Is mindfulness better than chocolate?

David Michie is a best selling author and meditation coach and he presented his ‘Why Mindfulness is Better Than Chocolate’ talk at the 2014 Happiness and its Causes conference. Its worth setting aside 15 minutes to watch as it’s both amusing and enlightening.

 

 

David’s invitation is to eat a chocolate whilst paying attention to its colour, its wrapper, the shape, the smell, the taste, the texture and savour every detail.

 

If any thought pops into your head, dismiss it and return your focus to the chocolate and discover how much more enjoyable it is than when you just unconsciously chew and bolt it down.

 

In a US study, 2000 participants were sent at different times of the day via their smart phones three specific questions: What are you doing? What are you thinking? How happy are you? The results found that people were happiest when they were thinking about what they were doing, that is they were mindful and focused.
Michie says, “it didn’t seem to matter what [they] were doing….when you’re mindful, by definition, you have a greater chance of being happy”.

 

To find out more you can purchase the book Why Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate via David Michie’s website. The first chapter is posted there for free for anyone who wants to know more about mindfulness and meditation.