I remember dinners at my Italian grandmother’s. They were celebrations of food, beginning with the preparation of the home made pasta the day before. My aunts and I would gather and lovingly prepare the dozens of eggs and flour slowly into strands of pasta or fill these with meat for ravioli. I got to experience making ravioli again with a large family one Christmas a few years back. The whole family helped make hundreds of ravoli. Our attention to the detail of this and the love that went into each piece of ravioli was remarkable and memorable.
It was a mindful activity that ended hours later with the celebration of eating: pleasure of the results of our efforts.
I wonder if I can remember the love that went into making breakfast this morning? Are you able to remember the preparation of breakfast?
For today, I intend to stop and take a breath before I prepare my next food. Notice its color shape, size, texture and see in the food all the persons and conditions that were responsible for bringing this food to me: the sun, the rain, the evening air, the farmer, the havester, the trucker, the grocer, the check out clerk.
Intention for the day: Stop for a moment today, breathe and pay attention to food at one meal.
By just taking a moment to look and notice and breathe, we have the opportunity to become mindful of what we are eating. Training ourselves to go from auto pilot eating to mindful eating is an exercise that may take some time.
Start with one meal…start today.
Mindful peaceful eating.
Georgiana