Just as my stomach was peaking its rumble of noontime hunger, my colleague came in to invite me to join her for a lunch n learn on mindfulness. I gladly accepted – once I figured out what to do about my stomach! I grabbed a Bora Bora bar and decided to have snack for lunch and lunch for snack. This was the Tribal Cinnamon Oatmeal flavor. I liked it, but it was awfully calorie-dense for not that much chew. The flavor was great though, and these bars are all natural – just Real Food mushed together.
The talk was great, and SO APPROPRIATE for me to hear today!! It was about how the body and brain really are affected by the way we live. As we take in our environment and new orientations and connections are made within our lives, research has found that new neuropathways are laid down (original thought was that our brains were set from birth). This is called neuroplasticity. Over 1800 studies have shown a relationship between mindfulness and positive outcomes, such as positive changes in the immune system, depression, psoriasis (4 x faster healing when mindfulness techniques were used!), cancer, eating disorders, and even gene expression (there are 15 genes now thought to be linked to stress response).
Our speaker told us about a poem by Rumi called “Guest House” that speaks to changing a life of hostility to one of hospitality. Let the feelings, senses and experiences – good and bad – come in as guests. Some you’ll like; some you won’t; but treat them all with hospitality.
Guest House
This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.-Rumi
We concluded the talk with a meditation. I was so relaxed!
I walked back to the office and kept walking on to the car place to pick up Marge after her oil change. Feels SO GOOD to have that done! (And so good to get a noontime walk in!) Summerfield Auto here in Charlotte is awesome. They brought me right to work (.4 miles away) after dropping Marge off so I wouldn’t be late 
Marge got a clean bill of health!
Off to mindfully eat this lunch!
Killer salad!! Spinach, celery, carrot, red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes drizzled in a tsp each of olive oil and honey and sprinkled with Krazy salt.
Chobani – Strawberry Banana! Never had it before…
Kashi Kracker Krumbs
Saving this giant grapefruit for an afternoon snack 
How is it already Thursday!?
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the whole brain plasticity thing – I’ve been doing it in one of my psychology modules, it’s so fascinating – and good to know that we can change! I’m a strong believer in it all
Have a great afternoon!
Love your lunch – so colourful and tasty looking
Hi! I am new reader to your blog and just wanted to come and comment and say HI
I LOVE kashi crackers, mmm I almost can’t buy them because they never last long in our house!
I have seen alot of bloggers talk about Chobani yogurt, i think I am going to have to try it out!
Welcome Lindsay!
That salad really looks delicious – I love sun dried tomatoes! I haven’t had that Chobani flavor yet either and I’m dying to try!
I am definitely lacking in mindful eating – this month has been so rushed for me and I need to get back on track. It helps me so much to be aware of the food I’m eating, especially if I prepare it with care and it tastes great.
This week has flown by – thankfully the weekend will be here soon!
That sounds like such an enlightening talk! Thank you for sharing that poem. Sometimes, even when we know change is possible, it’s nice to hear it spoken!
Thanks for sharing the poem…Great little “breather” in the middle of a busy day! Enjoy the sunshine!
Now that’s a good looking lunch! That talk sounded great and its always nice to get a break!
Mindfulness is so helpful with so many things! I find that yoga helps me be more mindful, thoughtful and calm in my everyday life. I’d like to start meditating, but it’s hard to find time to do it!
I put that poem on my blog not even a week ago! I love it!
I love that poem, I hope I can keep it in mind next time an anxious visitor comes a knocking.
What a wonderful morning Kath! That poem is beautiful!
And I’m LOVING that lunch. Such a great colorful salad.
I loved that Rumi meditation! What an awesome lunch- you sure know how to balance everything so well:)
I love that poem
That is such a great poem!
I love huge grapefruits like that around this time of the year. They are so juicy and perfect. YUM!
I have studied mindfulness is a couple of my classes here (psychology of stress and coping, diet and nutrition etc.) so I know a lot of the tools but it is so hard for me to mindfully be mindful! For one, I eat so darn fast!! Ahhh!! I eat a lot slower when I’m sitting down with my family but when I’m on my own at my desk it gets gobbled down.
Just got back from a conference last week on binge eating. One of the guest speakers was Dr. Michelle May-she wrote the book Am I hungry? She guided all of us through a mindful lunch. Very interesting. I use her book all the time with patients. Great RD tool!!
I’m starting to work on mindful eating myself as I continue with my struggles; this is a pretty well-said and thoughtful post! Hearing about all of this really makes me want to get on with my nutrition classes and get started on that internship!
Your salad looks really good – are those dried tomatoes just straight from the package and dried / chopped up? That’s how I’ve eaten them – I really like how chewy they are.
Also, I have a few questions about the internship and experiences in the field during school, would it be best to ask in a comment or send you an e-mail? (If you have time that is!)
Have a great rest of the afternoon and enjoy the weather!
I can send you my “questions on becoming an RD auto email if you’d like
That would be great and I’d appreciate the advice a lot! Basically during spring break I’m going to try to look for places around home that would provide good summer job experiences toward the field (hoping for something with the summer school food program) and I was curious what you did during college. Thanks! ^_^
Send me an email and I’ll reply with the doc.
But remember I was a history major during college and did nothing to do with nutrition. I worked at two different summer camps for two summers and went to England to study history abroad for the third.
Kashi Krackers are on my list to get at the grocery store next time. Hope you enjoy the rest of the sunshine!
How did you like the Chobani? I’ve been wanting to try one.
What a beautiful poem – thank you for sharing!
It was good!! Nice and thick and not too sweet. Very strawberry banana. However, i’m still just a plain girl!
I haven’t had sun dried tomatoes in forever. Such a good idea to top a salad with them! I haven’t seen Kashi crackers on sale in a while so I have refrained from getting them
Mindfulness is exaclty what I’ve been working on for the past year – mostly to do with “accepting” anxiety and unhappy emotions but not giving them credence. I probably should practice more… it really does help! And thank you for the poem.
i just started a mindfulness stress reduction and yoga course at school and love it! it’s helping me so much with anxiety. great poem! have a great afternoon
It’s been days since I’ve had a proper salad (or much in the way of vegetables at all!)….That looks sooooo good right now!
Mmm never had a bora bora bar but an All Natural snack is right down my alley!
Never saw that chobani flavor either, I will look for it!
Ana
I’ve struggled in the past with disordered eating, and mindfulness and mini meditations have made SUCH a difference. Our brains and our bodies really are connected in amazing ways! Also, Rumi is an absolutely amazing poet; you should check out some of his other work!
Wow– what a great poem! And I truly do believe that mindfulness and positivity can have huge impacts on our health and our lives.
Hi Kath! I have been a looooong time reader, but I’ve only commented a handful of times (schoolwork only allows for me to follow your blog, not so much commenting ha ha)
Anyways, I opened your blog and the title of this post really hit me—I think it was the mindfulness part. I have the weirdest emotional eating, and I was wondering how you keep yourself from snacking or taking nibbles upon nibbles. I say its weird because I’ll be fine for a week and then slip into crazy nibbling or mindless eating for a few days or a week. Then go back to being “normal” My weight is pretty steady but when I go over it fluctuates here and there. I am just concerned because its not a great habit and I was wondering how you control this.
I know this may seem a little vague, but I was just wondering if you had some personal tips that work.
Thanks Kath! Keep of the great blogging!
I hate to say it, but YOU are in charge of your snacking. If you absolutely can’t control it, don’t buy the snacks and try physical means to keep yourself from making better choices.
Kath, I am so intrigued by neuroplasticity. You mentioned “Mindfulness Techniques”–would you go into a bit more detail about what those are and maybe provide a few examples? I find this subject fascinating!
Well she didn’t really discuss the techniques – just that she has an 8 week class. I think it’s a lot of your classic meditations. The one we did involved ringing bells and focusing on the senses.
Sounds like a very informative talk!
Your lunch looks fantastic. I love sun-dried tomatoes in salad! Yum!
That salad looks AWESOME — so colorful and fresh and vibrant. A rainbow in a bowl!
You should check out “The Mindfulist”. I don’t have a website so I put the Mindfulist’s website in the link from my name – its a project devoted solely to daily mindfulness.
those crackers look perfect!
I really admire your flexibility with eating (switching snack and lunch). I have such a hard time with that and need to learn to be more adaptable to the unexpected. Sometimes, life happens!
I’ve always loved that poem by Rumi. Yeah, end of coat season! Love taking breaks from the office to walk around outside. I am so impressed by how seamlessly you incorporate veggies into your meals – it is something I definitely need to work on.
This has definitely been the quickest week ever. And thanks for reminding me that I seriously need to eat the two grapefruit that are rotting away on my counter!
this week has totally flown by…not that i mind, since i love the weekends though!
The Bora Bora bar looks pretty yummy. I can’t believe it’s Thursday already either, and am majorly happy that it’s almost Friday!
What a great poem – thanks for sharing!
I have really been enjoying your posts lately. I love hearing about everything that is going on with your internship!
Great poem, thanks for sharing. Mindfulness is a wonderful technique that we should all explore. There is actually scientific research on the benefits of mindfulness. Meditation is awesome too.
I’m glad Marge is ok!! I cant believe is thursday either! Time has been flying lately!
that’s my absolute favorite poem of all time, i even blogged about it a while ago! LOVE IT!
and weird thing: it was this really hot young resident who was my doctor when i was in the hospital who introduced me to that poem…he was a lit major in college, go figure
Kath – I just tried the straw/banana myself this week. I am not much of a banana person, but the chobani tour bus was at the heart run that I did a few weeks ago, so I grabbed a sample. And for not being a banana lover, I really enjoyed it. Pineapple still tops my list, but I agree when you say nothing beats plain. You can put it with just about anything. Tonight, I made chicken burritos and used plain Chobani as “sour cream.” Ir complements so many meals – great way to sneak in a bunch of protein!!
I love sun-dried tomatoes – I really should eat them more! If its Thursday its almost Friday!
Hi Kath. Love the poem. You should read ” a new earth” by eckert tolle. Oprah had a web series with him. All about enjoying the good and the bad. Learn to accept all that comes our way. Sometimes something that seems bad can turn into a good thing. Very inspirational. Thanks!!
I LOVE when bloggers post about things they learn in class/from lectures/at work/etc. Free education! (I would be a life-long student if it paid the bills – learning is my thing.
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I think you would really enjoy reading the book “Who Switched off my Brain?” by Dr. Leaf – all on our thought life affects us physically. So good!
It’s so true that our environment, and our perception of our environment, affects our behavior, in the case of what you’re studying, nutrition. Isn’t it wonderful to know that our brains are constantly changing, evolving, as we make decisions in the world around us?
Love your blog – always full of wise thoughts.
wow i never thought to put honey on salad before……..
yay sun dried tomatoes
a bientot
the pfb
Wow, I absolutely love that poem. Just read it two times over and still feel like I want to read it again! Poetry has a funny way of making you think even without consciously deciding to. Thanks for posting it!
I really like that poem too. It’s a wonderful reminder that we never know what our futures hold, but we can be graceful and gracious as we find out. I need to be reminded of this!
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Juliana of Norwich (but I found it in Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert!)
Being Mindful is so important and thank you for telling us about the talk and sharing the poem. My husband and I are going to take a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in May and I am so excited.
Also check out the March issue of Shambhala Sun magazine, it is all about Mindfulness, and I think you will enjoy it.
Here is a link to the info
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3486&Itemid=0
Love reading your blog. I love greek yogurt, plain, with honey. Yum!