I was leading a workshop last weekend and a component of it involved a mindful eating practice. I passed around some edible “objects” and instructed the participants to take one, hold it in their palm and first examine this thing with their eyes only, noticing all of the shadows, the light, the grooves, the color,etc…. and then after a few moments instructed them to switch from sight to smelling it, all the while just being present for smelling and when thoughts or stories came up, to just notice them and go back to smelling…. followed by slowly exploring it through taste, and also exploring the texture of it in their mouth. I asked them to simply notice whatever came up during the tasting, especially thoughts and preferences, without judging them and then go back to just having a sensory experience with this object and being fully in the moment with eating it. They then slowly swallowed it.
I then told them the object was a dried turkish apricot and we repeated the exercise to see if anything new came up during the second go-round.
I chose something that they might not have had before, so they could really bring a fresh mind to experiencing what it was like to eat this “thing”. It may have felt tedious to eat one tiny dried apricot so slowly, but it was quite informative. What always amazes me when leading people through this exercise is how their pre-conceived perceptions influence their reality. This time one of the participants shared this experience:
“At first I thought, ‘This this looks gross. There’s no way I’m going to like this’. Then I tasted it, and thought, ‘Hmm, yeah, don’t really like this thing, but you instructed me to just notice my thoughts and go back to experiencing it, so I went back go to just experiencing it’……then you told us it was an apricot…..What!? This is an APRICOT?!?!?! I love apricots! On the second go round of tasting of the ‘object’, knowing it was an apricot, I liked it! It tasted good!”
Interesting….it reminds me of a time when knowing my dad (thought) he disliked lamb (even though I don’t think he had ever tried it, it just sounded “weird” to him), I allowed him to believe he was eating beef stew, which he gleefully ate, frequently commenting on how flavorful and satisfying it was….aaaand it was actually lamb. Had he known it was lamb from the beginning, my guess is he would have not have touched it, or eaten it only to say he didn’t really care for it.
How do YOUR pre-conceived perceptions influence your reality, especially when it comes to food choices, and other believed “preferences” that impact your wellness and overall wellbeing??
Maybe there’s a form of exercise or movement that you think you wouldn’t like, or you’ve tried it before with a different perspective and just need some find tuning in your perception?
Maybe there’s a new way to cook a vegetable (or try a fresh version instead of frozen or canned with some herbs), or maybe it’s just a matter of consciously slowing down to actually TASTE your food and experience it.
Many people who do the above exercise with a raisin tell me they didn’t think they like raisins…until they took time to taste it. All of this is part of becoming a mindful eater: bringing awareness not only to the taste of food, but also to thoughts or beliefs that may be influencing the taste of your food. As you know, I am a believer that our thoughts shape our reality, and that we can work to change our thoughts in order to change our reality…it’s all about perception, my friends!
I would love to hear your stories in the comments below. Try the mindful eating exercise I described above with a foreign food, or even with a common food and see what changes.
xo,
Meredith