How to practice mindful eating

Dear friends, 

Aren’t we so lucky to grow up surrounded by an abundance of food? So much colour, culture and calories. A fragrant plate of Nasi Lemak from Adam Road, an intense bowl of Bak Chor Mee from Crawford Lane, a colourful spread of banana leaf rice from Racecourse Road, is all it takes to bring us back to the present moment, letting go of regrets of the past or worries about the future. 

Only briefly, that is. For me, it probably takes only a minute or two of inhaling a meal, before my thoughts start running again. What about you? How long do your meals keep you in the present moment?

Sometimes it’s not what we eat, but how we eat

9 years ago, I was a workaholic, and food was my escape. As stress and anxiety piled up, so did my weight, gaining 15kg in just over a year, while getting to know every food stall and restaurant in Raffles City. The more intense the anxiety and stress, the more intense the tastes I hunted for in my next meal. It got tiring, and never really worked.

But here is something that did. One day, on the verge of burnout, I found myself sitting on the ground with a circle of strangers in Pasir Panjang, with a simple vegetarian meal in front of me. I invite you to relive a little part of that experience with me.

A gentle lady asks us to open the lids of our food container, and take a good, long look at what has been prepared for us. She says we now have a chance to stop and really eat our food, and not our projects and worries (I roll my eyes). Together, we will eat for 20 minutes in silence, being present for our food. As we lift a spoonful of food towards our mouth, we can smile and silently acknowledge what we see. Carrot. Rice. Tofu. When we put the spoonful in our mouths, we can put the plate down slowly, and bring our full attention to the tastes and sensations in our mouth. Chewing 30-40 times slowly before swallowing, we can fully prepare the food to be gentle on our stomach and to really help digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Before we begin, we slowly recite out loud The Five Contemplations Before Eating to foster mindful eating and promote inner wellbeing through food:

This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.

May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.

May we recognize and transform unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.

May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.

We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build community, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.

As I allow the words to sink in and practice the instructions the best I can, I suddenly feel a deep sense of gratitude and joy. It is the first time in my life that I actually feel fully there for the gift of food. The mild curry vegetables with a subtle hint of coconut milk taste so fragrant. The slow melting of the rice in my mouth with each chew. Tears start welling as I feel the many hands that made even such a simple meal possible: the volunteer auntie cooks, the farmers, the rain, the vegetable seller, the sun, the earthworms. This ordinary act is actually so sacred. For 20 minutes, I have no obligation to speak, my mind and body feels at ease and truly nourished. Something shifts. 

Flash forward to today. I have practised mindful eating probably a few hundred times. Sometimes I get to practice alone, sometimes with friends. Sometimes very briefly, sometimes longer. Sometimes outdoors in a park, other times awkwardly in the middle of a rowdy family meal. 

Sometimes I invent my own words or borrow meal blessings from other traditions. Other times, I just hold the bowl in my hands and bow silently to it before eating. Here’s a short one I like gifted by a friend, in the form of a Haiku:

Thank you, Universe

And all who prepared this food.

No greed. 

No waste.

Share.

The practice form may change, but when my plate/bowl is empty, I always feel more at ease, nourished and connected. Oh, and if we like, we can also talk to our empty plate with a beautiful verse, like this one I recite whenever I remember:

The bowl/plate is empty, 

My hunger is satisfied,

I vow to live, 

For the benefit of all.

In our busy urban lives, our food is one of the most wonderful invitations to stop running and cultivate our presence, to reconnect with the many real placentas linking us to Mother Nature. To reconnect with a heart of gratitude to the countless gifts and conditions that make food possible, to reconnect with our bodies, to reconnect with our deepest intentions and the conscious choices we can make to nourish and heal ourselves, our local communities and the only planet we have.

And we know that to reconnect is to be well, to feel more whole. To plug in. Again and again.

Oh did I mention I’m 15kgs lighter now? And work on a farm? :)

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the practice, and do share your own creative ways and insights from being with food, glorious food!

Warmly,

Will