Conscious The Raisin. Period.
AuthorJackie DeKnockCategoryGOURMET WELLNESS, MindMindful Eating.
Dictionary.com: mindful eating – noun The practice of eating with the express purpose of savoring every flavor, aroma, and texture of food, as usually accomplished through aesthetic appreciation of the food and slow, contemplative ingestion.
Eating One Raisin: A First Taste of Mindfulness
First, take a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand or between your finger and thumb. Focusing on it, imagine that you’ve just dropped in from Mars and have never seen an object like this before in your life.
Take time to really see it; gaze at the raisin with care and full attention. Let your eyes explore every part of it, examining the highlights where the light shines, the darker hollows, the folds and ridges, and any asymmetries or unique features.
Turn the raisin over between your fingers, exploring its texture, maybe with your eyes closed if that enhances your sense of touch.
Holding the raisin beneath your nose, with each inhalation drink in any smell, aroma, or fragrance that may arise, noticing as you do this anything interesting that may be happening in your mouth or stomach.
Now slowly bring the raisin up to your lips, noticing how your hand and arm know exactly how and where
to position it. Gently place the object in the mouth, without chewing, noticing how it gets into the mouth in
the first place. Spend a few moments exploring the sensations of having it in your mouth, exploring it with
your tongue.
When you are ready, prepare to chew the raisin, noticing how and where it needs to be for chewing. Then,
very consciously, take one or two bites ito it and notice what happens in the aftermath, experiencing any
waves of taste that emanate from it as you continue chewing. Without swallowing yet, notice the bare
sensations of taste and texture in the mouth and how these may change over time, moment by moment, as
well as any changes in the object itself.
When you feel ready to swallow the raisin, see if you can first detect the intention to swallow as it comes
up, so that even this is experienced consciously before you actually swallow the raisin.
Finally, see if you can feel what is left of the raisin moving down into your stomach, and sense how the body as a whole is feeling after completing this exercise in mindful eating.
With thanks to Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn (2007). The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (New York: Guilford Press, 2007).
Ingredients
Directions
Eating One Raisin: A First Taste of Mindfulness
First, take a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand or between your finger and thumb. Focusing on it, imagine that you’ve just dropped in from Mars and have never seen an object like this before in your life.
Take time to really see it; gaze at the raisin with care and full attention. Let your eyes explore every part of it, examining the highlights where the light shines, the darker hollows, the folds and ridges, and any asymmetries or unique features.
Turn the raisin over between your fingers, exploring its texture, maybe with your eyes closed if that enhances your sense of touch.
Holding the raisin beneath your nose, with each inhalation drink in any smell, aroma, or fragrance that may arise, noticing as you do this anything interesting that may be happening in your mouth or stomach.
Now slowly bring the raisin up to your lips, noticing how your hand and arm know exactly how and where
to position it. Gently place the object in the mouth, without chewing, noticing how it gets into the mouth in
the first place. Spend a few moments exploring the sensations of having it in your mouth, exploring it with
your tongue.
When you are ready, prepare to chew the raisin, noticing how and where it needs to be for chewing. Then,
very consciously, take one or two bites ito it and notice what happens in the aftermath, experiencing any
waves of taste that emanate from it as you continue chewing. Without swallowing yet, notice the bare
sensations of taste and texture in the mouth and how these may change over time, moment by moment, as
well as any changes in the object itself.
When you feel ready to swallow the raisin, see if you can first detect the intention to swallow as it comes
up, so that even this is experienced consciously before you actually swallow the raisin.
Finally, see if you can feel what is left of the raisin moving down into your stomach, and sense how the body as a whole is feeling after completing this exercise in mindful eating.
With thanks to Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn (2007). The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (New York: Guilford Press, 2007).