Savor
 Sweet, juicy, crisp—THICH NHAT HANH and LILIAN CHEUNG on the pleasures of mindfully eating an apple.
Let’s have a taste of mindfulness. Take an apple out of your refrigerator. Any apple will do. Wash
it. Dry it. Before taking a bite, pause for a moment. Look at the apple
in your palm and ask yourself: When I eat an apple, am I really
enjoying eating it? Or am I so preoccupied with other thoughts that I
miss the delights that the apple offers me? If
you are like most of us, you answer yes to the second question much
more often than the first. For most of our lives, we have eaten apple
after apple without giving it a second thought. Yet in this mindless way
of eating, we have denied ourselves the many delights present in the
simple act of eating an apple. Why do that, especially when it is so
easy to truly enjoy the apple? The first thing is to give your undivided attention to eating the apple. When
you eat the apple, just concentrate on eating the apple. Don’t think of
anything else. And most important, be still. Don’t eat the apple while
you are driving. Don’t eat it while you are walking. Don’t eat it while
you are reading. Just be still. Being focused and slowing down will
allow you to truly savor all the qualities the apple offers: its
sweetness, aroma, freshness, juiciness, and crispness. Next,
pick up the apple from the palm of your hand and take a moment to look
at it again. Breathe in and out a few times consciously to help yourself
focus and become more in touch with how you feel about the apple. Most
of the time, we barely look at the apple we are eating. We grab it, take
a bite, chew it quickly, and then swallow. This time, take note: What
kind of apple is it? What color is it? How does it feel in your hand?
What does it smell like? Going through these thoughts, you will begin to
realize that the apple is not simply a quick snack to quiet a grumbling
stomach. It is something more complex, something part of a greater
whole. Then,
give the apple a smile and, slowly, take a bite, and chew it. Be aware
of your in-breath and out-breath a few times to help yourself
concentrate solely on eating the apple: what it feels like in your
mouth; what it tastes like; what it’s like to chew and swallow it. There
is nothing else filling your mind as you chew—no projects, no
deadlines, no worries, no “to do” list, no fears, no sorrow, no anger,
no past, and no future. There is just the apple. When
you chew, know what you are chewing. Chew slowly and completely, twenty
to thirty times for each bite. Chew consciously, savoring the taste of
the apple and its nourishment, immersing yourself in the experience 100
percent. This way, you really appreciate the apple as it is. And as you
become fully aware of eating the apple, you also become fully aware of
the present moment. You become fully engaged in the here and now. Living
in the moment, you can really receive what the apple offers you, and
you become more alive.
Thich
Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk, is the author of Peace Is Every Step.
Lilian Cheung is a lecturer and director of health promotion and
communication at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of
Nutrition. Reprinted with Permission of HarperOne from the book: Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. Copyright © 2010 by Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung. All rights reserved. www.HarperOne.com
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