Practicing Mindfulness At Mealtime September 17, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Food & Drink, Gratitude, Mindfulness, Vegetarian Recipes.trackback
Eating delicious food is the perfect time to practice mindful awareness. Savor the flavors, tastes, textures, colors, aromas.
Enjoy the variety and diversity of healthful grains, anti-oxidant rich veggies, colorful fruits, and protein-packed beans and nuts.
And don’t forget to say . . . C~H~E~E~S~E!
Soak it all up with a heaping helping of gratitude . . . and, perhaps, a refreshing glass of wine or an ice cold beer.
Keep at it and you’ll see real progress in other areas of life. And, as an added bonus, you’ll enjoy your meals more.
Cheers!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Do you pay attention when you eat? Or do you find that you’ve inhaled a whole bag of chips, an entire carton of ice cream, or a heaping plate of cookies without noticing and enjoying the tastes and textures?
Mindful awareness of simple pleasures and sweet and savory moments adds to our happiness while whittling away at our frustrations (and our waistlines).
Related posts: When Eating Breakfast, Just Eat Breakfast (All About Words) * The Bliss Bite (Agrigirl’s Blog)
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Spirit Lights The Way 
I have to honestly say that I practice mindful awareness when I eat. I love food and I thoroughly enjoy the texture, taste and simple pleasure of eating! Every item of food up there looks good this morning. I’m hungry! Good Morning Nancy!
Good morning, Pix! We tend to eat “mix and match meals” with a bit of this and a bit of that, depending upon what we have in the fridge. And we often eat off BRIGHT plates.
I like nothing better than to go out on our verandah with an apple and to sit there and slowly eat it.in a mindful way. It’s a daily ritual now for me. Something about it that brings a peace and a calm to me. Need to do it with other things as well.
That sounds like a great practice, Don ~ like pressing the PAUSE button and taking a breather. When we pay attention to what we are eating, we tend to enjoy it (and life) more . . . even if we are eating less (in an effort to whittle our waistlines).
Bing cherry ice cream would make a colorful addition!
One of the desserts we served this weekend to our guests (G&T) ~ Lemon Pound Cake, Vanilla Ice Cream, and fresh Raspberries.
Simple and YUMMY! 😀
That would work for me!
We also had brownies with pecan praline ice cream. Decadent and delicious.
Now we are back to more mindful choices. 😛
Is that a glass of sangria in your hand? If so: mmmmmmmmmmm
Yes ~ fruit with a punch! *clink* 😀
This is definitely an area for improvement.
I found I paid far less attention this weekend when we had guests. I engaged in the conversation and “inhaled” the food without paying much attention to it . . . and I ate far more than usual as a result.
Now I’m back to mindful eating. 😀
I pay more attention than I care to. Necessary, I’m afraid.
I find that the more attention I pay to what I’m eating . . . the less I eat. And the better choices I make.
This weekend we indulged in too many treats. 😕
Love me my flavonoids! Been eating (too) healthy for 11+ years. Glad I made the choice when I did.
We’ve been vegetarian for almost 20 years . . . one of the best decisions I ever made for my health and well-being.
I love eating mindfully, stopping to savour the colour, the texture, the scent of it all. Earlier this week, leaning against an old stone wall, enjoying a baguette with ham and cheese felt like one of those moments when all is truly well with my world.
That’s great, Joss. I expect you are going to have many of those moments during your Grand Tour of Europe.
When we get out of our “comfort zone” and experience new adventures, we tend to pay closer attention to the nuances.
Click to access mb11-dharma.pdf
Yes! Fantastic example of mindful eating. Now I want a tangerine. Thanks!
I’m a bit on again, off again with mindful eating! But I do try! Right now, with a sore jaw, I’m eating very slowly and carefully–maybe I can stay the course! I love the meals you highlighted! Each looks delicious, Nancy. And I love the hat! 🙂
Thanks, Debra. I bought that hat when we came to FL for a 2 week vacation, just before we extended our stay by moving here.
Often when I look over my shoulder at things that seemed “bad” at the time, the benefits of the experience eventually outweighed the perceived harm. Perhaps your tumble will do the same for you. Causing you to do less with more satisfaction.
Hope you mend quickly . . . while continuing to eat slowly. 😉
Great post. And I agree. We do take our food and meals for granted most of the time. More like a Pavlovian response rather than something to be mindful of.
However what I have noticed is that we become naturally mindful when we are looking forward to or become curious about some food. So if this be so, how could we shift ourselves to become mindful during every meal time.
Awhile back, I too wrote a post on Mindfulness with the heading,
“Antalya and Mindfulness”
Cheers
Shakti
I recommend the link at Comment #9 to an article by Thich Nhat Hanh on The Art of Living. In it he explains how to eat a tangerine . . . mindfully.
Immersed in the moment, we find joy.
Ah…I so need to learn how to do this. I was brought up in a family that rushed our meals…now when I remember I try to appreciate the food I eat…thanks for this reminder Nancy..and that pizza looked good!!
Eating slowly (rather than “shoveling food into our gullets”) is one of the best ways to press *PAUSE* as we go through our days ~ it gives us an opportunity to unclench tense muscles, relax, sip, savor, and soak up the simple pleasures of life.
The top pizza is a Spanakopita Pizza made with spinach, feta, onions, and tomatoes.
Thank you for the reminder.
I think one of the worst things to do, is to watch television while we eat.
We watch TV while we eat most days . . . I find TV less distracting than carrying on a conversation. Less thought involved. 😉
You and I could eat well together. I see we like the same things. I have been eating a lot of black beans, corn and fresh tomatoes. Ok so I did eat a third of key lime pie last night. I am having a terrible time with my sweet tooth!
Bean + Corn + Tomatoes -> YUMMY! As for the Key Lime Pie, just imagine all that wonderful Vitamin C.