-now. As you get to know yourself, what does that make you want to do, what does that make you want to stop doing, how can you show respect to, and honor who you are?
At the end of “Our Town” a play by Thornton Wilder, Emily, the main character, gets a chance to look back on her life after she dies. She sees the people in her life, herself included, going through life only being aware of a small slice of the experience all around them. She asks, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?--every, every minute?” The play’s narrator replies, “ No. Saints and poets, maybe--they do some.”
Do you realize life while you live it?
Remember, having the right diet and getting enough exercise will not only improve your health- IT WILL IMPROVE YOU LIFE.
Until next time,
Dave Junno Psy.D.
Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! To contact him email drjunno@drjunno.com or visit his website, www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com, or sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not..
Copyright 2003 David Junno
