Contemplation Before Eating

This is a short guided practice to listen to before eating. With mindful eating, we can touch gratitude and our interconnectedness with the Earth and other living beings. It's guided by Ethan Pollock, a teacher of mindfulness and Buddhism from Mindful Living Retreats - an organisation that offers courses and retreats throughout the UK.

Transcript

Contemplation before eating So as we look at our food,

Maybe enjoying the colours,

The textures,

The way the light plays on the food,

Maybe we can smell some aromas from the food,

And taking a moment to appreciate maybe all the hands this food has passed through to reach us today.

The farmers,

Maybe in distant parts of the world,

Who have tilled the soil,

Cared for the plants,

The truck drivers,

And many other people who have transported the food,

Those who have worked to sell the food and do all the necessary jobs to make that happen.

Maybe we can see the distant parts of the earth that this food has come from,

The strange lands with different climates in which this food grew,

All the different conditions around the world that had to be in place for this food to reach us right now.

And all these different people who have in some way supported our existence,

Who have fed us today,

Even if maybe they're not necessarily aware of that,

They have contributed in a very small way to our wellbeing.

And also taking a moment to stop and appreciate that.

Not only people,

But plants,

The sunshine,

The rain,

The whole earth supporting our existence in this one moment,

This one meal.

So as we eat,

Can we eat in gratitude,

Enjoying every mouthful of this precious contribution to our wellbeing.

Reviews

Lovely. Thank you.

Simple but profound.

Nice and quick moment of mindfulness around food, very helpful, thanks!

Beautiful, thank you 🙏🏽

A short but important message in this meditation. Thank you!