I’ve been eating mindfully since I wrote my series on mindful eating, but it’s not always easy. I find that if I begin eating a meal mindfully, then I’m much more likely to finish the meal mindfully. But what’s the best way to begin eating a meal mindfully?
The best way is to start of with a small ritual as you sit down to eat a meal. Here are three possible rituals:
1. Scan Your Hungers
You can scan your various types of hungers and rate each hunger. This is particularly useful if you’re trying to lose weight because it helps you understand how you respond to your hungers. This understanding allows you to make healthier eating choices.
2. Study Your Meal.
You can take thirty seconds to carefully study the food on your plate. Smell and touch the food and appreciate it’s qualities. Food is a life force that allows you to live so take time to appreciate and respect it.
3. Recite a Verse.
You can recite a prayer, mantra or poem in a heartfelt way. I say heartfelt because any ritual can become a thoughtless, automatic process. This won’t help you eat more mindfully because the goal is to become present with the meal.
My favorite verse is the Zen Short Meal Gatha:
We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
If you recite this Gatha, then it helps to focus on all the steps that were required to bring the food to your table. For instance, you could think of
- The people that prepared the food.
- The people at the grocery store where you purchased the food.
- The truck driver that delivered the food.
- The people that built the truck for the truck driver to drive.
- The people at the factory that processed the food.
- The farmer that grew the food.
- The people that sold the farmer seed and equipment to grow the food.
- And so on.
The more you think about it, the more you realize the we’re all a web of interconnected dependencies and you can be grateful for those connections that brought you your meal.
You can also focus on the fact that plants and animals die so that you may eat. This is not a morbid idea – it’s just the nature of things. You can be thankful for the plants and animals that died so you can sustain your life.
Do you have any ideas for a useful ritual at the start of a meal? What do you do?
Related posts:
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Day 14
- Your Mindful Eating Mission
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Day 30
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Day 22
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Author Interview
Tags: Diet, Mindful Eating, Mindfulness, Zen
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Roger, this sounds great but I’ll doubt I’ll ever do it. I’m too impatient. LOL.
Really great post .. keep up the great writing …
Hi Roger,
It’s true that we need to mindful in every meal we take though we hardly do that. In that way our desirable food habits will gain control and our digestions system also will work properly with positive surge of thoughts.
Thanks for the inspiration to do that.
Have a nice day!
Thanks for this. Getting really familiar with what hunger feels like sounds like it would be a great strategy for getting choice around eating — if you know hunger is just a sensation and it’s not going to destroy you, you no longer feel like a slave to it, it sounds like.
I’ve read a lot of posts on mindful eating, but this was was definitely my favorite because it brought to mind new ideas on how to eat mindfully. I’ve never thought to study the food or to recite a verse. Those are GREAT ideas!
As well as the humans who helped bring my meal to my table, I like to contemplate on how the energy from the sun, the rain from the sky, and the minerals from the earth helped create my food. This makes me feel interconnected to the earth and elements as well.
It is probably influenced by the first meal gatha I heard on a retreat in the Thich Nhat Hanh mindfulness tradition:
“This food is the gift of the whole universe - the earth,
the sky, and much hard work.
May we live in a way that makes us worthy to receive it.
May we transform our unskillful states of mind and learn to eat in moderation.
May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness.
We accept this food so that we may realize the path of understanding and love.”
@Stephen: I used to be too impatient also. Just try it once and see if you like it.
@Sudeep: Thanks!
@Vikum: Thank you! It is hard to get into the habit, but well worth the effort.
@Chris: You’re absolutely correct. Our response to various types of hunger is conditioned. We have to slow down in order to adjust react in a more healthy way.
@Positively Present: You’re welcome! I hope you take the time to try at least one of the ideas.
@Angela: Excellent point and I wish I had thought of it! You can feel a connection to the entire universe when you see how it all works together.
Hi Roger,
This is a great post. I think its a great idea to incorporate gratitude into a food ritual.
Similar to point#1, I think its always a good idea to ask “Why am I eating this right now?” before eating anything. I started doing this and realised that most of the time I was eating out of habit or boredom rather than because I needed to.
Kaizan,
Thanks!
I like your idea of asking the “why” question. As you discovered, we often eat for reasons other than hunger.
hi Roger,
I am trying to focus on ‘conscious’ eating lately and well ‘concious’ thought in general. I can’t remember the quote that I read the other day but it had to do with when a person is leaving their body all day, it is like a master not in his house, and that is when things start to get chaotic. Sounds simple, and yet we are so used to looking outward even for fulfillment. Truly by inhabiting our body, we are not only present in the body, but returning to our true nature and power.
thank you for the reminder in this blog…i like the idea of thinking of a mantra before eating, though it sometimes might need revised or as you mentioned it can become stale when too well-versed but not thought.
take care,
Jen
Angela, I like what you shared that Thich Naht Hanh shared on a retreat on mindfulness! I’ve been studying more of him lately and I love what you posted. i think i will use that next time I eat!
~Jen
Jennifer,
Welcome and thank you for both of your thoughtful comments!
It is amazing how often our mind is in the past and future - we spend so little time in the present. When we focus on the past or future it’s like we leave or ignore or body as you say.
Roger,
You always make mindfulness seem so easy. Your suggestions are simple and yet very practical. I loved the Zen Short Meal Gatha and the idea of scanning your hunger.
I have a terrible sweet tooth and tend to just gobble up it up without noticing. Next time, I will use your suggestions…it will interesting to see how well I do with this. I’ll report back to you. In the meantime, thanks for this post.
p.s. I’m sending the link to my boyfriend, JC. I’m sure he’ll enjoy it as I did:~)
Sarah,
Thank you for the kind words!
I look forward to learning how things go for you.
I alway just looked at food as a means of fueling my body so I could keep going. Giving thanks for what I am about to eat is about as mindful as I will probably get.
Many times, when I pay full attention to what I am eating, close my eyes, savour the taste of the morsel I’ve just bitten, notice it moving around touching my tongue, I feel so, so good throughout the meal than when I am thinking something and eating anyway.
Thank you for the post
Just the other day I ate a homegrown tomato and I made sure I became fully mindful of it. And you know what? It was one of the best food experiences I’ve had in a long time.
It pays to be present…either when we eat, or doing anything else.
It really is the SECRET to happiness.
Cheers,
Dayne
Hi,
I’m just getting started with my new blog which has a similar theme to yours.
Would you be interested in exchanging links on our blog-rolls?
BTW – I’m up to about 100 visitors per day.
Regards,
Lawrence
Great post! I’m on a health food kick and I have been very mindful of my meals.
Great! Mindful eating is a lot easier than dieting!
Hey this is a creative way of thinking about it. Nice post and I never really thought about eating in this way before. Nice post and very creative.
Reminds me of the scene from ” Peaceful Warrior ” where he says ” slow down, you might taste something “
Thanks so much for writing this post. So often I’m rushing through the day and eat a meal without tasting or even thinking about it. A great reminder for me to be mindful.
hahaha, sounds interesting, especially that i always eat while working!!
What also helps is to just have set meals throughout the day, and plan what you are going to eat, therefore you make time to create that meal, which will account for your own nourishment.
In addition, you can choose not to snack at all inbetween meals, and opt only for a glass of water if hungry, as that will relieve that hungry feeling.
I have found that by taking time out to think about what I’m going to have with what is at home, I feel more empowered to lead a healthier lifestyle as I am taking care of my well being and enjoying it too.
Roger, I’ve thought about you often. Haven’t seen you on the blogs since last July. That’s six months now. Where are you? Are you alright?