Think about your last meal. Were you actually there, at the table, tasting your food, feeling its texture as you chewed and swallowed? Or were you in your mind, mentally lining up the next thing on your to-do list, composing an email, worrying about an argument with your spouse, or counting calories and grams of fat? Anytime you’re doing anything but focusing on your food during meals, you’re in your mind. And even though the entire act of chewing, swallowing, digesting and assimilating food occurs in the physical being, we’re rarely around when it happens.

What does it mean to be “in your body,” and why is it so hard to do? I have spent much of my life in a formal meditation practice that teaches us to be present, embodied and in the moment, and sometimes it’s still hard. Sometimes, being in the body just isn’t as interesting as being in the mind. It’s quieter. There’s less noise, no drama. The mind is cunning, clever and persuasive, and tells a fabulous tale.

We also feel like we’re more in control in the mind. We can spin our take on situations, weave stories that makes us feel comfortable and safe. And, if you have a body that was ridiculed, neglected, mishandled or otherwise harmed in childhood, in your body is a hard place to be. If your early physical sensations were unpleasant or painful, getting the hell out of your body made way more sense than sticking around to feel. When that happens, it can take time to come back.

Especially to the soft, squishy, most vulnerable middle of it—the belly. But when it comes to eating, that’s where the action’s at. Many traditional spiritual practices emphasize the hara, the area three fingers’ width below the navel, that’s often described as the energetic center of the self. No accident that it’s also the digestive center of the body.

But we don’t hang around in our soft, squishy centers, or the body in general. We spend most of our lives in our minds; we crash around in our arms and legs, then fling our torsos into bed at the end of the day, with little experience of what those body parts have felt through the day.

How do you get back in your body? If you’ve spent years fleeing from it at the first sign of trouble, it’s just a matter of creating a habit. Some simple practices can help:

1.    Check in with your belly before you eat. Every single time. What does it feel like? A cursory glance will reveal only the most superficial of sensations—hungry, full—leaving the more interesting experiences buried deeper. Maybe your belly feels grateful, or lonely, or troubled. Take five full minutes before each meal to just sit quietly and sense what’s happening in your belly. Place your hand on the area below your navel, let your belly soften (even though that’s horrible and scary in our modern culture) and direct your attention to your breath. Your mind will wander, maybe after even a minute or two. Keep guiding it gently back to the belly, and the breath.

2. Eat with your senses. Look at your food before you put it in your mouth. Smell it and, if appropriate, touch it. Become completely enchanted with the food on your plate. In most contemplative spiritual practices, eating is a sacred art. And when you think about it, the act of receiving sustenance from the Earth, and transforming it into flesh, bone, muscle and cells, really is pretty miraculous.

3. Meet your body. What does your whole body–every single part–feel like? Try this exercise: lying down comfortably, do a whole body scan. Starting with your pinky toe, and working your way up, pay careful attention to each part of your body—the big and obvious parts, but also the parts that go unnoticed. What do your elbows and earlobes feel like? The spaces between your toes? The very center of your stomach? Focusing on the tiny bits helps get you out of a mental description of what your body feels like, and into a sensory experience. And you might be surprised to find that there are parts of your body you never even noticed.

4. Experiment with being in your body through movement. Thinking about your body doesn’t create embodiment. It’s purely experiential. Movement needn’t be elaborate or showy. Stretch your arms slowly overhead. Extend your legs. Arch, then flex, your spine, and see how quickly you come back to your physical being and its sensations.

5.   Check in with your body throughout the day. Make it a regular habit to pause every hour or so, and do a quick scan of your physical self, from the part in your hair to the skin on the soles of your feet. In time, the habit of being in your body will come naturally and frequently. When I first started this practice in my early 30s, in the midst of a riot of mental noise, I was shocked to find that I spent well over half my life in my mind, while my body remained uninhabited. Now, it’s second nature, but it took years of practice.

And the next time you eat, do it from your body. Be really, truly present, and notice how different the act of nourishment may seem.

Lisa Turner is a widely published food writer with five books on health and nutrition, and hundreds of magazine articles. In addition to writing books and magazine articles, Lisa combines 20 years of yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices to help her clients explore emotional issues behind their eating habits. Currently, she's a faculty instructor at Bauman College of Culinary Arts and Nutrition in Boulder, Colorado, and hard at work on her next book. Visit her websites at www.TheHealthyGourmet.net and InspiredEating.com.

To learn more about Personal Chef To Go, please visit our website, find us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Flowers are known around the world to symbolize love, friendship, compassion, and celebration. Flowers are a part of our every day – they enliven our homes with their beauty and fragrance, grace our gardens with color and creativity, delight us, seduce us, and remind us of the beautiful, transitory life we share together on Earth. When we sip a calming chamomile tea, smile at an unassuming daisy, or find freshly cut stargazers at the farmers market; we behold the healing power of flowers.

According to research conducted by Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., director of the Human Development Lab at Rutgers University, “flowers have immediate and long-term positive effects on reactions, mood, social behaviors and even memory for both males and females.”

All age groups in the study exhibited emotions of extraordinary delight and gratitude after receiving flowers, encouraging more positive behavior in social activity – such as eye contact and sincere smiling. The mere presence of flowers in subjects’ homes led to increased contact with friends and family, indicating that we share with our loved ones when happy emotions are triggered. Flowers are a natural mood booster with direct long-term positive effects on emotional well-being; authenticating our compassionate instinct to send flowers to sick or healing friends.

When wildflowers spring up each year for their seasonal appearance, we too invite the concept of rebirth into our homes and our families with spring cleaning, sowing new seeds, and gathering for family celebrations. Cross-culturally, many spring holidays include bright colors and flowers in the annual rituals of renewal and rebirth.

Another Rutgers University psychology study noted the effects flowers have on seniors (also conducted by Haviland-Jones). The study finds flowers decrease depression, encourage companionship and enrich short-term memories in seniors, proving that flowers have the power to ease us into a peaceful place of old age – while perhaps reminding us of the vitality in all life forms.

Botanists estimate there are more than 240,000 types of flowering plants on Earth. Flowers and their essences have been used in medicine for ages. Many of today’s herbal remedies are based on the ancient wisdom of Mother Nature. Some flowers that appear in natural products include immune-enhancing echinacea, anti-inflammatory calendula, stress-relieving passionflower, relaxing lavender, and stimulating patchouli.

As sensual human beings, we are attracted to the majesty of each flower’s individual fragrance, color, and symmetry. Flowers are supposed to be sexy – they must seduce the buzzing birds and bees into intimacy for their own successful reproduction through pollination. We, too, respond to expressive colors, sweet scents, bold patterns and inspiring sacred geometry.

When we celebrate springtime underneath cherry blossoms, or spot a summer sunflower, be sure to breathe in the naturally occurring therapy – inviting you to stop and smell the roses, as often as you like.

To learn more about Personal Chef To Go, please visit our website, find us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Having lost sight of our goals, we redouble our efforts.
- Mark Twain

There is an old story of a man riding very fast on a horse. As he rides past his friend standing on the side of the road, the friend yells, “Where are you going?” The rider turns toward his friend and yells, “I don’t know, ask the horse!”

The pace and intensity of our lives, both at work and at home, leave many of us feeling like the person riding that frantically galloping horse. Our daily incessant busyness - too much to do and not enough time; the pressure to produce and tick off items on our to-do list by each day’s end - seems to decide the direction and quality of our existence for us. But if we approach our days in a different way, we can consciously change this out-of-control pattern. It only requires the courage to do less.

This may sound easy, but doing less can actually be very hard. Too often we mistakenly believe that doing less makes us lazy and results in a lack of productivity. Instead, doing less helps us savor what we do accomplish. We learn to do less of what is extraneous, and engage in fewer self-defeating behaviors, so we craft a productive life that we truly feel good about.

Just doing less for its own sake can be simple, startling, and transformative. Imagine having a real and unhurried conversation in the midst of an unrelenting workday with someone you care about. Imagine completing one discrete task at a time and feeling calm and happy about it.

Every life has great meaning, but the meaning of our own can often be obscured by the fog of constant activity and plain bad habits. Recognize and change these, and we can again savor deeply the ways we contribute to the workplace, enjoy the sweetness of our lives, and share openly and generously with the ones we love. Less busyness leads to appreciating the sacredness of life. Doing less leads to more love, more effectiveness and internal calmness, and a greater ability to accomplish more of what matters most - to us, and by extension to others and the world.

Marc Lesser is CEO of ZBA Associates LLC, a company providing executive coaching, leadership development consulting, and keynote speaking services to businesses and non-profits. He is a developer and instructor of Google’s Search Inside Yourself program. Marc was the founder and former CEO of Brush Dance publishing. Marc is a Zen teacher with an MBA degree; a former resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is the author of Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration.

It is that time of year again when the gorilla pull of cravings for sweet holiday foods can prove overwhelming. When individuals who have made solid commitments to eat a nutritious whole foods diet come face to face with a barrage of cookies, cakes, chocolates and candies in the office, at home, and in the classroom; the stress can give some people no choice but to cave into the temptation.

Now, that can also be a great excuse for the classic, Oh, what the hell, moment and dive head first into the candy dish. I do realize that confronting holiday temptations may be more than mere mortals can endure; and yet we create the environment that puts us right into that place we have no business being. Your heart says no, no, while your brain says Oh why not have just a little and then I will never eat chocolate, cookies, cake, candy, again. It’s those little white lies we tell ourselves that start the whole snowball rolling down hill. Perhaps if you step out of the box and change your perspective you may be able to modify your behavior enough to get you through the holidays without to much damage to your waistline.

1. Emotional Eating: “I am really struggling with food, I’m back to my old eating habits and as a result my weight is up and my energy and self-esteem are down. I know I need to just do it, but I’m really resisting.”

Take a moment, seriously now, stop, sit down in a quiet place and ask yourself why you are resisting? Are you angry with someone? Bored with your life? Frazzled beyond the normal? Is food just placating something deeper that needs to be addressed? Answer the questions of why first and then begin to consider some alternatives to over eating. Such as dealing with the unpleasant situation, becoming more active in your life, reducing the stress and making time for yourself. Most importantly get back into the kitchen and create some healthy body balancing meals.

2. Sugar Blues: “I just got word that I am pre-diabetic and I know it is from eating sugar and refined carbohydrates. How do I get my blood sugar back to normal?”

America, 2010, tied up with a candy cane bow and weighing in with 125 pounds of refined sugar under each belt. Sugar makes food taste good, and makes you feel good by raising your brain chemicals, serotonin and beta-endorphins to a dramatic high. Problem is what goes up, must come crashing down producing unstable blood sugar levels with a nasty mood in the bargain. Best to raise your blood sugar gradually by using healthier forms of sweeteners in moderation. It’s not necessary to go cold turkey and cut out sugar altogether, unless a medical condition demands you do so; instead incorporate sweeteners such as organic maple syrup, unrefined honey, rice syrup, agave syrup, stevia and xylitol into your holiday desserts. Then bring these with you to work and/or social occasions to share with others. “Be the change you want to see in the world” may have been Gandhi speaking about peaceful resolution to conflict, but I have always understood it to mean everything that I do in my life, including the food I share with others during the holidays.

3. Work Stress: “I need to really get back on track with my eating habits. Work continues to be insane and three weeks ago we had another lay off and 14 people lost their jobs.The two absolute devils for me are decaf coffee and sweets.”

Here’s another instance when taking a moment to sit and observe your fear and anxiety can reveal some profound insights and solutions. You might begin by asking yourself what is the worst that can happen? If the worse thing is that you lose your job, can you see it as an opportunity disguised as loss? Visualize the kind of life you could create for yourself if you were not working insane hours under a constant threat of being laid off. Once you see that you can survive the worst your imagination has to offer your nervous system can find some respite and you can stop pushing down your fears with food.

4. Pleasure-Pain: “I was sick, in pain, going through chemotherapy, and the doctor told me not to worry about what I ate, so I just let go of all my discipline and now, 30 pounds later, I feel worse than ever.”

Let’s face it, food is instant pleasure. Our brain chemistry responds to this pleasure chemically, emotionally and physically within seconds of placing that morsel into your mouth. In fact, the research on chocolate alone has it increasing endorphins in the brain that mimic feelings of being in love, or put another way, mimics the way we feel following sexual orgasm. How’s that for pleasure?

The good news is that we need pleasure in our over stressed lives, the bad news is we suffer when the pleasure is removed. The cycle of desire and loss is a classic teaching in some religions. The Buddhist defines “suffering” not just as a physical pain of the body, but also the discontent our minds are afflicted with most of our waking day. The immediate pleasure of food becomes a habitual exercise in confronting our discontent. Rather than give in let the thought of eating pass you by. A thought lasts a mere 1/25 of a second and it is only when we grab on to that fleeting thought and follow it all the way to our chocolate stash do we allow our cravings to control us.

Meditation is a powerful tool we can use to attain freedom from the habits of our minds. However, the liberation does not happen overnight. It is a matter of practice, effort, awareness and staying present to our actions that will bring about results. The greatest battles we face in life are always with ourselves and our relationship to food is a constant reminder of how we can live with integrity in the world. When I am confronted with foods I find difficult to resist I tell myself that I am free to eat that piece of chocolate, or second helping or whatever it is that calls me so strongly, but I choose not to do so right now. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, or even an hour later, but by then the thought has passed and my mind is engaged elsewhere.