Day Ninety-Seven- 4/7/11 Mindful Eating Meditation

Day Ninety-Six: 4/7/11
New Thing: Mindful Eating Meditation     
Inspiration: Anne, Lent, World Health Day, Ellyn        
Cost: $0 
Time: About 30 mins.            
Bottom Line: I have never had a meal quiet like it.

Reflection: Today, in honor of World Health Day, I decided to try a meditation commended to me by the wonderful Anne. The exercise focused on "Mindful Eating" and has its roots in the ancient Buddhist tradition of viewing every bit of food that you take in as a act of thanksgiving. This particular form of mediation, however, is produced by the National Episcopal Health Ministries as a way of encouraging us to partake in eating as a sacred exercise and not just wolfing down our meals without ever stopping to consider the process that we are a part of. You can find this meditation here.

The meditation was designed to be lead by one person who is not eating and who guides you through the whole process--bite-by-bite. Since I was eating alone, I taped myself reading the meditation first so I could simply participate in the moment as was intended. The first few minuets are dedicated to relaxation techniques which help you tune into your body followed by blessing the food and then concentrating all our senses on the meal in front of us. I was extremely hungry when I sat down, so I had a very hard time sinking into the moment. However, it truly helped to make me grateful when I was finally allowed to have the first bite. The following bites we very deliberate and slow taking several minuets for each one. I am normally a very fast eater, so it was hard to resist the temptation to just gobble the whole thing down. Yet, I was amazed by how full I began to feel with just a little food in my system. I was taking the time to feel full in other ways as well. I was thankful to Ellen who had made the delicious and hearty soup that I was eating. I gave thanks for the chicken and the plants whose energy was now fueling me. For several bites, I simply prayed for the people in my life who also needed to be feed in various ways. At one point, I actually got a little teared up when I was prompted to consider my next bite as being the thing I need the most. I really did not expect this to be so powerful. Yet, that is exactly how sacramental moments happen--we are given what we need most--grace--through the things which we are given every day. I was very humbled and grateful for this time and will try to do it again often.

Here are two quotes from this meditation which really sum it all up:

 "We cannot live harmlessly or strictly at our own expense; we depend upon other creatures and survive by their deaths. To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. The point is, when we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament; when we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration...In such desecration, we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want."

-Wendell Berry

"Daily we participate in the mystery of other beings becoming part of our very tissue. And daily we have the opportunity to experience food as sacrament--where the metaphor for food is not 'fuel' but rather 'communion.'"

-Michel Schutt

Lenten Meditation-   
Prayed for: JM, LM, DM 
Prayer Walk/Yoga- Stretching/Yoga after morning spin. 
Journal Topic with Ken- We might not make it to this one tonight.  

Music- Piano  

Fast- The Mindful Eating exercise really helped to make moderate food choices with a purpose.  

Daily Office- NP spent eating mindfully.