The Yoga of Eating

I've been reading this book for the last few weeks. Pretty interesting stuff...but basically, it's what you'd think. If yoga is about being present, being in the moment...then the yoga of eating is about being present when one is eating.

I read a line last night and thought that I would share it here because it is one of those truths that I want to remind myself of..."...even the most thorough change happens one choice at a time." What that is getting to, for me, is that the choices we make add up. So if we are constantly choosing to put off our weight loss efforts, then we will never lose the weight we want to lose. If we choose, most of the time, to put our health first, then we will achieve our weight loss goals.

Something else that struck me...the notion about eating when your attention is elsewhere and the idea that one is eating what one's attention is on. So, Eisenstein writes, "In a sense, if your attention is elsewhere when you eat, you are not eating the food at all. The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh tells a story of a friend wolfing down tangerines while talking animatedly about something he was angry about, and points out that at that moment, he wasn't really eating the tangerines at all, he was eating the anger. So...
- If you watch TV while you eat, you are eating the TV program.
-If you read while you eat, you are eting the words.
-If you eat when angry, you are eating the anger.
-If you eat while absorbed by the scenery, you are eating the scenery.
-If you talk a lot while you eat, you are eating your conversation.

This is to say that eating is a special time, even a sacred time, in which a person is in an especially absorptive state. While eating, the body is keyed to take in energy from the world. One is eating the entire experience of the meal, not just the physical food. The ambiance and emotional environment contribute to this experience, to the extent that they influence one's own state of mind."

In my experience, that is so true. Maybe that's why one of my favorite things to do is to go out to a nice dinner with good company...because it's not just the food, but the experience...the atmosphere, the sounds, the scenery, the table, the plate of food, and the company.

So...a pause, perhaps, is in order when I eat...sitting at a dining room table instead of in front of the TV...sitting and having breakfast and/or lunch without working on my laptop at the same time...or even, just a pause before eating, a blessing and gratitude for the nourishment and, at least, a few mindful bites...