I’m sitting in a circle of people staring at small paper plates of food. No one is eating.

No, this isn’t the world’s most depressing dinner party – I’m attending a mindful eating seminar at the Beijing Mindfulness Centre (BMC) where wellness expert Dalida Turkovic is teaching a courtyard full of people of all ages and backgrounds how to slow down and get the most out of their meals.

The class started last summer in Beijing as part of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, a programme of events around the globe aiming to bring awareness to what people are putting into their bodies, where their food comes from and generally how to feel better.

The BMC co-founder explains that in a world with infinite distractions and endless to-do lists, it’s natural that we are on autopilot a lot of the time. Mindfulness advocates say that the more time we can spend in the here and now, however, the happier we will be. Mindful eating is about choosing that mealtimes are important to us, then making a conscious decision to be fully present during them.

The secular wellness centre hosts a roster of classes from mindfulness meditation to yoga, and I learn that mindfulness can be applied to pretty much any aspect of daily life. Here are the top takeaways I took from a lesson in mindful eating.

Learning to listen

One word, Turkovic says, is all we will need to describe sensations and emotions when we’re being mindful. During the class, we’re given four bites of food and one hour. One participant said she was surprised she never noticed how sweet a carrot actually tasted. A few participants decided that they weren’t even hungry at all.

Whenever participants have a ‘but’ in their reasoning, our teacher dismisses it. Apparently, the ‘why’ is not what’s important in mindfulness. What’s important is to recognise these sensations in a non-judgemental way.

You can eat cake mindfully. You might even end up savouring its gooey richness even more. Or you may decide after a few forkfuls that you’ve had enough of its overwhelming sweetness. Mindful eating is not a diet. It’s not about cutting out any foods. (It is proven to be an effective way to lose weight, however, if that’s what you’re after.) It’s less important if you want to eat some cake, as to tune into the why.

Kids eat when they’re hungry

So what about children – are there mindfulness techniques parents can instill from a young age? Turkovic says that children naturally have mindful habits that we all pretty much outgrow. ‘When kids are happy, they laugh. When they’re scared, they cry,’ she says. They eat when they’re hungry. And while it’s frustrating for parents wishing their kids would clear their plates, they stop eating when they’re full.

Encouraging this kind of in-the-moment behaviour during meals can help foster a healthy relationship with food, recent studies suggest. One such study published earlier this year by medical researchers at Vanderbilt University says that in obese adults, permanent weight loss may be hard to maintain ‘because, in addition to changing eating habits and physical activities’ they must actually change the way their brains react towards food.

Humans, especially kids, are hardwired towards eating more, the study’s senior author Kevin Niswender says. But in today’s world, this evolutionary disposition may be harmful.

Parents can encourage mindful behaviours by having kids guess different flavours and ingredients they can taste. Other tricks to try include bringing them into the kitchen to help with the cooking, and introducing food vocabulary to get them thinking in new ways.

Forming a habit

A key part of forming mindfulness habits is practice. Turkovic assures me that mindfulness techniques take time to master and that it gets easier over time – even mindfulness pros can typically stay connected for no more than 30 percent of the time. We learn a few simple tricks that help people stay mindful during meals.

First, sit down, at a table, eat off of a plate and use utensils. Switch the TV off and take a break from WeChat Moments. Look at the food on your plate – take in the colours and think of all the steps the ingredients went through to end up in front of you. Eating an avocado from Mexico? Think about how far away that is.

Turkovic says that even committing to just ten minutes of mindfulness at the beginning of a meal will help you stay more connected from first bite to last.