Yesterday I did a Google search on mindful eating and came across quite a few mindful eating exercises. I liked the idea of trying the exercise with a piece of fruit. I think it’s going to be a better starting point for me than doing this during a meal. So, today I chose an orange. I used the following exercise as my model: https://depts.washington.edu/abrc/stress/MindfulEatingExercise.pdf
The first part of the exercise was absolutely amazing. I took the time to truly appreciate everything that goes into my being able to eat an orange. Someone had to till the soil and plant seeds or trees; someone took care of those trees; others picked the fruit; so on and so on. I expressed gratitude to all the effort that it took for me to be able to sit down and enjoy this orange. It was a very humbling experience.
As I cut the orange, I just enjoy the sweet smell. I love any type of citrus smell so this experience was very enjoyable. I couldn’t believe I was taking the time to just sit there and enjoy the sight and smell of this orange.
The eating part had its challenging. I found myself struggling to eat slowly. I also caught myself picking up another slice while I still had fruit in my mouth. When this occurred, I would stop, put my hands on the table, and spend a few moments focusing on my breath before proceeding.
As hungry as a felt before eating the orange, I was extremely surprised by how full and satisfied I felt.
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