{"id":1365,"date":"2015-02-08T18:52:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T23:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/?p=1365"},"modified":"2015-02-09T10:35:58","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T15:35:58","slug":"when-you-are-hungry-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/when-you-are-hungry-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"When You Are Hungry – Eat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sharon<\/a>
\n<\/a>To meditate, or to do work, or to check the blog, or to be with the kids? \u00a0THAT is the question.\u00a0 The possibilities floated by like fish gliding through the ocean and circling back around.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t intrusive thoughts.\u00a0 On the contrary.\u00a0 I barely paid any attention to them. That was it! I was not paying any mindful attention to what I was doing or my thoughts.<\/p>\n

I was on the computer doing a bit of this and that, as I often do, in this age of multitasking.\u00a0 I was checking out Sharon Salzberg\u2019s website for the 28 day meditation Challenge.\u00a0 At the same time, in consideration of my day\u2019s schedule, I began searching this weekend\u2019s picks for activities in the city. Quickly, I found myself reading about a few local restaurants- Yum.\u00a0 In this way, I found myself drifting from one musing from the next, hiding behind the excuse that I don\u2019t get enough time to \u201cjust be\u201d and have mornings like this.\u00a0 The truth is, while one could argue that I was \u201cbeing,\u201d I was not engaged with the kind of absorption in one task that results in feeling fulfilled.\u00a0 Rather, I was meandering, and if I allowed it to continue, it would result in my feeling like I hadn\u2019t really been anywhere or done anywhere.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been there before, who hasn\u2019t? \u00a0We call it multitasking.<\/p>\n

The idea behind multitasking is admirable. \u00a0The premise is that we will be able to do and accomplish more if we work on several things at a time.\u00a0 Unfortunately, research does not support this.\u00a0 The studies reveal that we do not truly have the capacity for divided attention.\u00a0 Rather, our brain only focuses on one thing at a time.\u00a0 Therefore, multitasking requires switching back and forth between the numerous tasks we are engaging in. Rather than increasing efficiency, it reduces it. Moreover, when we practice multitasking, we actually get worse, not better at it.\u00a0 Studies now show that performance suffers for individuals who engage in habitual multitasking.\u00a0 Rather than being more effective, these individuals were slower, and had more difficulty filtering information and organizing thoughts.<\/p>\n

Combine the cultural norms of multitasking with the computer gadget revolution and we may be in trouble.\u00a0 Researchers are examining potential effects of multitasking with electronic devices such as texting with your phone while watching a movie on your tablet. \u00a0Results from MRI brain imaging at the\u00a0University of Sussex\u00a0<\/a> revealed that high multitaskers had less brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region responsible for empathy as well as cognitive and emotional control.<\/p>\n

Thus, overall it seems that multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance.\u00a0 When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.\u00a0 The bottom line- Something suffers.<\/p>\n

Just like all good things come to an end, so did my rationalization.\u00a0 Something in me called my bluff.\u00a0 I think of it as my observing self.\u00a0 The moment I stopped multitasking I realized something that had only been in my subconscious awareness.\u00a0 I was hungry! \u00a0Though I was semi-aware of this when I was multitasking, mostly \u201cmultisurfing\u201d the web, it wasn\u2019t until I stopped that the need surfaced to the point I could recognize it as a sensation requiring attention.\u00a0 Realizing that attending to my physical needs rather than delaying a meal would be likely to make me more focused, I decided to proceed with eating.\u00a0 It was not until I engaged mindful awareness of my overall experience that I focused in on a fairly important need that I had been ignoring. \u00a0I decided to cook and focus on that and leave my cell phone behind.\u00a0 Well, at least until after I looked up a recipe!<\/p>\n

I was thankful to have this insight today before the day got ahead of me. Later, when I meditated my revelation helped me to stay more focused.\u00a0 I found myself embracing the adage when you are doing something, be there fully.\u00a0 Show up for it!<\/p>\n

To read further on how social media may be driving a wedge between us check out our take on Prince EA\u2019s rap “Can We Autocorrect Humanity”<\/a><\/p>\n

Access a free sample meditation to work on being more mindful:\u00a0Click for meditation<\/a><\/p>\n

For the month of February, join us on this 28 day Real Happiness journey. You will find resources at\u00a0SharonSalzberg.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0MyMindfulWayofLife.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To meditate, or to do work, or to check the blog, or to be with the kids? \u00a0THAT is the question.\u00a0 The possibilities floated by like fish gliding through the ocean and circling back around.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t intrusive thoughts.\u00a0 On the contrary.\u00a0 I barely paid any attention to them. That was it! I was not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,62,79,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditation","category-meditation-challeng","category-sharon-salzberg","category-stress-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YyuX-m1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1365"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1373,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions\/1373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}