The Ayurveda Experience Blog
There are many reasons for weight gain. The most prominent one is compulsive eating caused by anxiety or tension. All the more reason to start a meditation practice. Meditation therapy for weight loss can be a huge support.
Eating stimulates the satiety center of the brain. Lack of satisfaction in one’s life is actually the real culprit behind a majority of cases of weight gain in middle age.
Because people lack satisfaction and peace, they try to stimulate the temporary chimera of satisfaction by eating. Most people eat when offered tasty food, even if they are not hungry because it creates more satisfaction. Ideally, we should never eat without proper hunger. Even in cases of weight gain for other reasons, anxiety is one indispensable factor, whether it be thyroid disorder, other hormonal disturbances or any other disease.
Disturbances in the mind reflect in the body metabolism as well.
There is a way to treat excessive weight gain permanently. Generate peace of mind and satisfaction from means other than food. The results will be visible in less than six months time if followed religiously. And the cost is zero.
Meditation Therapy For Weight Loss
The real problem appears sometimes in accepting the efficacy of something so simple and free. But the proof of the pudding is in eating. Meditation is not just closing your eyes. This six months meditation therapy for weight loss has a specific system.
Prepare Your Body + Mind
It is very important to realize the strength of your opponent in any fight. Your unconscious habit of constant eating is your greatest opponent in this case. This habit is well-fed by various self-justifications for mid meal snacks or junk food. Undertake the following measures to build strength against this habit.
This orientation will help you in realizing the root cause of your problem. No one can get fat without unnecessary eating. After this exercise, you will know what needs to be done.
No one can get fat without unnecessary eating.
For the first five days, keep track of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat. Account for even a drop of soft drink or a mouthful of mid-meal snack. For better results, ask your family members also to keep track of your eating.
After this exercise, you will know exactly how much extra you eat every day. If the amount of food eaten turns out to be less during these 5 days, that might probably mean that you were eating consciously. This is happy news. You are capable of strong self-restraint in eating.
Tips For Parents
If you are a mom or dad, you might be suffering from ‘super saver tummy’ syndrome. This is where you engulf each and everything cooked in your kitchen, because no one else is interested in eating extra and you cannot afford to throw away hard-earned food. In this case, you should take the following steps.
- Ask every family member how hungry they are. If they give you an estimate of their next meal requirements before you prepare the food, you’ll likely cook an appropriate amount for everyone.
- Cook exactly according to that estimate or less. Do not cook extra. Let your family members own up to their information.
- Keep ready-to-cook and eat food on hand, in case of a sudden shortage of food.
- Respect your body. Don’t treat it like a garbage bin.
On Sugar
If you have a sweet tooth, switch to jaggery and honey in place of sugar. Both of these items assist weight loss. As compared to sugar, honey has a lower GI value and does not raise blood sugar levels suddenly. It also increases the rate of metabolism, thus assisting in the process of weight loss. According to recent research, it is linked to the hibernation diet, which states that 70% of fat is burned while sleeping if the metabolism is well-balanced.
Jaggery also has a slow release of glucose into the blood during digestion and increases the rate of metabolism. It is also an excellent source of potassium.
Skipping Dinner
It is a scientific fact that the body metabolism slows down as the day ends, as a preparation for sleep. Many people eat dinner as a routine and not because they are hungry. If food is absorbed and not utilized by the body because of slow metabolism, it is converted to fat (adipose tissue). Therefore unnecessary food that we eat at night, without proper hunger, gets converted to fat and increases our burden of weight. A dinner-less routine is important for effective weight loss.
You could replace dinner with a big glass of warm milk with added health supplements. This will ensure an adequate supply of essential nutrition to your body. You will be a little uncomfortable for a few days, probably with some hunger at night. But eventually, your body will adapt to a zero dinner routine. A light dinner with fruit, milk and a few healthy snacks can always be an option, according to your hunger. It is very important for you to be hungry if you are going to eat dinner. Always eat according to your hunger levels.
Keep nutritious snacks like whole wheat crackers, puffed rice and corn flakes ready in case you feel hungry at night.
Cleansing Meditation: 10 Days
For the first ten days, sit for five minutes in the morning and evening at a fixed time and fixed place, if possible. Concentrate on the idea that all unwanted things are flowing out from your back in the form of smoke and you have the presence of divine light in your heart. It is not necessary to concentrate on seeing the light.
The idea of light is more important than the idea of smoke. Do not think about or try to analyze unwanted ideas. Attention gives strength to thoughts.
In addition to the five minutes of meditation, start asking yourself the following questions after every meal. Do not skip this step.
- Was this food healthy for me?
- Was it required?
- What will be the effect of this food on me?
- Do I want to eat like this again?
It might become irritating sometimes, but preserve your patience. Gradually and irreversibly, you will find yourself reflecting over your food during the meal rather than after the meal and finally before the meal. Once you start asking yourself these questions before the meal, your goal is almost reached. You’re now sensitive towards what goes inside your mouth. You are starting to eat like a human.
But this exercise has to be done even if you eat a single cracker.
It is effective to have a group effort or the help of your family if you feel that it is a little difficult to practice this alone.
If you forget, try keeping a reminder in your mobile phone or a small diary.
If you’re fond of writing, please scribble down the answers to the above questions whenever possible. After a few days you can read earlier notes you’ve written down. You will witness a gradual change in your attitude towards food.
The most important thing – even if you fail multiple times, it is okay. Try one more time. Take a gap of a few days and then restart the practice.
Curative Meditation: 10 Days
In addition to the above practices, start ten minutes of meditation in the morning. Meditation is not about concentration on any idea, not even the idea of getting slim. Sometimes, while meditating on the idea of getting slim, we unconsciously imbibe the fact that we ARE fat, which might become a reinforced mental hurdle. Do not pay attention to any idea coming into your mind, positive or negative. Just be sensitive to the peaceful feeling of meditation. Continue this process for 10 days.
If you feel the need for external help, meditate with a trainer or group.
After ten days of the above practice, increase the morning meditation duration to 20 minutes. You can make a gradual increase of five minutes in the first five days and another five minutes in the next five days. Now you will be meditating a total of 30 minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. Increase the evening cleansing meditation to 10 minutes.
After 6 months of the above practice, measure your weight and you will be happily surprised. Your body is truly an extension of your mind.
This meditation tool is to train your mind. Once your mind is under your control, you can reap true benefits from any diet plan or exercise regime. Otherwise, everything will be a flop show.
Best wishes and may God bless you with a peaceful mind and a radiant body!
