Whatever your diet, you can use your mind while eating to improve your digestion. Quieting the mind and calming the body is a good way to approach each meal. Sitting quietly and expressing gratitude for your food supports good digestion.

When we feel stressed our brain sends messages to the body to support the systems involved in "fight or flight" and to divert resources away from processes such as digestion. When we calm ourselves, the stress response is turned off and digestion moves smoothly.

Taking the time to chew each mouthful 35 to 40 times has several benefits. It begins the digestive process by reducing the size of food particles. As you chew you secrete saliva, necessary to the digestive process. Chewing 35 times slows you down. This can be an opportunity to focus on what you are doing at the moment and be a time of meditation and relaxation. Or it could be an incredible bother and the inconvenience of it could make the activity counterproductive. When I have the time and motivation to focus on chewing and eating with an attitude of gratitude it feels good. This usually happens for me once or twice a week.