Jillian Lavender on the power of meditation and how it can transform your diet
Many people are using meditation to manage the stresses of daily life - but you might be surprised to hear it can positively impact your diet, too.
With the growing interest in mindfulness and wellbeing, more people are turning to meditation as a way to manage stress and improve their health. But with so many different methods and approaches, it can be difficult to know where to start. Jillian Lavender, an expert in Vedic meditation and co-founder of London Meditation Centre, believes that meditation is a simple and effective way to reset the mind and body.
We sat down with Jillian to find out more about how meditation fits into modern life, why it’s easier than you think, and the surprising ways it can transform your wellbeing.
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Helping you to make better decisions
Jillian has spent years teaching Vedic meditation, an ancient practice that, she explains, “grounds us” and allows us to approach life from a calmer, more balanced place. Unlike guided meditations or mindfulness exercises, Vedic meditation involves using a mantra – a sound given to you by a teacher – to “settle down the mind” and achieve deep rest.
“When we meditate, we dissolve stress and tiredness from our system. And when I come out of meditation, I’m more available for whatever’s going on in my life.” She compares it to clearing static from an old radio: “When your nervous system is stressed and tired, there’s a lot of noise in the system. You can’t get a clear read on what you actually need. But meditation changes the signal-to-noise ratio, helping you make better choices.”
Jillian explains that meditation helps us access our “fine level of feeling,” making it easier to tune into our body’s real needs. “A lot of people say to me, ‘Oh, I’m so thirsty! I just noticed how dehydrated I am.’” This awareness extends to food choices: “People tell me they’re snacking less, drinking less, or just naturally eating in a way that supports their body. When you’re not wound up and out of whack, everything becomes clearer.”
Transforming your relationship with food
For Jillian, meditation is deeply connected to digestion and healthy eating. “Digestion is a huge part of our health. When we’re stressed, our digestive system shuts down, meaning we’re not getting the full nutritional value from our food.” By reducing stress through meditation, we allow the body to process food more efficiently and absorb more nutrients.
She recalls how a student went food shopping and, without thinking, filled her basket with vibrant, fresh produce. “It wasn’t like she went in thinking, ‘I need more vitamin C’ – she just found herself drawn to the right foods.” This, Jillian explains, is a shift from following strict diet rules to listening to what your body actually needs.
This awareness also impacts portion sizes. “I used to cook and think, ‘I don’t want to waste this, so I’ll just split it between us.’ Now, I naturally serve more sensible amounts, without consciously deciding to.” It’s not about restriction, but rather a more intuitive approach: “You just get clearer about what feels right in that moment.”
Understanding our concept of 'busy'
One of the biggest misconceptions Jillian encounters is the belief that people “don’t have time” to meditate. “I always felt like I was chasing time, like I never had enough. But when I started meditating, my whole relationship with time changed.” Rather than a time drain, she describes meditation as a tool that makes everything else more efficient: “You don’t have to read a paragraph three times before it sinks in. You get clarity about where to put your attention. It frees up time.”
She encourages people to be mindful of how they spend their time: “Twenty minutes? That’s just a bit of mucking about on your phone.” Instead, she suggests taking even small moments to pause: “Instead of grabbing your phone on your commute, close your eyes for a couple of minutes and tune into your body.”
Jillian acknowledges that some people might be sceptical but encourages them to see it as an experiment. “Even if you think, ‘Well, this is wacky nonsense,’ all you’ve done is spent 20 minutes twice a day sitting down. What have you got to lose?”
Knowing how to reset
When it comes to mental health, Jillian is clear that meditation isn’t a magic switch that removes anxiety overnight. “It’s more like a dimmer switch, gradually moving you towards balance.” Rather than eliminating stress altogether, it helps us manage it. “Of course, we’ll still get stressed—maybe there’s an intense experience, and you feel anxious or irritated. But how long does that feeling stay in your system? How long are you bound by it?”
She describes meditation as a daily reset button: “Rather than stress building up and building up and then coming out in a way I don’t want, I reset. That’s why I wrote Do Reset—because we need ways to step back and come back to balance.”
Start small and make it achievable
For anyone curious about meditation, Jillian’s advice is simple: start paying attention. “Next time you’re on the train, resist the urge to grab your phone. Close your eyes for a couple of minutes and tune into your body. Your body is rich in information, but we often don’t listen to it.”
She also suggests looking into learning meditation properly: “We run free intro talks [at the London Meditation Centre], which are a great way to understand how it works. You don’t have to put your camera on, you can just listen.”
Jillian’s passion for meditation is clear, and her message is a reassuring one: “It’s easy, it’s effective, and it’s life-changing. And most importantly – it’s doable.”