Do you know that expectant look on someone’s face, accompanied by food in hand and the words, “Try this. You’re going to love it!”
Food can be an experience if you are paying attention.
After travelling when I was younger, I came home with a dismal bank account balance but a big appetite to work. My day job was in advertising as a copywriter, a few days a week over lunch and weeknights I led yoga classes from various locations and on Saturdays and Sundays I worked at a hair salon/spa, massaging. I was a busy bee.
The owners of the salon and spa were busier. They had a work ethic that was astounding. I learned a lot through them the seven years I was there. I also ate a tremendous variety of foods that were entirely new to me and was presented with that expectant look that I would ‘love it.’ Often I did.
Weekends were almost always fully booked for massage so I usually only had time to eat during the cross-over from one client to the next.
I would bring food and the owners often had something they’d made me or bought for me from the Asian supermarket nearby. I ate it all in fast and mindless bites whenever I had the chance.
One afternoon I was excited to try a baked good that had been talked about a lot that morning. It was a very pale white/grey and sort of smelled like play-doe (in a good way). I thought it might have been bread but I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t that big and I popped the whole thing in my mouth. I noticed immediately that there was excitement amongst the others in the break room as I ate it. They watched me closely.
The texture was really odd but I didn’t want to let on and hurt anyone’s feelings. It was pillowy soft and also the chewiest thing I’d ever eaten. It melted in my mouth and also didn’t break-down no matter how much I chewed and chewed. I was in a hurry and literally didn’t feel like I had time to keep chewing this thing. I pictured my next client already on the massage table. I gulped some water and chewed and drank more water and chewed and finally I got it down. There was a lot of laughter and chatter in Cantonese and then one woman finally said to me in English, “You ate the paper.”
Eating with presence is one of life’s true sensual pleasures. It is a doing that is ripe for practicing being. When you are in a hurry or your mind is everywhere but the present moment, you are missing out on the feedback from your senses….you might also miss that something is wrapped in paper 😀
How often do you eat without the slightest recollection of any part of the meal?
Try this:
Carve out time for all your meals (or at least one a day) this week. Remove distractions like clutter, screens, noise. Arrange your food on your plate in a way that is pleasing to you. Notice the visual texture of your food, how it smells and feels as you touch it or cut through it. Notice the sound of your breath as you lift the food to your mouth. Allow an awareness to sink into you that food keeps your miraculous body functioning; it is vital to keeping you alive. Once your food enters your mouth, pour all your attention into texture, the first taste. Don’t be in a hurry. Noice what flavours emerge and the changes in texture, the movement of your jaw, lips, the role of your teeth and tongue. Watch for flavour even as you swallow and then once your mouth is relatively empty again. Try to be there for every single bite. Explore what it feels like to be with your whole body too so that you might also realize when you truly have had enough.
