Yoga, Mindfulness and Maple Creemees

My love affair with dessert fascinates me. I’ve ventured from an innocent obsession with ice cream in my younger years to a period of convincing myself that sweets were empty calories and I didn’t need them (delusional, I know) to a total aversion during pregnancy (to a point where the taste of anything sweet turned rancid in my mouth) to a present uncontrollable sweet tooth as a new mom. Is this all a mental creation or physiological response? Who knows – maybe it’s a little of both – but one thing is for certain and that’s how sweets currently taste and it’s a delicious reality.

Yoga has taught me the practice of mindfulness. Through mindfulness, we are able to enjoy and appreciate things exactly as they are without being distracted by our mind’s judgment. Call me crazy but I’ve lived in VT for several years and only just recently enjoyed my first maple creemee. Why? Because of that delusional period I went through where I created a story for myself and steered my interest away from anything sweet.

Today, I find myself rewriting that story through the practice of yoga. With a more mindful awareness, I’m able to see things exactly as they are and act accordingly. For high calorie foods such as maple creemees, I see them now not as empty calories but rather rich calories. Rich calories are savored rather than avoided. Through moderation and mindful eating, I slow down and make rich calories last. I taste the sweet maple; I sense the smooth cold texture; I hear the crunch of the cone; I feel satisfied and completely fulfilled.

~ Katie Bohlin