With this first bite,
I practice the love that brings joy.
Picking up the food.
Fork,
Spoon,
Sandwich,
Apple,
Cup of soup,
Chopsticks,
Whatever you got.
With this first bite,
I practice the love that brings joy.
Bringing the food into the mouth,
Putting the utensils down,
Putting the bowl down,
The apple down,
The sandwich down.
Breathing all the way in.
Breathing all the way out.
Breathing all the way in.
And then beginning to do.
With this first bite,
I practice the love that brings joy.
Chewing,
Chewing,
Chewing.
My teacher,
Thich Nhat Hanh,
Suggests 40 to 50 chews per bite.
That might not seem approachable to you at this moment in time,
That's fine,
But you might explore counting your chews.
What happens if you chew until the food is really chewed up and you allow the teeth to do their work?
A salivary glance to do its work.
Thus relieving the pressure on the belly,
On the digestive tract,
On the intestines.
And once that bite is all chewed up,
And then you've swallowed,
You know,
Chewing your food first,
And then you've swallowed,
At that point we move our hands to reach for the second bite.
Embracing our food once more,
Getting a spoonful or picking up whatever you gotta pick up with your chopsticks,
Bringing the soup cups to your mouth,
Or the apple or sandwich,
Whatever you've got there,
Burrito.
Hmm,
Strawberry,
A kiwi,
A piece of mango,
Passion fruit,
Durian.
Whatever is your pleasure.
Whatever your body needs at this time.
And it's not your pleasure,
But your need,
Your desire from inside your body.
With the second bite,
I practice the love that brings a release from suffering.
Feeling that wish in your body with your feet planted firmly on the floor,
Your back upright and strong.
You're sitting down to eat the meal,
Might as well sit down.
With the second bite,
I practice the love that brings a release of suffering.
Release from suffering.
Letting those words kind of ruminate in your mind a little bit,
I know for me,
That means letting go of the idea that this moment should be other than it is.
Letting go of all the shoulds,
That's starting there.
With this bite,
I practice the love that brings a release from suffering.
Getting my bite full of food,
Bringing it up and into the mouth and breathing all the way in,
All the way out,
All the way in.
And then beginning to chew,
Chew,
Chew.
Perhaps repeating that phrase while you're breathing.
With the second bite,
I practice the love that brings a release from suffering.
Taking care to put your eating utensil down or if you're eating an object,
Putting that object down.
Breathing.
Maybe repeating the phrase again with the second bite,
I practice the love that brings a release from suffering.
And when you're ready,
Chewing with all of your attention,
Maybe counting your chews,
Right?
Check it out.
Mmm,
And relax into this bite.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Chew it up,
Chew it up.
Mmm.
And once it's all chewed and that swallow occurs,
Really waiting until everything's chewed before swallowing.
Then and only then,
With the anticipation building,
Moving on to your third bite.
With this third bite,
I practice the love of myself.
When I first started this practice,
I learned it in Vietnam.
In 2006,
I was practicing at a monastery that had embraced Thich Nhat Hanh.
A year or two before that,
He had come back.
He'd been welcomed back to Vietnam for the first time after being exiled many years prior.
And this monastery said,
Oh,
We want to embrace the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Let's go.
And there were maybe a hundred young nuns I got to practice with and live with as a nun for a week.
And of course,
They were practicing the Vietnamese.
And so I wasn't able to understand the offerings at mealtimes,
But one of the nuns offered me this practice.
This first four bites practice.
And so while they were offering the Vietnamese,
I practiced this that I could understand,
That I could do.
It had a profound experience on me.
I remember as I look back those many years ago now,
Right,
It's 2022,
Happy New Year.
It was the third practice.
With this third bite,
I practice the love of myself.
That I had the hardest time remembering.
I had the hardest time remembering.
But I came to remember.
I came to practice.
And I left that up for you as an invitation that it might not be easy at first.
That's okay.
It can be hard to love ourselves.
We're conditioned otherwise.
We're conditioned to think everything's supposed to be perfect.
No ambient noise,
Right?
No trains going by.
No blemishes on the skin.
Delusion!
We're not perfect.
We're never going to be perfect.
When we find freedom from that,
And we're able to love ourselves just as we are in this moment,
Just as it is with all of the joy and all of the pain.
That's when we find freedom,
Not by getting everything we want,
But by embracing what we have,
Being with ourselves as we are.
So,
With this third bite,
I practice the love of myself.
Picking it up.
And putting it into the mouth.
Putting the utensil down.
Chewing.
After.
A full inhale,
Exhale,
And inhale again.
Maybe repeating the phrase once more.
With this third bite,
I practice the love of myself.
Breathing,
Breathing,
Breathing.
And as you're ready,
Beginning to chew,
Once you've put that utensil down,
Enjoy cultivating love of yourself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
With this fourth bite,
I practice the love of all beings.
Could you imagine a heart broad enough,
Expansive enough to feel a love for all beings?
It's the greatest freedom.
All beings.
Long,
Large,
Medium,
Short,
Subtle,
Engrossed,
Near and far,
Born and to be born.
Those that soar in the air,
Buzz.
Those who slither and hop.
Those who swim through our waters.
And all the microbes and everyone in between.
All the beings on that train.
And all the beings you know.
With this fourth bite,
I practice a love of all beings.
Bringing the food into the mouth,
Putting the utensil down,
Enjoying a full in,
Out,
And in breath.
Maybe repeating the phrase again.
And when you're ready,
Beginning to chew.
.
.
With this fourth bite,
I practice the love of all beings.
Chewing with attention,
Awareness,
Feeling the mouth moving,
Noticing how the tongue and cheeks move to position the food,
Noticing the flavors,
The textures.
Being with yourself with this meal,
Enjoying this precious moment.
And enjoying each moment.
And enjoying this meal.
Moment by moment by bite by cultivating presence and love.
Internally and externally.
Becoming aware of yourself and your surroundings.
Through the unfolding of each present moment experience.
