Being Well at WIC Mind, Body, Breath Margaux Permutt

Stand up!  Reach your arms up to the sky  Stretch side to side  Reach your hands down to your toes  Circle your ankles, knees and hips  Circle your arms, wrists, and neck  Shake it out!

Pause, take a moment, go inside  Become aware of your body and breath  Root down into your feet  Rise up through your spine  Feel your breath come in and go out

Check in with yourself  What are you thinking?  How do you feel?  Can you simply sit still?

Cultivate Mindfulness  Close your eyes if comfortable  Be present without judgment  Allow your thoughts to come and go freely  Find a sense of ease in your body in your breath  Stay here for a few minutes  Gently open your eyes, come back

Mindful eating is  Seeing eating as a positive nurturing activity.  Experiencing food with all of your senses.  Acknowledging your responses to food (likes, dislikes or neutral) without judgment.  Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating.

Someone who eats mindfully  Knows there is no right or wrong way to eat but varying degrees of awareness surrounding the experience of food. Mindful vs. Mindless eating.  Knows their eating experiences are unique and directs their attention to eating on a moment-by- moment basis.  Gains awareness of how they can make choices that support health and well being. Becomes aware of the interconnection of earth, living beings, and cultural practices and the impact of food choices on those systems.

Mindfulness Works!  research findings suggest that mindful attention to one’s own mental experiences helps to control impulsive eating responses.  Participants given a mindfulness intervention showed a decline in binge eating episodes as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms.  Mindfulness intervention was successful in reducing BMI by controlling binge eating. More here:  

Snack Time! Thank You Be Well