This is the sixth post in the Mindful Eating series. To view other posts, please visit:

(1) Learning to Eat Mindfully
(2) Thinking about Food
(3) Choosing the Foods We Eat
(4) Cooking with Awareness
(5) Serving Food Thoughtfully
(6) Preparing to Eat
(7) Experiencing the Meal
(8) Cleaning with Intention
(9) Conclusion

Eating mindfully is naturally a very simple act, but because we are not used to eating this way, it takes time for the practice to become comfortable and easy for us; it takes time for it to become second nature.

Eating mindfully is fundamentally different from the way most of us have eaten throughout our lives. While many of us give a great deal of thought to what we eat (will this taste good? will it cause me to gain weight? can I afford it?), most of us have given very little thought to the way we eat. But, if we are to be healthy and happy, we must eat with the intention of caring for ourselves. When you care for yourself, you treat yourself well. You don’t rush through your meal without savoring each bite. You don’t get tangled in your swirling thoughts, not recognizing the warm and spicy soup or the crisp apple in front of you.

While eating, you pay attention to three things:

• the food
• the effect the food has on your body
• the people gathered around you

Also, you should know why you have decided to eat at this moment. Are you hungry? Does the clock say it’s mealtime? Do you need sustenance? Distraction? Enjoyment? Appeasement? Knowing why you are about to eat the food in front of you allows you to better understand how and when you are satisfied. You may need only a few bites, or you may need a second helping.

Come Home to Yourself

When you sit down, the first thing you must do before you put even a bite of food into your mouth is come home to yourself. Bring your mind home to your body. All day, we live inside our heads. We are simply too wrapped in our thoughts – our anxieties and fears, our projects, our regrets. Our minds brim with memories of what we need at the grocery store, speculation about why that coworker ignored us this morning, concern for how our retirement savings is worrisomely small, musings about what shows will be on television tonight…. We may be eating lunch or taking a walk or driving somewhere, and our minds are endlessly looping. We don’t taste the delectable food. We don’t notice the squirrel in the tree. We don’t remember driving down that stretch of highway.

Allow you mind to settle, like a still lake. Do not stir it up with thoughts, fears, regrets and worries.  Let it reflect only the present moment. Come home to yourself, and experience your life. Take good care of the present moment. Give your brain time to rest. What a kindness this can be.

Notice your body – the way your arms are hanging by your sides and resting in your lap, the feeling of hunger in your belly, the irritating itch on your scalp. Notice your lungs drawing air in through your nose and then slowly exhaling. Acknowledge any thoughts that may enter, and choose to quiet them for the duration of the meal. If you find yourself falling back into anxieties or regrets or plans, simply decide to stop. You may have to stop yourself dozens of times during a single meal, but do not let your thoughts pull you out of this unique and precious moment.

Allow yourself awareness of the food you’re eating. Focus on the tangerine you are about to enjoy or the warm spoonful of soup. Close your eyes and inhale the aromas. Open them and look at your surroundings. For this moment, simply be – right where you are. To eat like this without thinking is a kind of freedom.

Noticing the food

Choose a piece of food from your meal – a green bean, a grain of rice, a lettuce leaf, a piece of bread – and look as deeply as you can. Look until you can see how the entire cosmos supported the growth of this food. See the raindrops that watered it, the sun that warmed it each day, the rich soil that supplied it with nutrients. See the insects and animals and plants that have nourished that soil with their bodies. See the calloused hands of the farm worker, the slick metal of the machinery used for harvest, the middle aged father who helped to build that machine in a factory, the young woman who expertly packed the harvest into a box. Recognize how many elements were necessary in order for you to be holding this apple, this fork wound with pasta.

Next, see the food in this moment – on your plate, on your fork or spoon, in your hands. Notice the tiny seeds dotting a strawberry, the delicate skin of a pinto bean, the veins running through a leaf of Swiss chard. Have you ever looked at food this closely?

Inhale the aroma of your food. Does it smell strong and sharp, or is it more subtle? Do you know this scent? What other things does it remind you of? Let the aroma fill your nose. Simply stop thinking, smile, and inhale deeply.

Now, touch the food. Slide your fingertips along a crust of bread. Brush them across the wrinkles of a raisin. Rub peach fuzz against your lips. Get close. This food will become a part of you. Food that is unprocessed, food that comes straight from the Earth, is a pleasure for the senses. Don’t miss this moment. Be present for the meal. Be aware and open.

Remember that the need for nourishment is something all living beings share.  We are no different in this way from a cow, a flea, a honeysuckle vine.  Eating is one of the many ways we are all connected, one of the ways we are all dependent upon each other. Eating is a sacred act. Be mindful and experience it deeply.