Enjoy Your Meals with Mindful Eating

Before I served in the army I took my time chewing and tasting the food I ate. Mindful eating was the most natural thing, didn't even have to think about it.

In the army I started to devour food like Garfield does lasagna.

After serving my time, my plate got bigger and busier and I didn't get back into the pleasant habit of enjoying my meals. I designed this mindful eating exercise in order to change my stressful eating habits. It has, and it can do the same for you.

Here's our Disclaimer.

Preparation

If this is your first mindful meal you should keep your ingredients simple.

You may want to eat some tasty fruit, such as strawberries, grapes, or a plum (or whatever you like), because it's a juicy treat straight from nature. And nature and mindfulness activities go hand in hand.

Now let's get in touch with our nature... Take a couple of deep, slow breaths (see breathing meditation for details).

Be grateful that you have food to eat. Yes, don't take it for granted. Give a thought to how dependent you are on other people for this meal's ingredients. You probably didn't breed, grow, harvest, package, or ship any of it to yourself. You bought it.

The money you pay for the food, in turn, allows farmers and merchants to continue bringing food to your table, and to their own table.

We're all interdependent on each others' services and actions. This stuff is obvious, but we rarely give it any thought while we pursue our individual goals and agendas.

How to meditate while eating

Observe your food: Notice the colors, the texture, the shapes and sizes. Bring the food closer to your eyes and nose. Observe and smell the difference. Notice how the texture, colors etc. change up close.

Then you take a small bite...

Taste the food in your mouth. Chew s-l-o-w-l-y. Really taste, smell, sense it. And as you swallow, feel the food's descent. Taste the flavor in your mouth... Observe the remaining food on your plate.

Take your time... A small bite, then put the rest back down on your plate. Chew s-l-o-w-l-y (close your eyes), and swallow before you touch the next piece of food on your plate.

Further recommendations

• If you have put a lot of time and effort into cooking a beautiful meal, please take your time to enjoy eating it...
• Remain calm whenever your inner voice seems to interrupt or comment on your mindful eating. This is normal.
• Do the mindful eating meditation exercise by yourself, at least in the beginning. You don't want to be upset at dinner guests because they don't let you enjoy your meal. After all, this is a meditation exercise. Avoid stress.

Final thoughts

A meal can be a beautiful thing to behold, especially when you deepen it with layers of co-operation - it exercises your mindfulness.

So if you cooked your own meal, then...

• You created and designed the meal...
• Hundreds of human beings cooperated in order to bring you prime ingredients for your enjoyment...
• Someone else gave you a recipe or wrote and published a great cookbook ... someone manufactured a stove, pans, utensils, and any other equipment you used in the cooking process...
• And in the end, Nature provided you (and your co-operators) with the ingredients.

Interdependence and interconnectedness are beautiful things to behold.



Questions, Comments?

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