We're now going to try a mindful eating exercise,
Which is again designed for using the senses and exploring how we can use the anchor of the senses to tie us into mindful practice while we're eating,
While we're looking at food.
It's also very,
Very helpful for children who perhaps struggle with immediately imagining something in terms of a visualisation to give them something very concrete and hands-on to guide their experience.
So the idea is to explore the senses by using this piece of fruit or biscuit or piece of cake or whatever it is that you have chosen.
And we're going to begin the exercise as usual by sitting upright,
Having our feet firmly grounded on the floor,
But with our eyes open this time and the piece of food that you've chosen in your hand.
Begin by being aware of your breath,
Not by changing it in any way,
But focusing in on your in-breath and your out-breath.
And as you do this,
Focus on the touch of this food.
Feel the weight of the food in your hand.
Feel the texture of the surface of this piece of food.
Is it smooth?
Is it rough?
Is the feeling uniform over the entire surface or are there different elements of softness,
Hardness?
Consider now as well the visual impact of this piece of food.
What colours do you see?
What is the size?
What sort of shape is evoked?
Now bring the piece of food up to your nose and smell the food.
Maybe one or two deep inhalations through the nose to really take in the odour of this piece of food.
How does that appear to you?
What kind of a smell?
Is it a sweet smell?
A sour smell?
A musky smell?
Does the smell stimulate your appetite?
Now allow your eyes to close and smell the food again.
Notice any differences that you're aware of as you smell the food with your eyes closed.
Is the smell of the food weaker or stronger?
Now try touching the food gently with the tip of your tongue,
Adding an element of taste to the smell.
How does that change?
Now bite into the food and taste it.
Where exactly is the sensation of taste in your mouth?
As you chew the food,
Does the sensation of taste change?
Are you aware of new smells?
Try chewing with your eyes closed and with your eyes open and note any differences in that experience.
You can focus also on the sounds that the food makes while you're eating it.
Is it a loud crunching sound as you bite into the food or is it something more subtle?
So we're tasting,
Smelling,
Touching,
Seeing and listening to the process of eating this piece of food.
And now as you finish eating the food or continue eating the food,
I'll invite you also to reflect upon the energy that has been used to create this food.
Maybe going right back to the sun,
The warmth,
The food growing,
Being planted,
Drawing energy from the earth,
From the soil,
Being harvested and being processed,
Being made into the food that you've chosen.
Imagine the rain,
Imagine the people involved in the creation process,
The delivery process,
The packaging and the marketing.
How did this piece of food get to you?
Think of the cumulative energy that was used to create this experience that you are now tasting,
Smelling,
Touching,
Seeing and listening to.
So in this brief mindfulness experience,
This brief introduction to mindful eating,
We've explored two senses or two elements.
Firstly the senses,
Reflecting on the smell and the taste and the touch,
The sound and the appearance of the food and secondly thinking about the energy that was used in the creation and delivery of this food.
This exercise works very well with all age groups of children and students.
It's something that you can repeat again and again with different types of food but interestingly it's also something you can repeat without the food but using the same language,
Using the same process to describe and invite children to experience eating the food even if they don't have it to hand.
And this helps children to develop their imagination and the skill of visualisation which increasingly becomes a part of mindfulness practice further down the line.
