Smooth, smothering, silky mmmmmm
It is official: you can stop cravings by practicing mindfulness meditation. A recent study showed the effects of mindfulness meditation on the urge to tuck into the brown delight – meditators declared a reduction in their cravings.
Mindfulness practice involves a few different skills and the research is now focussing on the impact of certain skills on cravings.
The skills that were taking into account of this research project are:
- Awareness – noticing your thoughts, being the observer
- Non-judgment – accepting what happens, just as it is and not labelling it as good or bad (read more)
- Dis-identification – acknowledging the event/feelings, but distancing yourself from it, looking at it as separate from yourself
These skills are all part of what happens in the process of meditation. The research team trained non-meditating chocolate cravers in 4 groups; 3 groups focussed on 1 skill, 1 group on combined skills and one group was the control group and got no training. After two weeks they measured the cravings and the strongest changes were presented by the people who had trained to dis-identify. What it shows is the importance of acknowledgement (don’t deny the seductive power of chocolate), and the power of separating yourself from the feeling.
The focus is on creating a mental distance between yourself and your cravings, identifying a craving as simply a thought. The technique works as it tries to break the cycle of the habitual response, and over time, the brain will rewire itself in a different response.
This study offers important information for anyone who wants to make constructive changes to the way they perceive the world and their thoughts. About chocolate, but it works for other aspects in life as well. It is possible to change in a relative short time with the help of mindfulness meditation.
Read here how to stop emotional overeating.
