All quotations in this podcast are from Andy Puddicombe’s “The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness” book.

“Take a moment to appreciate the food. Where has it come from? What country? Was it grown or was it manufactured? Try and imagine the different ingredients in their natural growing environment and even the types of people who would have been looking after the crops or animals.” (130)

That’s what “Headspace guide to Meditation and Mindfulness” author Andy Puddicombe writes when he encourages us to not just eat slowly, but to savor and be mindful of our food. This helps you enter headspace when consuming your favorite morsels, so that the food tastes better, is greater appreciated, and you control more of what you consume because you’re so focused on the chewing and absorbing the nutrients.

“Before getting up to leave or moving on to the next thing to eat, take a couple of deep breaths again. Remind yourself of how the plate looked when it was full of food and how it looks now, empty with nothing on it. Notice how, win contrast, before you sat down the stomach felt empty and how now it feels full. By noticing these things, noticing how everything is always changing, how everything has both a beginning and an end, the mind tends to experience a greater sense of ease over time.” (132)

What Andy Puddicombe alludes to there is a greater sense of awareness about how our food is consumed. We need to use our senses, as well. It’s not merely the taste of the food but the depletion progression on the plate or bowl that you see with your eyes and maybe even the sound of the silverware and the muscle contractions of your jaw munching.

Food should be something that nourishes us, obviously, but eating should be a form of meditation. There’s no reason not to do this. You enjoy your food more, it tastes better, it digests better, and you get to look forward to each bite. Your concept of time becomes more aware, and it just flows better.

Time flows when you meditate. This also doesn’t retard the eating process. Yes, it slows your eating, but that doesn’t mean you don’t lose out on the savoriness or crunchiness or texture of the food.

When I eat my salad, I really experience a greater sensation of experiences on my palate. When you meditate and eat and practice eating meditation, you aren’t being a monk void of flavors and tastes. Instead, you’re being a mindful human who is actually tasting more holistically and magnificently.

My biggest form of meditation is my runs and walks. There are ways to be more mindful of your body and all of its ligaments and joints and cardiovascular system and respiratory systems through meditation when you’re out walking, running, or exercising.

“There’s a feeling of having been “in the zone” or “in the moment”, as if all the necessary conditions came together at just the right time to allow you to perform in that way. There’s a sense of willing, of confidence, of focus. And the funny thing is, even if it’s a really tough, physical session, it’s almost as if there was an effortless quality about it. It’s no coincidence that so many of these qualities are to be found in meditation.” (140).

Meditation keeps your brain and body connection in a zone of synergy so that you’re always experiencing the moment fully. I clean my home-office more, I feel better about myself, my confidence goes up, my sense of peace increases during and after meditation. It’s a great practice and I encourage everyone to meditate!