Eating Mindfully
How much do you actually think about your food as you eat it? For most of us eating is often a means to an end, not a mindful activity.
Tonight we had our annual potluck dinner after meditation. It was difficult to sit for 30 minutes prior to eating without letting my mind wander to food.
This was one of those dinners where everyone just brings whatever comes to mind and it all works out. We had Israeli couscous salad, chickpeas and spinach over orzo, Thai curry over rice, fruit of all sorts, hummous, blueberry cobbler, and brownies.
Instead of just plunging into dinner conversation after our sit, we decided to eat in silence for the first 5 minutes. Maybe it was because I was really hungry. But for whatever reason, I tasted the individual flavors of each dish in a way that is impossible when I am engrossed in conversation.
The food continued to be delicious after we broke our silence, but it was such a good reminder to savor our food and to be appreciative of the fact that we have so much bounty on our plates.
posted by Barbara at 11:05 PM
6 Comments:
So very true, Barbara. Thanks for the reminder!
Wow. It all sounds lovely. I'm generally pretty mindful of what I eat but not so much the past few weeks. It's been a struggle.
being mindful of your food is the best way of saying "grace" or thanks for what you are eating... besides, I've read that you tend to eat less if you aren't distracted by conversation or reading because you are more conscious of when your hunger is sated.
I find it helps to take a minute and look at the food on the plate and marvel at the colors and textures and and sheer wonder of the bounty before me. Then, I hoover it up like nobody's business. :)
At the Zendo we sometimes do Oriyoki meals, which are served and eaten in ritual silence. It's absolutely true that the food tastes SO much better when you can devote all your faculties to appreciating it!
I enjoy eating alone, but I don't get to do it very often these days.
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