Hi, I'm Bob Stahl, and
welcome to the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook V-blog (video-blog).
I'd like to do a practice on the mindfulness of eating, and
in our workbook we introduce you to the raisin exercise. This is a wonderful way
to help introduce ourselves to mindfulness meditation. And to help demystify
meditation. Mindfulness we speak of as a practice of being within the body,
an in-the-body experience. So, I have here a organic raisin.
And let's begin this practice by bringing our eyesight to the raisin,
what it is that we notice. Of course, I see that I have one raisin in my hand and
there's a lot of ridges. It's yellow color.
It's got a very interesting shape. It's,
there's a few little dents in it and it's roundish. And on the one end of it,
it looks like it was, of course, connected to something else. There's a stem there.
And actually as I begin to feel into the stem,
I can also move into the tactile quality--what it feels like.
And as I roll it in my fingers, or put some weight in there,
I can feel it squishing down, there must be some moisture inside there.
Sense of malleability, wetness,
just feeling the raisin with awareness like a scientist,
or perhaps taking it into the nose smelling.
[SOUND] I can smell some sweetness. The sweetness.
A little mustiness. Some earthiness.
So it has a smell. As we felt it, looked at it,
and, as any scientist, let's be curious. Is there anything that can be heard?
Do you hear the ocean? Do you hear it “through the grapevine”? And
actually as you crinkle the raisin, you actually can hear some sounds. So,
just checking it out, with our sight, and touch, and smell, and sound...
And we also can place it, of course, in our mouth, and as we do,
just taking a minute to notice what is arising as you put it in your mouth.
Perhaps the saliva is beginning to activate.
You're just noticing the anticipation of eating, and
then, when you're ready, beginning to chew with awareness. Chewing, tasting, and
swallowing. Try to stay present to the experience of eating.
Chewing, tasting, and swallowing.
How did it taste? Were you able to be present to the full experience?
What would it be like if each day we brought our awareness to eating?
The chewing, the tasting as it's happening.
I remember once a former student of mine was commenting on
the difference between doing the raisin exercise with mindfulness, and
the night before eating a box of raisins while watching a television show.
And she commented that the difference was profound, and
that the night when she was watching the television show, the only memory she had
was how fast she could get them unstuck from the side of the box and
drink them down. And yet having this one or
two raisins with mindfulness tasted better than that whole box.
So I invite you to begin to taste into your life when we're showering,
when we're folding laundry, washing dishes, eating, walking, talking,
bringing our mindfulness into our day-to-day activities. So,
I hope it you'll join me with the raisin eating exercise, or
whatever food you're eating, bringing mindfulness to it.
And I'd appreciate to hear any of your comments on our discussion board,
or on the wall of the Facebook fan page of
the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook site. And then we'll just
maybe end with just a short mediation.
Becoming mindful of the breath in, and the breath out.
Feeling our feet making contact with the floor, our body in the chair. Sitting
in the now, being present as we breathe in with awareness, and breathe out.
Thank you. May all beings be fed. May all beings be at peace.