SOS: Day 49
August 19, 2011 
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Day 49
Make mind and meal align.
Ceremonial oryoki set (mindful eating elevated nearly to art form) sold by The Monastery Store, an online retailer with lots of cool meditation stuff.
I’m the poster pig of how not to eat. In the morning I shovel in oatmeal while surfing the web. Lunchtime, when it happens, is worse. I grab something as I walk past the counter or chomp down food at my desk. At dinner, my husband and I follow our twenty-five year tradition of eating while watching a movie.
But as my dad used to say to me: do as I say. Don’t do as I do.
My friend Karma Kathy is the example to follow. She sets a place for herself at the table and then eats–without reading or watching TV. She tastes the food. She savors it with purpose. She eats mindfully. It’s good for her brain and good for her body: according to research, when our minds reside elsewhere, digestion becomes less effective. And it’s theorized that the brain’s also too busy to receive signals that you’ve satisfied its hunger. Thus, you overeat.
On weekend meditation retreats at the Shambhala Mountain Center, we sometimes eat in silence. It’s profound to dine with a hundred people in a sunny tent, all quietly chewing a lovingly prepared meal.
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Some of us, while looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.”
Today choose one meal per day to eat mindfully. If that’s too much to accomplish right away, start by eating at least one meal a week while paying attention. I will too.
Below are some wonderful articles on mindful eating, complete with tutorials.
Harvard Medical School article
SOS Month 2
What to do so far:
In case you missed a day, the reminders below are clickable.
Mitigate your snoring.
Work out to dance DVDs.
Exercise for the fun of it.
Remember lesser-known benefits of exercise.
Record body measurements.
Accept setbacks.
Get younger.
Decrease your chemical load.
Review your food diary.
Eat 2 ounces of nuts daily.
Diets don’t work; lifestyle changes do.
On the Ides, I’d rather be…
Release anger and hostility.
Wear a pedometer daily.
Get 8 hours of sleep.
Eat mindfully, at least one meal a day.
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