Mindfulness is reshaping how we understand cravings — from late-night sugar fixes to alcohol dependence. Here’s what experts say about its power to rewire the brain.
Cravings — that longing for a slice of cake, the ache for a post-run endorphin rush, the pull of “just one more drink” — are an intrinsic part of our human wiring. They arrive uninvited, often at the least convenient times, and remind us that desire is a biological constant. The initial spark of longing is automatic; what happens next is where awareness begins.
“Our brain’s reward system gets activated when we feel strong emotions like stress, joy or sadness. Food, especially sugary or fatty, gives a quick dopamine or serotonin boost,” Mehezabin Dordi, clinical psychologist at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai, told Vogue India. It’s why we turn to comfort foods like ice cream and chocolate as reparations for stress.
The art of pausing
Mindfulness offers a way to step between impulse and action. It teaches the art of pausing — of noticing the craving as it arises, feeling it fully, and allowing it to pass. This simple act of presence can dismantle deeply ingrained cycles of behavior. For many, it’s not simply a calming practice but a genuine intervention — one now used in addiction recovery programs across the UK to retrain the mind’s relationship with desire.
Kelly McGonigal PhD, a health psychologist at Stanford University, echoed this sentiment. She told Taking Charge that “most people feel like willpower failures — in control one moment but overwhelmed and out of control the next.” Mindfulness, she added, strengthens self-control not by forcing behavior but by helping us understand the impulse before it takes hold.
From an evolutionary standpoint, cravings were once a matter of survival. Our ancestors were wired to seek calorie-dense foods when scarcity was the norm, rewarded by the brain’s dopamine system for every successful find. In a modern world where abundance has replaced deprivation, the reward loop persists. As a result, many of our cravings no longer point toward survival, but toward emotion: boredom, anxiety, ritual, or nostalgia.
Brook Choulet MD, a psychiatrist who works with behavioral health and peak performance, told Peloton that mindfulness “is the practice of being fully present and engaged in the moment … without being distracted and without judgment.” The key, she notes, is not to suppress the craving, but to observe it. “It’s a state of being where you’re entirely in tune and conscious of your thoughts and emotions, as well as physical sensations.” That observation begins to weaken the neurological pattern linking craving to consumption.
Practicing mindfulness during a craving can feel like learning a new language. Imagine the craving as a wave: it builds, peaks, and eventually subsides. The goal is to stay on the shore — present, grounded, unthreatened. Researchers call this urge surfing: the ability to observe sensations in the body and let them pass without acting on them. Over time, the mind learns that not every urge requires a response.
The same principles apply beyond the moment of temptation. Mindfulness becomes a lifestyle rather than a tactic. Writing in a gratitude journal each morning, checking in with your emotions throughout the day, walking in nature with deliberate awareness, stretching at night, or meditating before bed — these small acts strengthen the mind’s ability to remain steady amid discomfort. Consistency matters more than perfection; mindfulness thrives in routine. The more it becomes part of daily life, the more it alters the way you meet stress and desire alike.
Mindfulness in addiction recovery
In U.K. alcohol rehab programs, mindfulness has emerged as a cornerstone of recovery. It is introduced early — often during the detox stage — and reinforced throughout aftercare. Patients are guided to recognize cravings not as threats but as transient experiences, an inevitable part of healing rather than a sign of failure.
“The human mind, when it doesn’t do the work of mindfulness, winds up becoming a prisoner of its myopic perspectives that puts ‘me’ above everything else,” meditation pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn told The Guardian. “We are so caught up in the dualistic perspectives of ‘us’ and ‘them’. But ultimately, there is no ‘them’. That’s what we need to wake up to.”
Mindfulness also sharpens awareness around triggers. Someone accustomed to drinking out of loneliness might instead pause to acknowledge the emotion, then reach for connection — calling a friend, visiting family, or simply naming the feeling aloud. Boredom can be reframed as an opportunity for rest or creativity rather than a void to be filled. Even peer pressure, often the most challenging, becomes easier to navigate when viewed through a mindful lens: the recognition that others’ comfort need not dictate one’s own behavior.
“If you are feeling happy, savor the moment,” CBT psychologist Terri Bacow, Ph.D., told Vogue. She says to take time to identify colors, scents, sounds, and even tastes. “Try to observe things in your environment that bring up positive feelings,” she says.
And, Bacow says, it’s important to remember that some moments are still tough, even with a mindfulness practice in place.“Research shows that giving yourself permission to have a thought rather than trying to suppress it can be a remarkably effective coping strategy for anxiety — psychologists call this ‘cognitive diffusion,’” says Bacow. “Sometimes, the best way to deal with a difficult mood is to allow yourself to have it.”
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