Next, you carefully walk through all your senses. Sight - what does it look like. Sure, we all know what a raisin looks like. But have you ever really stared at a raisin? Have you noticed the nuances of its wrinkled skin? If you couldn’t use the word brown, how would you describe its color? Imagine you are a child seeing the raisin for the first time.
Now with your other hand, reach for the raisin and as you are reaching say the words, “reaching, reaching, reaching”, as if you are narrating the actions of your one-act raisin play. The key is to witness everything about the raisin and your experience with it, without making a judgment if it’s good or bad, it just is. Continue this observing as you taste, chew and swallow the raisin, pausing before eating another, then perhaps trying again a few more times. Most people who try this exercise report awe and surprise at their new found appreciation of something so small and insignificant. Try it with any type of food, fruit is exceptional.
So why go to all this trouble? Health and wellness coach Shawna McKinley of Kaia Health states, "Your stomach doesn’t have teeth. Learn to chew your food slowly and mindfully. Food that is not chewed properly cannot be digested and turns into debris in the body that can cause inflammation."
In addition to improved digestion and nutrition, mindful eating helps you learn to tell the difference between using food as nourishment versus as an unhealthy coping mechanism - think ‘emotional eating’.. “Rather than just eating when we get emotional signals, which may be different for each of us, be they stress, sadness, frustration, loneliness or even just boredom, we can listen to our bodies. Is your stomach growling, energy low, or feeling a little lightheaded? Too often, we eat when our mind tells us to, rather than our bodies. True mindful eating is actually listening deeply to our body’s signals for hunger.”
Photo Credit The Creative Exchange