Eating Meditation

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Annie Matan Gilbert

Tags: awareness / being present, courses, creative writing, eating, food, intention / kavanah, meditation, Pardes Center for Jewish Educators (PCJE), Pardes Experiential Educators Program (PEEP), poems / poetry, Self / Soul & Text Track

This was post for my Self, Soul and Text class about a practice of eating with awareness and intention (kavannah)

---

Eating slowly

with intention

to feel every

juicy tingle

& salty crumb

to scrape it across

my tongue

& lick drops & specks

from my lips

suck

bite down

exploding tart

pomegranate seeds

red, sweet-sour

dreaded crunch

(always get stuck in my teeth)

or using molars

snap a sweet

dry cookie

surprised by

sandy crumbs

that have no

juice at all.

Eating slowly

my whole mouth,

my throat,

lips

tongue

teeth

gums

cheeks

jaws

And my fingers

testing textures

sticky

grainy

smooth

hard

like extensions

of my taste buds

(I’m reading Life of Pi)

 

Eating slowly

I feel tension

in my hand

hovering over the next morsel

& in my jaw

& salivary glands

already anticipating

tastes and textures

still on my plate

I want

the next taste

I want to rush

I use intention

to hold myself back

from grabbing

munching mindlessly

eating tastelessly

 

This practice

shows me

my tendency

for fastness

mindlessness

walking fast

(too fast to see anything around me

besides a long blur & an obstacle course

of trees, cars & people)

praying too fast

(too fast to understand the words

tripping off my tongue)

talking without thinking

going through the

routines of my day

unconsciously

& now that I’m conscious

I want more

eating slowly