Made me think back to my days in India where 99% of our meals were home made, each meal was preceded by a prayer - which essentially meant [apart from thanking the one above for the meal] but also that may this meal bring out good thoughts in us, may we [people eating together] do good deeds together, peace, peace, peace.
The conversation during the meals were thus somehow directed to something that was not controversial. We HAD to eat all that was on the plate, throwing away food was an insult to God.
Now - eating is done mostly alone while at work, with the computer open, not tasting any thing properly.
It is so easy to throw away food.
Your article made me realize how work / money has downgraded such an essential part of our life.
Pausing before eating -- the time we spent in prayer was akin to that- is what i want to restart, even if i am eating alone.
I think the major problem is how to occupy your mind when you are eating. Heartfelt interaction is so important but when one eats alone - one lands up either reading something or watching TV.
Rekha, thank you so much for your important and heartfelt reply. Your meals are much the same as I remember growing up. In many ways our meals have moved away from a ritual or ceremony to a rote practice which does not respect all the steps that have brought forth what we are so fortunate to have in front of us...
Many of us reading this can relate to the image of the open computer and the open lunch container, both getting only part of our attention. It is something that we will be discussing in the coming posts and how to reduce.
Also thank you for committing to more mindful eating. This will definitely be something we will review as far as what steps ACTUALLY can help us get closer to that ideal which is so elusive.
Lastly, eating alone can be a struggle for sure and like many things we discussed in our initial posts (waiting in line, stuck at the light) we often pull out the screen to ease that moment instead of pausing and BEING in that moment. I hope to provide some tools for those eating alone, eating at work and other times when mindful eating may be difficult. Look forward to addition thoughts, experiences and suggestion on this important topic. THANK YOU, Robert
thanks for the article
Made me think back to my days in India where 99% of our meals were home made, each meal was preceded by a prayer - which essentially meant [apart from thanking the one above for the meal] but also that may this meal bring out good thoughts in us, may we [people eating together] do good deeds together, peace, peace, peace.
The conversation during the meals were thus somehow directed to something that was not controversial. We HAD to eat all that was on the plate, throwing away food was an insult to God.
Now - eating is done mostly alone while at work, with the computer open, not tasting any thing properly.
It is so easy to throw away food.
Your article made me realize how work / money has downgraded such an essential part of our life.
Pausing before eating -- the time we spent in prayer was akin to that- is what i want to restart, even if i am eating alone.
I think the major problem is how to occupy your mind when you are eating. Heartfelt interaction is so important but when one eats alone - one lands up either reading something or watching TV.
that is the challenge - how to get over it.
Rekha, thank you so much for your important and heartfelt reply. Your meals are much the same as I remember growing up. In many ways our meals have moved away from a ritual or ceremony to a rote practice which does not respect all the steps that have brought forth what we are so fortunate to have in front of us...
Many of us reading this can relate to the image of the open computer and the open lunch container, both getting only part of our attention. It is something that we will be discussing in the coming posts and how to reduce.
Also thank you for committing to more mindful eating. This will definitely be something we will review as far as what steps ACTUALLY can help us get closer to that ideal which is so elusive.
Lastly, eating alone can be a struggle for sure and like many things we discussed in our initial posts (waiting in line, stuck at the light) we often pull out the screen to ease that moment instead of pausing and BEING in that moment. I hope to provide some tools for those eating alone, eating at work and other times when mindful eating may be difficult. Look forward to addition thoughts, experiences and suggestion on this important topic. THANK YOU, Robert