Daily Mindfulness 10/5/12 – Eating

Mindfulness practice is essential in our eating habits.  Practicing mindfulness while ingesting food or drink, we see what is healthy for us and what is causing suffering.  Practicing mindfulness while eating is difficult for many of us, as we eat with little mindfulness in general.  We often are already reaching for a new bite of food while still chewing the bite in our mouth.  We eat far beyond necessary, and we eat things that are not giving us nutrition.

To practice mindfulness while eating, we must first be mindful of how the food is before us.  We say thanks for the earth for the nurture of the plants, thank the farmers who cultivated the food, thank the energy used to present the food in front of us.  In this way, we become mindful of the ingredients of our food, and practice gratitude.  We then must practice mindfulness through each bite of the food.  Smelling and tasting each bite, we notice the flavor, heat, and texture.  We feel ourselves chew, and only reach for more once we have finished our current bite.  Practicing this mindfulness while eating, we are sure to enjoy our meal more, and not eat past the point of being full!