We’re not the diet plan types. But, for some personalities, we get that detailed plans are needed to springboard change. Some of us may need diet plans, but all of us need to learn to be better listeners to our own bodies. Mindful mama, Sophie Jaffe is talking with us about one of our favorite topics when it comes to diet: intuitive eating…
There’s a lot of pressure this time of year to slim down and get fit ahead of summer bikini season. I believe to live a fit, balanced and healthy life is to live and eat intuitively. That means paying close attention to your urges, cravings, pangs and desires whenever they arise, and indulging just enough to satisfy them completely. These are the voices of your body — trust them because they know what your body needs best.
I encourage you to listen to your body instead of all the nutrition noise. Why let your power go to the diet industry when you are lucky enough to be able to give your body what it is truly craving on a spiritual and cellular level? We need to remind ourselves to own our power.
3 Powerful Tools For Intuitive Eating
maintain a mindset of abundance | You are abundant. Say those words to yourself and internalize them. You are abundant, a living, growing organism that needs to be nourished. You are not a thing to be reduced or downsized because some Instagram trainer tells you so.
An abundant mindset means not telling yourself, I have to remove things from myself but rather, I need these, and only these, to be well. This approach turns the things you love into fuel rather than rewards or vices, giving you full control over your body and spirit. An abundant mindset tells you to enjoy superfoods because they give your body what it needs or to go out with friends on a Friday night because it’s what your soul needs. This powerful mantra is a direct line to my intuition. It allows my true self to come forward in confidence so I’m more readily able to listen to my body cues and sense what I need in any moment, whether that looks like a delicious yoga flow or a huge bowl of dairy-free ice cream.
Sink into the space around you | Intuition is more than listening to your body. It’s dropping into the present moment and recognizing what’s around your body, the space it occupies. By sinking into the present moment you’re no longer focused on where you need to be, what you want or think you need — you can just be. Meditation, soothing breath work and organic body movement are all great ways to explore and understand the place in which your body exists. See yourself as a natural element of the world around you and that world will welcome you into it. Have a dance party in the kitchen, go on a walk around your neighborhood, put away devices whenever you can and simply exist because it feels good to and there’s no pressure telling you to be or do something.
Break away from labels | It’s human instinct to categorize. In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain. Imagine how good it would feel to break away from this stigma, to shift the perspective. You don’t need to be vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo or pescatarian — you don’t even have to call yourself a flexitarian. Intuition is learning about your body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has been about how things make me feel. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women “know” when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you completely. You are your own expert.
Ultimately, listen to your body and figure out what works for you. Listen to what draws you and by following it, life will begin to align with you. Once you begin to unlock your intuition, trust it, follow and sharpen it. It will always be there for you to access — and once you do, it provides the most profound experiences in life.
Want to learn more about intuitive eating?
Grab Sophie’s brand new Intuitive Eating e-book on the topic here.
