Transform Eating Into A Mindfulness Meditation

As a great Zen master, Thich Nat Hahn says: the only thing you should put in your mouth and chew is the food. That probably sounds very simple, but when we sit down to eat, we are often still planning, thinking, and perhaps even having a busy lunch with other people. But to actually taste that food, every bite, and try to be with it in a very sensual way without distractions is a pure mindfulness meditation. The pure experience of eating is a conscious delight and brings peace, clarity and grace to every meal.

I also find saying a prayer before eating is a great way to connect with your spiritual core and gain a sense of gratitude for the food. A feeling of love for the people who prepared it, a connection and gratitude with Mother Earth.

So eating can become a whole spiritual practice in itself and it is something that does not have to be done separately, we all have to eat. So I recommend people try that when they’re eating, just try to be with the food without distractions. Say a prayer, be grateful, and develop a loving attitude.

So a very practical tool is to take a few deep breaths before eating, say a simple prayer of love and gratitude, and then try to eat that food mindfully. Your body will be in the most receptive state to absorb the nutrients from the food, as much as it has to offer, and to get the most benefit from the food.

So I think eating food with mindfulness is a really holistic practice that involves many different elements of health, mental and emotional health and spirituality. The grace of a Zen master performing a tea ceremony is miraculous. The simplicity and total power of something as mundane as drinking tea shows that you can bring grace into all aspects of your life.

Thich Nhat Hanh on the Zen of food

“Mindful eating is a very pleasant practice. It is a deep mindfulness meditation. Every piece of food becomes an ambassador of the cosmos. When we pick up a piece of vegetable, we look at it for half a second. We look attentively at it. We recognize the piece food really, the piece of carrot or the string bean. We practice mindfulness simply by knowing, “This is a piece of carrot. This is a piece of string bean.” Only a fraction of a second is needed for recognition.

When we are mindful we recognize what we pick up, when we put it in our mouth we know we are putting it in our mouth, and when we chew it we know we are chewing. It’s very simple. Some of us, looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it, and the rain. It has come from all over the cosmos for our nourishment.

Maybe you like to smile at your food before putting it in your mouth. When you chew it, you are aware that you are chewing it and you do not put anything else in your mouth, such as your projects, your worries, your fears. Just put the carrot in there, and when you chew, chew only the carrot, not your projects or your ideas.

Drinking a cup of tea is a pleasure that we can give ourselves every day. To enjoy our tea, we must be fully present and know clearly and deeply that we are drinking tea. When you lift your cup, you may want to inhale the aroma. If you look deeply into your tea, you will see that you are drinking fragrant plants that are the gift of Mother Earth. You see the work of the tea pickers; you will see the lush tea fields and plantations in Sri Lanka, China and Vietnam. You know you’re drinking a cloud; you drink the rain. The tea contains the entire universe.

You are able to live in the here and now in the present moment. It’s simple, but it takes some practice to just enjoy the piece of carrot. That’s a miracle.

Every minute can be a holy, holy minute. Where do you look for the spiritual? You look for the spiritual in all the ordinary things you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables and eating food become holy and sacred when mindfulness is present. With mindfulness and concentration everything becomes spiritual.”