When you’re feeling frazzled, a nourishing meal and a few deep breaths can make a world of difference. Whole Foods Market and Headspace meditation app have teamed up this spring to help consumers improve their wellbeing, eat more mindfully, and feel more connected to food—all things a recent Harris Poll survey conducted on behalf of Whole Foods revealed were especially important to consumers a year into the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two brands have collaborated on a new wellness series, which includes four “food for mood” episodes available on the Whole Foods Instagram TV channel, each featuring a mood-enhancing recipe created by Chef, Food and Welfare Advocate, Sophia Roe and Harvard nutritional psychiatrist, chef and author of This Is Your Brain on Food, Dr. Uma Naidoo. The themes of these episodes are Joyful, Energized, Focused and Relaxed. Consumers can also enjoy three new free Headspace meditations on mindful shopping, cooking and eating, along with a free one-month trial of Headspace Plus. https://buy.tinypass.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=Yj2fRrCPpu&templateId=OT9FYBBDZVYG&templateVariantId=OTVLK55KQSNZO&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EXOY5X53D6L2&iframeId=offer_b5fe282be2c2083ff444-0&displayMode=inline&pianoIdUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fauth.forbes.com%2Fid%2F&widget=template
Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, Chief Marketing Officer of Whole Foods Market, said, “After a year of shifting routines and priorities, we know customers are eager to reprioritize well-being. While Whole Foods Market has always been a leader in this space, we wanted to offer our customers tangible solutions to empower their well-being—body and mind—which is what brought about the idea of collaborating with Headspace.”
According to Eve Lewis, Director of Meditation at Headspace, mindful eating is an essential part of cultivating a sense of wellbeing. “There’s a lot of focus on how food affects us from a physical standpoint and a nutritional perspective, but it’s often overlooked how the foods we eat have the ability to affect us from a mental and emotional standpoint as well. We all have our comfort foods and foods that we turn to when we want to feel joy or feel energized. By tapping into mindful eating practices, we’re able to be more conscious about our experiences with food. Can we be more present as we enjoy a meal? Can we inspire a sense of gratitude for all the people and processes that brought the food to our plate? Can we take note of how food affects how we feel, both physically and mentally? Through practicing mindful eating, I hope that we can spark a greater sense of awareness and appreciation for what food brings us.”
Roe said, “Teaming up with Whole Foods Market and Dr. Uma to create recipes that encouraged positive moods was such a unique experience. As a chef, working with Dr. Uma was fascinating and brought a new perspective to my typical recipe development process. She identified the key mood-boosting ingredients and the benefits of each one, then I was able to create recipes with optimal ingredient combinations to meet each mood.” MORE FOR YOUIs A Mini MBA For You? 3 Best MBA Alternatives.This App Is Empowering Relationships Just In Time For Valentine’s DayThe MBA Meaning Is Changing: What Business School Signals After Covid-19
To decide on the four moods to focus on, explained Dr. Naidoo, the recipe development process started with identifying what people were struggling with the most. “From a mental wellbeing perspective, many Americans—as well as people worldwide—are suffering with poor sleep, increased stress, feeling blue and so much more. It seemed appropriate to help bring forward these messages with positivity by sharing tasty recipes paired with good brain foods. We selected the words to highlight the feelings individuals may want to improve. Rather than ‘sadness,’ a positive way to share this is ‘joy’—it’s called ‘positive reframing’ in psychology. For the four emotions we identified, we offered a solution. Sadness became joy. Fatigue became energized. Brain fog became focused. Stressed became relaxed. We hope you love it as much as we all do.”
