Article: MINDFUL EATING: COOKING AND EATING WITH LOVE

Much of what we do is done in a routine-like, almost automatic, kind of fashion.

We get up in the morning and assume the familiar pattern of iPhone, shower, dress, coffee, go. We drive to work taking the same route over and over again. We grocery shop a bit tired and uninspired, always choosing the same products. We cook quick hurried meals, for the day has been long and stressful. Hence our tendency to eat our dinner at ‘workday pace’: somewhat fast and furious.

When we change these routine-like patterns from unconscious to conscious (and aware) it becomes very clear that the day is a much more magical and exciting phenomenon than we thought it was.

Grocery shopping becomes an adventure, full of endless tasty surprises and possibilities.

Cooking becomes meditation in action, slathered with gratitude and admiration for the produce.

And eating becomes more than another thing on our to-do list.

When we eat, we’re not simply filling up,we’re connecting with our greater purpose and Life itself. Food is (Life’s) energy and when we buy, cook and eat in a state of stress, self-loathing and indifference, we become that stress, that anger, that apathy.

When we buy, cook and eat with love, compassion and attention, something extraordinary happens. We get nourished beyond the principle of calories. We, on the deepest of levels, are nurtured in body, mind and spirit.

How do we get there? By slowing down drastically. By being with what we’re doing. By practicing a curious mind. By breathing deeply. By finding joy in what we’re doing. And by never taking anything for granted.

Now, before you eat, say a simple yet powerful ‘thank you’ to the food, the farmer and the cook. That thought, those words might make a world of difference. Right at that moment food transforms from a mere something on our to-do list to the giver and sustainer of Life itself.