Hello and welcome to Mindful Eating.
This exercise is usually done with a raisin.
But if you don't eat raisins for any reason,
You can choose some other food that fits in between your fingers.
It can be some other dried fruit,
Nuts or even chocolate.
The choice is yours.
Whatever you're craving right now or usually avoid,
Consider having it for this exercise.
Before we start this exercise,
Please pause the video and go get the food you will use for this practice.
Place the food at the table in front of you and listen to my instructions.
You will explore it through all your senses,
But without judgment.
Let's get ready for exercise.
You can close your eyes and take a deep breath in and out.
Observe your breath for a few moments.
Open your eyes and look at the piece of food on the table in front of you.
Start by placing it on the palm of your hand.
Let the judgment go.
Let everything else go except your experience with the food.
Using the sense of sight,
Notice what it looks like.
Take your time and explore the food in detail as if you've never seen that kind of food before.
What kind of shape does it have?
What color is it?
Does it have wrinkles?
Is it shiny?
Or do you see anything else?
Feel free to move it around in your hand.
Next,
Experience it with a sense of touch.
How does it feel in the palm of your hand?
How heavy does it feel?
Is it warm or cold?
Is it dry or wet?
Or is it sticky?
Is it melting?
How do you describe the experience when you touch the surface with your finger?
Pick it up and feel it in between your fingers.
Notice the texture.
If you squeeze it,
Is it hard or soft?
Is it melting?
Or is it breaking?
Notice through the sense of touch whether there's anything else to experience.
Next,
Move to the sense of smell.
Bring the piece of food to your nose and smell it.
What do you experience?
Have you ever smelled it before?
For how long do you smell it after you removed it from underneath your nose?
Now move to the sense of hearing.
Yes,
Hearing.
Have you ever tried to hear a food before?
Try to be as open-minded as you can and put your food next to your ear.
Do you hear anything?
Now move it back and forth in between your fingers.
Do you hear anything now?
Next,
Move to the sense of taste.
While you're holding it in between your fingers,
Open your mouth and place it on your tongue.
Close your mouth and just observe how it feels inside your mouth before you start to chew it.
Move it inside your mouth with your tongue.
Be aware of the increase of saliva secretion and your body making first steps of preparation for digestion.
Do you have a desire to chew?
When you're ready,
Begin to chew.
Notice how it feels like to take the first bite.
Do you hear it?
What changes in your mouth?
Does the taste change too?
What about the texture?
Notice how they change while you chew it slowly.
Can you feel the smell while you have it in your mouth?
Chew it thoroughly before you swallow.
After you swallow,
Notice what you experience inside your mouth.
Do you still feel its taste?
Try to notice for how long it stays there.
Are there any small pieces of food left?
Do you still hear it?
When you're ready,
Write down your experience.
Did you expect it to be this way or another?
How is it different from other experiences that you had before?
Let us know!
You
