Slow Down With the Fast Food

March 27, 2022

Everything is FAST these days.  Door-dash, Instacart. Shopping is fast, prep is fast and eating is fast.

Do you really taste your food?

I used to teach mindful eating in classrooms and it was my favorite lesson. I would teach it in October around Halloween and bring an apple and read No Ordinary Apple.

I was sure the kids would rather throw their apple at me than eat it, but to my surprise they absolutely loved it—the story, the practice, and the apple.

They were delighted to discover new flavors, colors and smells, and even new sounds when they slowed down and used all five senses to eat their apples mindfully. And I always got letters from impressed parents about how their kids brought the practice home to their dinner table.

“I learned how to eat – to look at my food and smell it and listen to it.  I learned to listen to my breath instead of my head.” ~Declan (age 4)

Mealtime is a great time to bring mindfulness into your everyday moments. It can be relatively easy to do and offers incredible benefits to our overall health and well-being of course. 

However, carving out time to sit and share a meal together is a rare delicacy these days! Here are some ways you can practice mindfulness at mealtime:

• • • • Do just ONE thing. Don’t listen to a podcast, your favorite book, the tv, or chat on the phone. Take a few minutes to just BE in the kitchen while prepping. 
      • Use all your senses to bring awareness. When chopping a tomato, notice its color, shape, size, smell, and texture.  
      • Take one deep breath before eating.
      • Set an intention to share love around the table.
      • Take one mindful bite together. Use your five senses to notice with your eyes, nose, touch, listen and taste. Eating is multisensory!!!
      • Play a mindful mealtime game with your kids like “I spy a color on the plate.”
      • Engage the whole family — share the tasks of cooking and prepping, setting the table, clearing the dishes, and cleaning up. Everyone contributes and is old enough to help no matter what.

Because our lives have become so busy and full, it’s easy to forget how to truly BE HERE NOW and that’s when we lose connection to ourselves and to one another. 

When you practice mindfulness with your everyday moments like mealtimes, you give yourself the gift of being present. That’s what you are after in the end—returning back to your natural state of presence. 

When we’re present, we can be a more conscious parent, partner, and person.

Thank you so much for joining me for the Be Mindful In March series. I hope these simple practices support you in bringing more presence into your and your family’s life.

To parenting authentically and not perfectly,

Annmarie Chereso
Author, Speaker, Coach, & Meditation Teacher