About the Course

If you think of mindful eating as chewing on a single raisin for hours on end, think again. Exploring food with Marcella is anything but a chore or a bore.

This course brings together cross-cultural spiritual teachings and cutting-edge research (heaven), practical tools (earth), and group support (human) to experientially transform food from a means of survival into an expression of personal dignity and enlightened society.

This class will not only enrich your spiritual and intellectual understanding of mindful eating; it will give you simple, effective practices for resolving the unconscious behaviors that sabotage your relationship with food, so that you can effortlessly join the view and practice of eating properly at meal time.

Course Outline

Module 1: Introduction

Module 2: Mindful Eating: Why Bother?

• Mindful Eating and Enlightened Society
• Stop Eating Concepts and Start Eating Food
• Golden Rules of Mindful Eating
• Six Rules for Eating Wisely
• How to Think About Food

Module 3: Feeding the Ghosts: Healing Unhealthy Food Habits: The Universality of Hunger

• EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Tapping Instructions
• EFT Tapping Guide 1: Choices Method for Food Cravings
• EFT Tapping Guide 2: The Discipline to Make Changes
• The Upside of Compulsive Eating

Module 4: Making Peace with Your Trigger Foods

• Eating One Potato Chip
• How to Eat One Potato Chip
• Synchronizing Mind and Body

Module 5: Stabilizing the Body with Fermented Foods & Breakfast

• Feeding the Ancestors: Why Fermented Foods?
• Breakfast: The Key to a Happy Life
• Do Gut Bacteria Rule Our Minds?
• Rise and Shine: What Kids Around the World Eat for Breakfast
• 7-Day Breakfast Challenge

Module 6: Your Life is the Supreme Meal

• Can Home Cooking Restore Enlightened Society?
• Tip Sheet on Meal Planning
• Meal Prayers and Blessings from Around the World
• The Dawn of the Great Eastern Sun

Module 7: What’s Next?

Online Materials

• Friel, Marcella. “Breakfast: The Key to a Happy Life.” The Tapping Solution,June 23, 2014.
• Friel, Marcella. “The Sovereign of Love.” The Contemplative Chef, February 12, 2010.
• Norris, Jeffery. “Do Gut Bacteria Rule Our Minds?” University of California San Francisco Newsletter, August 15, 2014.
• Pollan, Michael. “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch.” New York Times Magazine, August 2, 2009.
• Pollan, Michael. “Six Rules for Eating Wisely.” Time, June 4, 2006.

Recommended Texts

• Trungpa, Chögyam. “Discovering Magic.” Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Shambhala Publications.
• Brown, Edward Espe: “How to Eat One Potato Chip.” Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings: Recipes and Reflections. New York: Riverhead, 1994.
• Garson, Sandra. Veggiyana: The Dharma of Cooking.Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007.
• Glassman, Bernard, and Rick Fields. Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Living a Life That Matters. New York, Bell Tower, 1996.
• Ortner, Jessica. The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss and Body Confidence. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2014.
• Pollan, Michael. Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.New York: Penguin, 2009.
• Scott, Anne. Serving Fire: Food for Thought, Body, and Soul. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1994

About the Teacher

Marcella Friel is a natural foods chef and mindful eating mentor who helps health-conscious women love and forgive themselves, their food, and their figure. Marcella leads the highly popular course, Mindful Eating: Joining Heaven and Earth at the Meal Table, on Shambhala Online.

A student of the Shambhala teachings since 1987 and a teacher since 1996, Marcella cooked for three-year retreatants at Gampo Abbey and has taught mindful eating in the context of oryoki practice at Warrior Assembly and Summer Dathün programs.

She is the author of Tap, Taste, Heal: Use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to Eat Joyfully and Love Your Body and of two best-selling courses on DailyOM. 

In 2018 Marcella founded the Women, Food, and Forgiveness Academy, an online mentorship program to guide women on the path of unconditional self-love and sustainable body-weight balance.

Marcella lives in the high mountain desert of Southern Colorado and spends her free time soaking in the half-dozen hot springs near her home.

Registration Options

The Patron rate supports our efforts to connect teachers and learners through online programs. In particular, it helps us offer the generosity policy to those in need.

Generosity Policy. We want to make the teachings available to all and will work with you to ensure your participation. Click on the Request a Discount link below, to receive a 25% discount code to use at checkout. For a further discount, please write to [email protected].

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