I'm your host Melli O'Brien.

And I'm really excited to

introduce you today to Dr.

Susan Albers.

And she is a clinical psychologist at

the Cleveland Clinic, but she's also

an internationally renowned expert

on mindful eating, which is what

we're going to be exploring today.

Susan has six books out on the topic

of mindful eating including titles,

like, just simply Eating Mindfully,

Mindful Eating 101, and many more.

So she is very, very much

the expert on the topic.

So I'm really excited, Susan, to

explore mindful eating with you today.

Thank you for sharing your time

and being part of this Summit.

Well, thank you.

The summit looks excellent and I'm so

excited to be a part of it as well.

Yeah.

So I'm really curious about your

journey to this point, because

you're really, this is really a

niche that you've found yourself in

being an expert on mindful eating.

So could you tell us a little

bit about your journey?

Why did you get so involved in this topic?

Sure.

Well, first of all, of course,

I love food like everyone else.

It's very important to me.

But growing up, it was a very

important piece of my family.

Early on my, I have an Italian

mother, so I grew up with food

being such a part of our home and

really linked with a lot of emotion,

you know, food with love and care.

My mom to this day never shows up at my

house without a bag full of groceries.

Right.

And then on my father's side, he,

his family grew up on a farm and

introduced me very early on to organic

foods and the importance of food

for both nutrients and also energy,

in powering your day working hard.

So it's been a part of my life for a

long time and then fast forwarding to

today, mindful eating in particular.

I was studying in Japan and came

across the concept of mindfulness.

And it was one of the first times

I had ever, ever heard the word

mindfulness and began learning

about how to apply that to eating.

What I found with my clinical clients

here and readers and people that I've

been working with is how much they

love the concept of mindful eating.

It's a wellness approach.

Everyone wants to eat more mindfully.

And it's something that no matter what

type of eater you are, whether you

have a special diet, your vegetarian,

your gluten-free, kosher, whatever

it is, you can use these skills of

mindfulness to be healing and nourishing.

Mmm and so there might be, there

might be many viewers watching this

who've never really heard of the

concept of mindful eating before.

This might be their first exposure.

So could you, could you explain

what mindful eating is and why

you really think it's important?

Absolutely.

And so if you haven't heard of the

concept yet, that's okay, because

we're going to learn about it today.

Mindful eating is not a diet.

So if you're somebody who's tried

dieting before, this is good news,

because probably if you hear that

word diet and you just either

shut down or you feel frustrated.

It's not about dieting and there's

really no menus or recipes.

As a psychologist, what I

focus on is the how we eat.

Oftentimes clients will come into my

office and they'll say, "You know what?

I know that a candy bar is

more unhealthy than an apple.

I know that, but what I struggle with

is making that choice in that moment.

And that's where it's really exciting,

is that we can bring mindfulness

to those decisions and it can be

incredibly helpful and transforming.

So what mindful eating is basically is

being more attentive of the how you eat.

And it sounds deceptively simple,

you know, but it takes some practice.

And what we can do today is I can

outline five different aspects

of mindful eating to get people

started to learning this process of

being more attentive when they eat.

I always say that we can eat

an entire plate of food and

not taste one single bite.

Right.

But when we bring mindfulness

to it, we enjoy it.

We savor it.

We really tune into our body

so that we're not overeating.

Because that's a trap that we often

get into, is that we're not really

tuned into our bodies to know when to

stop eating and when to start eating.

It's really, really confusing.

Yeah.

The other benefit of mindful eating is,

you know, as I said, it's not a diet.

The other benefit is that I see it being

helpful, and this is the part that just

has been amazing to me, to people all

over the spectrum in terms of their

eating, people who want to lose weight,

or just simply want to eat healthier,

make healthier choices all the way

to the other end of the spectrum in

people who really struggle with their

eating, chronic eating issues, such

as anorexia, bolemia, binge eating.

So I think that is just such an

amazing concept that it can be

helpful all the way across the board.

Yeah.

And so you said that you can, you can

break mindfulness down, the mindful

eating process down into five steps.

Five steps.

If you're somebody who wants to get

started with it, these are some simple

steps to just kind of get you going and

oriented to mindful eating, because we

have a lot of mindless eating habits.

Yeah.

You know, whether it's sitting on the

couch mindlessly popping food into our

mouth as we're watching TV or we're

sitting at our desk and snacking and

looking at our computer at the same time

and not really focused on what it is...

And before, you know, it, you put

your head back into the packet of

chips and there's nothing left and

you're like, oh, where did they go?

I know.

And that's actually when you go

for more, because we eat partly for

enjoyment and if we don't really taste

it and enjoy it, then we go for more.

You know, maybe it's eating at 12, o'clock

on the dot, whether they're hungry or not

just because or the food is just there.

I mean, that often happens as well.

So we have lots of mindless eating habits.

But mindful eating and number one,

step number one, again, sounds

very simple, is to sit down.

And these, I call these the

five S's of mindful eating.

So number one is to sit down when you eat.

Think about how often we're standing

in front of our refrigerator picking

food from the refrigerator or walking

and eating, or sitting in your

car and driving at the same time.

So my motto is always only eat off

your feet as a sort of a reminder that

you're putting your food on the plate.

And what this is going to do in terms

of mindfulness is to cut down on your

distractions and focus your attention.

So when you're sitting and you're

thinking about that practice of

sitting, it just really shifts your

attention in a much different way.

So number one is sit down.

Number two is to slowly chew.

And that's something that we probably all

have thought about at one time or another.

And here is a very basic trick that

you can use to help you to slow down.

Yeah.

And that's putting your hand, and

this may be different where you live,

but particularly the United States

it's eating with your non-dominant

hand or your opposite hand, whatever

hand that you tend to eat with.

Yeah.

And what research indicates is that

that slows you down by about 30%.

Aah, interesting.

And the reason that is, is

because it's a little bit like

writing with your opposite hand.

You can do it, but you really

have to focus in a new way.

And so it naturally slows you down.

So I would encourage

people to try that today.

My motto for this is: pace don't race.

Right.

I love that.

Don't race through your meal

which is sometimes hard.

Also I find is that, and what

research backs up, is that we tend

to mirror exactly the pace of the

people that we're eating with.

So if you have a significant other who

eats really quickly, you know, often we

do, unconsciously, we tend to mirror that.

And so we can bring mindfulness to

that practice of when you sit down,

pay attention to your own rate of

eating and then also the person

that you're with, tuning into that.

And not being judgmental as we're

using those principles of mindfulness.

No judgement, but simply noticing

and being present with that.

Yeah.

Great.

So that's step number two.

Yeah.

Number three, which we're going to

learn more about at the end when we do

our practice, is about savoring food.

And just think about how often we're just

mindlessly popping food into our mouth.

Some of my clients will call it zombie

eating, that they're eating just to eat.

That seems like the correct name for it.

Yep.

Doesn't it?

It does.

Because you don't really experience it.

And then you have that moment.

This is how you know,

you're in zombie eating.

Yeah.

Is that you have that wake up

moment where you say to yourself,

"Uh, why did I just eat that?

I just didn't really want that."

Or, "I eat too much."

Or that, sort of that realization moment.

And if we use mindfulness along the way,

we kind of avoid that wake up moment.

We're really present along the way.

So savoring is about taking mindful

bites, smelling food, tasting it,

noticing each spoonful, turning off that

TV, other distractions that are going

to impede us from really focusing in.

And what research indicates is the first

bite is actually the most flavorful

and that's because it's a new sensation

to our mouth right at that point.

And so if you can make that first

bite in mindful bite, it's actually

going to take you a long way.

So sometimes we're under the

misperception that mindful eating

has to take long periods of time.

And it doesn't.

It's just really a shift in attention

and it can be at that first bite.

So that is number three.

Oh, and my motto here is:

when you eat, just eat.

Right.

Don't do anything else.

Don't type.

Don't talk on the phone.

Don't drive.

Eat, just eat.

And that's so hard to do.

We're often eating and doing a

million different things at the same.

Yeah.

I love that.

It's so simple, but it's not really hard.

We just kind of I feel like

we're in a habit of doing it,

but it's actually really simple.

That's actually really accessible

and simple and powerful.

And often we're trying to grab

our mindful eating skills in the

moment when we're sort of in crisis

of like, Oh, I'm eating too much.

I'm really enjoying this.

I need to stop.

But if we practice in the times that are

calm and with everyday foods, I think we

can really, it becomes ingrained in us.

And I'll tell you when people become

mindful eaters, it's almost hard for

them to turn off at later times because

they're so attuned and so aware.

The next S is to simplify.

And what I mean by this is to place

healthy foods or foods that you enjoy

in places that are easy for you to see.

And what my motto or tagline

about this is that: In sight, in

mind, out of sight, out of mind.

What we know with mindfulness, of

course, is that things could kind of

be the out of our mind or in our minds.

And we strategically place our

attention in different places.

And food is one of those things

that we see all over the place.

And so where we place food is important.

And so if you're listening, one thing

you can do, if you're just trying

to eat healthier is to place foods

in a place where you'll see them.

Maybe a nice bowl of apples or

pears right on your counter.

So that when you go by, you intentionally

see them and you see the bright colors.

And not only is it a calm and

peaceful moment, but you are more

likely to eat things that are

convenient and in your sight path.

Right.

You know, often when we have a

cookie jar sitting right there on

the counter, we reach for it very

mindlessly, just because it's there.

So we can create those

mindful environments.

And even at your desk or different places.

Places that you find that you

tend to sink into mindless eating.

I would encourage people today to go home

or if they're at their office and really

be mindful, tune in to their environment

and see what is maybe triggering

mindful eating or mindless eating.

Right.

Yep.

That's a little bit reminiscent to me.

It brings to mind, you know, how a lot

of mindfulness teachers will really

emphasize, you know, being aware of the

community and the environment that you

place yourself in, just because there

are certain environments that are going

to make it more difficult and certain

environments that are really going to

lend itself to you being more mindful,

certain people, certain communities.

And it's sort of like your community

of food that you put around you, you

know, can be helpful or it can be

more challenging for your practice.

Yeah.

Exactly.

And our environment does matter.

If it's cluttered, sometimes you walk

into a place and you just automatically,

even unconsciously, feel overwhelmed.

So making that mindful

environment is important.

And the last S is to smile.

Oh, that's one of my favorites.

And it's to smile between each bite.

And I kind of like to think of

it as sort of the Buddha's smile.

You know, creating a little

smile between each bite.

And what that does is it gives you

that pause moment or that mindful

moment between the next bite to say,

"Is this something that I really want?

Am I full?"

That moment to tune in for just a moment.

Also smile, as we know, creates

those positive feel-good

chemicals in our brains.

And so that helps as well.

But mostly it helps us to take that pause.

And my tagline is:Take a

breath to manage stress.

Right.

Too often, we are stress eating and

mindlessly eating because of our

physiology and how we're feeling,

so smiling and taking that breath

before the next bite can help.

Yeah.

Right.

I love this.

This is so simple and practical.

Yeah, I love that.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

I'm sure that's very, very handy practical

stuff for our viewers and for me.

Yes, if you want this, I have

this outlined on a handout.

And if this is something that people want,

they can email me or go to my website

and it's all sort of outlined for them.

So they can hang this on the refrigerator.

And have it really handy and a great

reminder of the these five steps.

Great.

Well, I will link to that underneath

this video so people can just click right

through to it, so to make it super easy.

So I really, I'm curious also

about this topic of comfort eating

because you have a book, don't

you called, Quit Comfort Eating.

So could you define, could you

define exactly what comfort

eating is and why we do it?

Sure.

Yes.

And it's interesting because

in the UK and in Australia, it

is called quick comfort eating.

In the United States it's called Eat

Q, which is emotional intelligence

to help with comforting eating.

But same book, just to clarify that.

Yeah.

But comfort eating is the eating that

we do to help to manage our emotions.

So when we're feeling stressed or anxious

or overwhelmed, and also this is a

myth that it is just negative feelings,

but also positive feelings, encourage

us to eat, to regulate our feelings.

Okay.

And again, that's where the mindfulness

is helpful because it's a different

strategy for regulating your feelings.

Instead of stuffing down your feelings

with food or pushing them away or escaping

our feelings, we can bring mindfulness as

a calming and soothing and replace that.

My new book that's coming up, 50

More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without

Food, it comes out in December.

It uses many of these mindfulness

concepts to replace comfort eating

with things that, with strategies that

are healthier, long-term, ongoing.

And the nice thing about

mindfulness, it's free.

Yeah.

You know, it's not fancy.

You know, it doesn't cost a lot.

You can bring it with you anywhere.

And so could you give us, could you

maybe give us a few of those tips on

how we can skillfully, more skillfully

handle those moments of, you know,

when we want to reach for the, you

know, the sugar or the caffeine or the

alcohol or whatever it is, what are

some of those ways that we can do that?

Well, there are so many.

There are so many ways.

Many of the strategies have

used, as I said, use mindfulness.

So they, it outlines in different steps of

how to bring your mind back to the moment.

So if you're worrying about what you've

eaten in the past or about the future,

to bring your mind back to the moment.

There's other techniques

like self massage.

So taking a tennis ball, putting it under

your foot or behind your back against a

wall to calm and soothe down your body.

There's also some yoga moves and

Tai Chi that are very simple.

And also some chair yoga that you can

do in your chair if you're kind of stuck

in your office, instead of going to

the vending machine down the hallway.

And also things like tea

can be very soothing.

There's lots of different,

certain different types of tea

are more soothing than others.

So in this book, there's just a

plethora of different ideas that,

and walks people through them.

But my main goal when I created it was

to make sure that it was things that were

anybody could obtain, didn't cost really

any money, and were based in mindfulness.

Do you have a favorite?

Do you have a favorite or most

popular thing that you see just

seems to work for a lot of people?

What do you do?

What do you do when the moment

of craving comes to you?

You know, these days, you know,

cause I'm sure it still comes.

You're still in a human body.

It does.

You know, it comes, but it's interesting

that I no longer find food soothing.

It has been rewired for me that

my automatic go-to is now tea.

Like I have this certain

vanilla tea that I love, love.

And so it almost becomes rewarding

and it's almost something I crave now.

Food, it doesn't.

Comfort eating just doesn't sort

of work for me anymore, thankfully.

Yeah.

Also use mindfulness, here's

my favorite one that is so, so

super simple, is I think about

what's called a squeegee breath.

The squeegee breath.

And you think about a window

washer and that squeegee that

squeezes the water down and out.

And so when I take a breath, I imagine

that squeegee starting at the top of my

head and taking that breath and it just

pushing all of that sort of negative

energy down and that stress, in, out.

So that one is really simple that

people can try and do right now.

I also, the second one that I liked that

these is very easy and I talk about my

book, 50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself

Without Food is about the concept of sit.

And when there's, when you have any,

you have probably heard this metaphor

before, when we think about a new,

if you have a new puppy at home,

oftentimes they have that mind of, you

know, the puppy's all over the place.

I have a new puppy, his name is

Max and he's all over the place.

He'lll hear a noise over

here and then go over here.

And it's very much like our minds.

Our minds are like that bouncy puppy

going from one thing to another.

But you teach a puppy how

to sit, that command of sit.

And so sometimes I'll use that

with my own mind if it's all over

the place, thinking about what I'm

going to make for dinner and clients

and meetings and things like that.

I'll use that same command and say, sit.

And this sort of brings my mind

back to the center for a moment.

And then it will go on.

Ah, interesting.

Is there anything else that you'd

like to tell us about mindful eating

before we move into a practice?

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, I have two different foods

that I want to share with you that

I think illustrate kind of nicely

the simplicity of mindful eating

and are great snacks as well.

Okay.

So this one right here is a pistachio.

This is one of my very favorite

snacks for mindful eating and in part,

because it's got great nutrients in it.

But again, you know, I'm more focused on

the how we eat versus what we're eating.

But what I love about this and what's

called the pistachio effect is that,

and what the pistachio effect is,

is that simple changes can make

a big difference to your eating.

And so a particular researcher in

the Journal of Appetite looked at

pistachios and they investigated

either shelled pistachios that had

already been de-shelled or people

who had been given in the shell.

And what they found was that

people ate significantly less when

they were actually in the shell.

And how that relates to mindfulness

is think about how you open

this, the shell, you have to

sort of slow down and open it up.

You look at it and you hear

the crackle of an opening.

Significantly slows you down.

Instead of mindlessly scooping up the

nuts and putting them in your mouth.

The second part how it's helpful is

that it creates this little pile,

this visual pile in front of you, sort

of a gauge of how many did you eat.

When you're just scooping

them out, you have no idea.

Yeah.

You have no idea.

So it's something to think about in

terms of when you're choosing foods.

You can use that same principle for if

you have a snack of saving the wrapper and

keeping it on your desk, because we have

terrible memories when it comes to food.

We're really not paying attention

to what it is we're eating

and just mindless eating.

So, and I love pistachios too, because

they're great for managing stress, they're

great to help regulate your blood sugar.

But also, as I said, \you can

eat them in a mindful way.

Yep.

The second one, of course, is in,

this is actually a very large.

This is a Mandarin orange, but this is

like the largest one I've ever seen.

And what I love about them is that

you can create this meditative moment

with unpeeling the orange, you know.

And here I have a slice.

I love how they're perfectly portioned.

So you can close your eyes if

you're feeling stressed and take

one of these, you know, smell it.

The citrus smell is naturally

calming, according to research.

Interesting.

And it has about 80 calories.

So it's a low calorie snack.

It's sweet.

So you can really savor it.

I mean, you can really get

into it and it will only take

you a minute or two to eat it.

So it's something that will be very quick.

But you can bring that

mindfulness to that snack.

So if you're a stress eater, it's

the perfect, perfect snack for you.

Great.

So if maybe, if we're going to lead

now into a practice, maybe we'll just

give this moment right now if anyone

wants to pause the video and to go and

get something, you can do that now.

And then otherwise, I'm all ready to go.

I am really excited about this

practice because it's 6:30 AM in

Byron Bay, Australia, and I get to eat

chocolate first thing in the morning.

That's fantastic.

In fact, I'm going to reach for

my chocolate because I keep mine

in terms of that S of simplify,

I keep mine across the room.

In a closed cabinet?

In a closed cabinet so that it

does not in sight my cravings.

I will be back in a moment.

Okay?

Okay.

What do you have there?

I have a dark piece of chocolate.

Wow.

And I chose chocolate intentionally.

If you've ever done a mindful

eating exercise, my guess is,

is that you've used raisins.

Have you used raisins?

Many a raisin have I eaten mindfully.

I bet.

I choose chocolate very intentionally

because chocolate is one of

those foods that we have so

many conflicted feelings about.

We love and crave it, yet we

often feel guilty about it.

And almost never, we wake up

in the morning and say, okay,

Ino raisins for me today.

No raisins, but chocolate!

We kind of say that to ourselves.

So I like that you can practice

with a food that you love and crave.

And in fact, I would encourage that

because that's exactly what we need.

To eat the foods that we

love, but in a mindful way.

We can do that with chocolate.

And so I have chocolate today, but

you can use whatever food you want.

And as people, you know, left for a

moment and got food, they can choose

whatever is meaningful to them.

Also, if this creates too much

anxiety for you, as you're, as you're

watching, you can use your imagination.

You don't have to use an actual food.

You can actually start with that of just

imagining a food like chocolate that you

love and walk through it in that way.

Okay?

All right.

So if you're holding your piece of

chocolate, please put it in your hands.

And you can close your eyes

if you want to, or not.

And what we're going to do is

start with feeling the weight

of the chocolate in your hands.

Just noticing how it feels to you.

Does it feel heavy?

Does it feel light?

And just sit with that for a moment

of how it feels sitting in your hands.

Let's take that with just

a little glance at it.

And look at the piece of chocolate

or the piece of food in your

hand and describe it to yourself.

What does it look like?

Notice the color.

Notice the shape.

Most importantly, notice any

thoughts or feelings or emotions

that pop up into your mind.

And just sit with them.

Don't judge them.

Just notice whatever may be floating

into your mind about this food.

If you're holding chocolate, it

may be a craving or thought like,

I want that, or maybe a guilty

thought or even a memory of the past.

But whatever it is, just

sit with it, hold it.

And, and for me, I have a piece

of chocolate that's wrapped.

So what I'm going to do is listen to

the sound of opening up this chocolate

and just really tune into that.

Next, bring your piece of food

or chocolate up to your nose

and take a nice deep breath.

And just inhale.

Three nice deep breaths.

And as your inhaling, again

notice any thoughts or feelings

or memories that may come to mind.

We're just going to hold that and

sit with that for just a moment.

And when you're ready, place the

piece of chocolate into your mouth.

Mine is a very big one.

I'll have to chew some.

You can chew it.

And notice as you bite

into it, I heard that...

Mmmm.

Yes.

So whatever sound your

food make, tune into it.

If you're eating a pretzel, the crunch.

How it sounds as you begin to chew.

And here you have that first

bite, that first taste.

Describe it to yourself.

Do you like it?

Do you not like it?

Do you, what flavors are

happening in your mouth?

Maybe there's some intensity

to that piece of chocolate.

Or smoothness or richness.

We're just going to give you moment

to be quiet with that and notice

everything that is happening.

It's likely to take a different

form or changing texture as you're

rolling it around in your mouth.

And as you're ready, when you're

ready to swallow, follow it to the

back of your mouth and imagine it

traveling down into your stomach.

And when you're ready,

you can open your eyes.

Mmm.

Tell me, what is your,

what was your reaction?

I know you've done mindful

eating exercises before.

And I actually call this the mindful

bite instead of a mindful eating

exercise, because it's shortened

it for obviously for time purposes.

So it's kind of the mindful bite.

Well, Yeah, I have to say, you

know, I have here, you know,

a piece of Lindt chocolate.

And, you know, as I was holding

it, I realized, you know,

it's like a piece of art.

The way that they make this

chocolate, it's just...

like it has these lines and these

pattens and I was just going, wow.

I just, I don't think I ever

realized how much effort.

You know, these are made by Swiss people.

There's just all these

beautiful, delicate detail.

And I was like, wow, it's like a

little work of art that I'm eating.

How beautiful.

It's been interesting as I do

this exercise with different

people, how opinionated people

become about their chocolate.

I'll experiment with it.

I'll bring different types, you

know, very fine pieces of chocolate

or what I would call sort of more

mass produced and what comes up

for people in terms of their taste.

And sometimes they're surprised that, you

know, they thought they didn't like dark

chocolate and they fall in love with it.

Right.

Or, you know, I bring a piece of, at

sometime I bring two pieces of chocolate,

a fine piece and a more, a cheaper piece.

And it's interesting how people will

say, gosh, I wasn't aware when I started

to savor and taste it, the difference

between these two types of chocolate.

And made them real fans of, you

know, buying quality chocolate.

Yeah.

And I, you know, the other thing that

I, that I often talk to people about

when they ask me what, you know, what

kinds of things has mindfulness sort

of, how has that unfolded in your life?

And actually the very first thing that

I noticed, the very first switch in

my life was that I stopped overeating.

And I didn't realize that

I was doing it at the time.

It was something that I

reflected on months afterwards.

I was like, oh, I don't overeat anymore.

And I think it was because, and I felt it

just then again, even with the tiniest bit

of food, it's the awareness of satiation.

Doesn't actually, even the smallest, one

raisin sometimes when you do those raisin

activities, you're like that actually

made a difference in how satiated I feel.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Often times people are thinking about

the next piece of chocolate before

they finished the one that they have.

And when you turn mindfulness

on, you're really finishing this

entire piece and noticing that.

I think you said that beautifully,

that people are often surprised that

it helps them to stop overeating.

They think, okay, I've got

a diet, I have to be strict.

And it just kind of

naturally happens over time.

It's not painful.

But often people lose weight

kind of unknowingly because

they become more mindful.

I've also noticed that when people are

learning mindful eating skills that they

come back and they say, you know what?

I kind of noticed that I was more mindful

in general, as I started practicing

mindful eating in - my relationships,

at work - that it's almost like there's

a ripple effect across the board.

So that's another benefit.

If you want to start practicing

mindful eating, you're going to

notice all kinds of benefits in

your life, all over the place.

Is there anything else you'd

like to share before we close?

Well, I again want to thank you and

tell people that if they want to

learn more about kind of these basics

of mindful eating, my goal is to

make it really simple and accessible

to people and in practical ways.

I know they're busy.

I know that they're stressed out and

they don't have a lot of resources.

So everything I do is tailored to

bringing mindfulness to eating in

a way that is easy and practical.

So they can learn more about it on my

website, which is EatingMindfully.com.

Yep.

And as you said, I have six

books, all about mindful eating.

They're all about mindful eating,

so they can give you some really

hands-on strategies as well.

Great.

And I'm going to link to your website

under here and provide, you know,

make it really easy for people

to go and explore some more about

mindful eating, because it's such

a, you know what, it's such a joy.

You know, eating is such a

joyful thing that we get to do.

And like you said, because we

do it so often, you intersperse

these really wonderful moments of

mindfulness throughout the day.

So it's just a really practical way

to start being mindful without really

changing anything much in your life.

You know, if you don't want to

start a meditation practice, you

can just savor your food and enjoy

it more and reap the benefits.

Absolutely.

I totally agree with that.

It's something that we do.

We eat at least three times a day

and it gives us at least three

opportunities to be mindful.

Yeah.

And I just have one last question to

ask you, which is the, it's the same

question that I'm asking every single

person that takes part in the Summit.

And you know, it's, so it's been

said that mindfulness has the

capacity to change the world from

the inside out, one person at a time.

And so my question to you is, you

know, if mindfulness were to truly go

mainstream, I'm talking, you know, it

hit critical mass in the population.

How do you think that would change things?

What kind of a world could that create?

I like the sound of that.

I'm voting for that.

I think the world would be so much

calmer and that we would experience

an environment that would be, people,

I, you know, I think one of the

benefits is that with mindfulness,

you respond instead of react.

So if we were able to be a society

across the board that tuned in,

thought about our feelings and slowed

down and responded to what was going

on in the inside, instead of that

knee jerk, automatic reaction, wow.

It would be such a different place.

And in regards to food, the same thing.

We have so many knee jerk

reactions and habits around food.

I think that we would be making

decisions in a calm way around

food instead of in a stressful way.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

Thank you so much, Susan.

I really appreciate you taking the time

out for the Summit and I wish you all

the best in your continued journey.

You too.

And remember to eat, drink and be mindful.

Will do.

Thanks for tuning in and

we'll see you next time.