CB Spotlight: Week of 9/9/2013

Eating Meditation

Hosted by: Shondaray Ducheine, St. Mary's
CB Category: Caritas
Objective: Teach residents to be mindful when consuming their food

Shondaray shared the following mindfulness exercise that you can use on your own during any meal to be mindful while eating.

Feeling stressed? Mindlessly munching on more junk food than you should be? Then take a moment to meditate over a meal or a snack before you dive into work. To perform an Eating Meditation, any food item can be used and the meditation can be done anywhere with whatever sounds in the background. Before eating, clear your head, and find your center. An imagery that works well for focusing is a flowing stream. As you focus on the food, involve all of your senses by thinking about where the food came from, who made it, what it reminds you of, what it smells like, what it looks like, what it feels like, what you will gain from it, and how it will satisfy you. When you begin to eat, chew slowly and notice how the food changes. Follow the movement of the food down your throat and to your stomach. Continue through the same process until you are done eating. The purpose of this meditation is to slow your mind and movements in order to be present during your meal. If you feel your mind wander or begin to eat faster, look at the food and take a few deep breaths. This alone should bring you back to the meditation. If it does not, gradually allow other thoughts to appear during your meal. Be thankful for the moment and smile. Namaste.

Below is a meditation that can be read aloud for a group.

Centering the Mind—your mind is a stream. Distractions are the leaves and flowers that come across. Gently guide you mind back to the present and focus on your breathing. 

Select a food. Find a comfortable and quiet space in your mind to relax. Take a few deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Understand that you are cultivating a moment of sincerity and attentiveness in this practice. Pick up the food and look at the food. Notice the color, texture, and shape. Examine the food. Are there characteristics of this food you have never noticed before? --Irregular shapes, bumps, bruises, variations in color.  

Take another deep breath; as you breathe out let as much tension as possible escape and sink more deeply into the comfortable position you are in. think about how this food made it to you. Did someone manufacture it and package it in a plant. Did a farmer tend this food and eventually pick it? Was it imported from somewhere else? Did the food require lots of sun and water? How much energy was required to produce and distribute this food? Appreciate the care and labor that was required to bring this food with you. 

Take a few more deep breaths. Now smell the food. Take time to inhale the fragrance of the food. Does it remind you of anything; a childhood memory, your grandmothers kitchen, a favorite restaurant? Do any pleasant or unpleasant feelings, thoughts or emotions come to mind? Just honor them now and let them flow through your stream of consciousness. Don’t dwell on them and get stuck in the memory. 

Take a few more deep breaths. Place the food on your tongue or lick it. Roll the food around in your mouth. How does it feel? What thoughts, emotions, feelings come to your mind; pleasure, guilt, sadness, satisfaction? Honor all that you feel as you take this nourishment in your body.  Resist the temptation to chew or swallow your food.  

Take a few more deep breaths. Does breathing help you enjoy the food more? Sit up straight and try to relax and smile.  

Take a few more deep breaths. Now slowly begin to chew the food. Listen to the sound your mouth makes, your jaw, tongue, saliva and all the other sounds involved in the act of chewing. Do you notice anything differently from when you usually eat this food? Focus all your attention on the food, its taste and texture. How has the flavor and texture of the food changed? 

Take a few more deep breaths. Let the food begin to slide down your throat. How differently does the food feel now? Imagine the food eventually reaching your stomach. How does the stomach feel; happy, grumbling, hungry, satisfied. Be thankful for the food you have just eaten, for the energy and nourishment that it will provide you. Notice any new thoughts, feelings, or sensations that arise as you eat this food. 

As your tongue cleans your mouth after this mindful bite of food, try to maintain the attentiveness that you've cultivated; don't let it be automatic. Food is meant to satisfy hunger. Did this food satisfy your hunger? Did it satisfy other needs that you may have. Take a few more deep breaths. Be thankful for this moment and smile.