monday meditation – about mindfulness, joy and more

The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Bonjour! This Monday I’m meditating on mindfulness, specifically, mindful eating. A French newsletter in my inbox led me to the site a pinch which has a simple mission, “meditate while eating and eat while meditating. That is to say, learn to eat mindfully, and discover meditation through the moments of meals.” What a cool idea! The website belongs to Agathe Pinchon and on it she stated she had the chance to be able to train with Jean Kristeller, founder of MB-EAT. I immediately had to find out about MB-EAT. So much interesting information and resources there! Bienvenue to my monday meditation – about mindfulness, joy and more.

mindful eating

Mindful eating is a way to become reacquainted with the guidance of our internal nutritionist.

Jan Chozen Bays

Practicing mindful eating can be a powerful part of a mindfulness practice, as everyone needs to eat throughout the day, so everyone will have opportunities to practice mindful eating no matter what else is going on in their lives. All of the good food I’ve been blessed with, all of the wonderful recipes I’ve created. But did I appreciate them like I should have? Did I find the joy in my food? By the way, Agathe also mentions on her site that she doesn’t go on vacation without her umebosis (Japanese salted plum vinegar), which after I looked it up decided I need some tout suite, to sprinkle on vegetables or salads – sounds joyful!

In the Vogue article about the 3-day express detox cure (that I’m starting today), Henri Chenot emphasizes the importance of chewing your food. “Chewing is one of the first things to do to change your eating habits, lose weight and give your body back vigor and energy. Chewing well allows the brain to transmit the sensation. of satiety and the digestive system to perform as well as possible its functions.” So chewing your food goes hand in hand with mindful eating.

meditation

The best meditation is effortless. The best meditation is a gentle awareness.

Maxime Lagacé

In my matcha meditation, I noted the matcha tea ritual is an experience of mindfulness. There are some great quotes in the post that show the simple act of drinking tea can be like meditation. On Sunday I joined a Zoom session with the above mentioned Agathe for a mindful eating meditation with hummus. She suggested Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s Basic Hummus recipe, which of course was delicious. Unfortunately, the session was in French and I’m not even near fluent. Dommage 🙁 I need to start using my Babbel app every day!

A quick Google search can find you all kinds of mindful eating meditations. There are some on the MB-EAT website. Here is a mini 3 min Mindful Eating Recharge Meditation. And here is a good one from Live Sonima – mom if you’re reading this check out the very beginning of the video – do you recognize? It’s the market in Budapest!!

more

When I’m hungry, I eat what I love. When I’m bored, I do something I love. When I’m lonely, I connect with someone I love. When I feel sad, I remember that I am loved.

Michelle May

I found a lot of interesting books about mindful eating. Savor – Mindful Eating Mindful Life by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh looks like a must read. The Mindful Eating Workbook by Vincci Tsui also looks useful, with space for you to journal. She also offers a 7-day Intro to Meditation & Mindful Eating mini-course you can sign up for. Here is a great article Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat which also includes a script that was under the guidance of the above quoted Kabat-Zinn.

So there you have it – a monday meditation – about mindfulness, joy and more. Hope you learned a little something along with me. So let’s get to it and start finding joy in our food again, in each and every bite! À bientôt!

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”

François de la Rochefoucauld