The Practice
We eat every day and yet, how often do we slow down and really notice our experience around a meal or snack? Meals so easily fly by as a quick pit stop to fuel our on-the-go lives. We’ve all eaten in this way—precariously balancing lunch on our laps while we drive, passing a granola bar to a busy student between music and sports—and there are certainly times when meals can’t take center stage in our days. Yet the regular, daily presence of food in our lives actually makes meals and snacks a perfect anchor point to briefly pause and cultivate some mindful awareness amidst our busy lives.
The good news? There are as many ways to practice thoughtful presence around food as there are people! Students are often particularly good at coming up with family rituals to fold into the dinner-time routine. Read on for some ideas to make mindful meals part of your classroom or family table.
The Language
Origins of Food - We are so lucky to have so much tasty, healthy food! But we live in an interesting time where most of us don’t grow our own food so we sometimes find ourselves eating a meal without knowing much about it. While we eat, let’s think about where the food on our plate might have come from.
(For younger students) - For example, this corn came from a cob that grew in a cornfield. Where do you think your apple came from?
(For older students) - For example, commercially made bread often has incredibly complicated ingredients. What do you think is in your toast? Where do you think flour came from? How was it made?
5 Senses - Let’s be food explorers! It’s fun to slow down and use all of our senses to notice our food, even if it’s just one bite! So let’s first tune into our vision—what does your food look like? What colors, shadows, and textures do you notice? Now let’s smell our food. See if you can describe at least three different scents. This might take a minute so really sit and notice the layers of smell. Now touch your food with either a utensil or a finger. Is it soft or hard? Does it move? Next, let’s listen. Food is usually pretty quiet, but you never know when it might be quietly bubbling, steaming, or popping. Finally, let’s all take a bite! Use your senses of taste, smell, and touch to really notice what the bite feels like.
Gratitude - Our days can be so busy and sometimes I find myself just quickly eating and moving on to the next thing. It can be helpful to pause for a minute at the start of each meal and just notice something you feel grateful for. So before we dig in, let’s take one minute to each quietly reflect on a gratitude—it could be something related to your meal or something else entirely! Afterwards, anyone who wants to can share out their gratitude with the group.
Mindful Bite - Before we dive into this delicious snack, let’s pause. I want everyone to first observe the piece of food in their hands. Don’t put it in your mouth yet! Now bring it up to your mouth and notice what is happening to you physically. How is your mouth and body getting ready to eat? How did your hand know exactly where your mouth was without you consciously thinking about it? Notice how the urge to put the food in your mouth rises and falls if you just wait. Now put the food in your mouth. Chew, but resist the urge to swallow it right away. Just notice the taste and the texture and where it is in your mouth. Now swallow! What was that like?
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