This Thanksgiving, cultivate your mindful palate. When we savor our food, it helps us connect to our plate but also to people: appreciating those who put the feast together, and beyond. Here are three steps to savor your first bite:
1) Feast your eyes. As soon as you get your food, see if you can take in the sight of the food: the colors, the shapes, the richness that may be there. If there’s not richness there, maybe you want to add a couple more colors to make it rich in some way.
2) Breath in the smell. Take in the aroma. Take a few deep inhales of the smell of the food that’s there. You might notice, if it’s not smelling good, that it’s not the kind of food you want to eat. So you might want to switch it out for something different.
3) Savor interconnection. Take a moment to think about all of the people, the nature, the rain, the sun, the earth, and all of the people involved with getting that food to you there in that moment—which might be including you in the purchasing process. Sense that interconnection of what is there that’s invovled with your food.
See if what arises is a natural, implicit sense of appreciation and gratitude. If so, allow yourself to savor that feeling for a few moments, and then take your first bite.
Bon appétit!
