By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Certified Health Coach.
I’d like to share with you a guided visualization with intuitive eating that I recently shared in our Feel Fit Yoga class at Spirit of Yoga in Tempe, Arizona. After 90 minutes of a beautiful yoga practice with Will Zecco, full of pranayama, asana including lots of warriors, our Hindu squats and closing with singing bowl and gong savasana, I guided the students through a guided visualization inviting them to go back to their early eating memories.
Melanie Albert: Intuitive Eating at Spirit of Yoga in Tempe, Arizona
Intuitive Eating Childhood Memories
I invite you to sit quietly, close your eyes, take a deep inhale and deeply exhale out through your mouth a few times. Now, quietly read and visualize your own eating memories.
I invite you to go back to your very first memory of eating. What did you eat? Where were you? Who were you eating with? Who prepared the food? How did the food taste? How did it smell? What were the textures of the food? How did you feel when eating the food? Was the food hot? Warm? Cold? How did your body feel? How did you feel while eating your food?
Now, take a few minute to journal or reflect on your memories and come on over to our Facebook page and share with us.
Early Eating Memories
Some of the early memories of eating of the yoga students in the class include:
• When I was a child, we didn’t have a lot of money, so my mom always made grains and beans for breakfast. We were very satisfied and happy.
• My Great Grandmother cooked Swedish pancakes, with a lot of butter and sugar. Now, after all these decades, I see why I love and crave sugar.
• I remember the ice cream truck bell and running out in the street to buy my frozen treat. Today, ice cream is still one of my favorite snacks.
• We lived on a farm in the mid-West and most of our food came from our huge garden. I especially remember my mom cooking and our family eating purple beets.
• I remember making pancakes that looked like snowmen with my Grandmom. I can still see her teaching me how to cook the pancakes with lots of bubbles, and I remember the sweet, yummy thick syrup.
• I was 5 years old and I was baking a cake with my Grandmother. It was an amazing chocolate cake made by scratch.
Back to the Basics
It’s so interesting to reflect on our childhood eating memories. Not only do they affect our eating habits as adults, but they are also very significant in our lives. We very clearly remember our cooking and eating experiences, the aroma, who we were with, the tastes and the enjoyment of eating.
It’s also interesting that we have really come full circle. 360 degrees. Today, I teach basic whole foods intuitive cooking, like our Grandmom’s and Mom’s did. In my writings and cooking classes we focus on real whole foods that are minimally processed, including grains, beans, fruit and vegetables. And, I love to encourage the enjoyment of cooking and eating.
I invite you to visit our Facebook page and share your early eating memories. Enjoy!