I love coming across mindfulness research as I research students’ college lists! Gettysburg College’s Department of Psychology Professor Brian P. Meier recently co-published a study, “The sweet life: The effect of mindful chocolate consumption on mood”. In short, you can change your mood state for the better while eating chocolate, particularly when you’re present in the moment, and fully aware of the chocolate you’re eating.

The same likely goes for everything— a wandering mind on autopilot is more likely to be trapped within thoughts. And thanks to our thought reruns and patterns— we are usually thinking about what we must do, worrying about or re-playing the past, or constantly trying to solve some theoretical problems. If you want to truly change your mood, it’s most helpful to pause, turn your attention inward, to an anchor to ground yourself in presence, or to really engage in whatever activity you are doing, and just be with it. Simple, but not easy! Pass the dark chocolate, please!