You may think that Mindfulness and Heartfulness have nothing to do with weight loss. You may think these meditations are good for people in search of the meaning of life but have little use in everyday life and are especially irrelevant when talking about Bariatric Surgery. In fact, Mindfulness and Heartfulness are not only beneficial but necessary to your long-term success. Indeed, the effect of surgery is short-lived in the context of your life, lasting ~2 years. Beyond these first couple of years, sustained weight loss is not contingent upon the size of your stomach or strength of your bypass. So long as you follow the general guidelines of diet and exercise in the first year after surgery, you will likely see the expected excess body weight loss.

The effect of surgery is fairly consistent and predictable. Long term sustained weight loss is, however, contingent upon emotional awareness and responsible choice. When you become aware, minute-by-minute, of your emotional state, you will be able notice the associated thoughts and will potentially be able to choose your actions more consciously. We cannot control our emotions or thoughts, but when we are aware of them, we have the ability to choose how we respond to them. In other words, consciousness, allows for conscious choice, which in turn allows for conscious action.

Mindfulness is a state of awareness. In this state, we have emotional awareness and are aware of our associated thoughts. This awareness happens in the absence of judgment or criticism. Being able to notice what you are feeling without judging or criticizing yourself allows you to choose conscious actions (or inactions) in response to your feelings or thoughts. Mindfulness is the start of change but not the vessel for change. To truly change your state of being requires a deeper commitment.

This is the practice of Heartfulness. In Heartfulness, you will be in a state of emotional awareness without judgement or criticism. However, as you become aware of emotions that are not aligned with healthy choices, such as anger, frustration, anxiety etc., you will be able to choose an emotion in alignment with your health such as love, compassion, gratitude and reverence. You will then choose to act from that place, from that side of your personality.

For our Bariatric Patients, Heartfulness can be the difference between re-acting from a place of overwhelm and responding from a place of reverence for the experience of life. The action in the latter case is likely to be a healthier choice. If you can practice this every day, at every meal, you will achieve sustained weight loss. You will find long-term success.

This is why Heartfulness is so important and why we want all of our patients to practice it every day, at every meal.