A Simple Introduction to the Practice of Mindful Eating

When is the last time you bit into a really perfect, sweet, juicy orange? (A peeled one, obviously!) I mean a sticky-hands, juice-dripping-down-your-chin kind of orange. How would you describe that feeling? Joy? A burst of sunshine in your mouth? Like a Florida vacation (or if you live here, a day at the beach)? Does it bring back memories of half time during soccer games*?

More importantly, when you’re eating it, are you thinking about anything else? Or, for just one blissful moment, is all of your focus taken up by the experience of eating this ripe, delectable orange? If you acknowledged the latter, then you understand mindfulness more than you may think.

The intense sensory experience of eating an orange is a perfect example of mindfulness-in-life. In a mindfulness practice, or meditation, we simply formalize and enhance the process, with the hope that we return to our day with a bit more presence.

In a previous post, I mentioned the late ThIch Nhat Hanh’s emphasis on body- and sensory-based mindfulness practices. One of them is actually known as the tangerine meditation, the steps to which I have shared below.

This meditation is a nice way to introduce yourself to the practice of mindful eating. Since here in U.S. we’re smack dab in the middle of citrus season, it’s a great time to try it. It works just as well with clementines, or any kind of orange: navel, valencias, cara caras, temples, tangelos. . . But if you don’t have any oranges lying around or you can’t eat citrus for any reason, it can easily be adapted to use with any other food. (Small pieces of chocolate or a handful of raisins are common substitutes.)

What you’ll need:

A tangerine (or some type of citrus fruit in the orange family)
A comfortable place to sit

Prepare
Sit down and settle into a comfortable position. Acknowledge any impulse to hurry this meditation along, and quietly allow it to pass. Instead, take a few slow breaths in and out through the nose and become aware of your body.

Contemplate
When you are ready, pick up the tangerine and hold it in the palm of your hand. Consider these words: “This tangerine is a gift of the whole universe: the earth, the sky, the rain, and the sun.”

Take a moment to visualize all of the things that happened to bring this fruit to your hand; where it grew; what nourished the tree it grew from; the people involved in the process of growing, picking, and transporting it. Consider offering gratitude to the people involved in bringing this tangerine to you.

Look
Now, look closely at this fruit, as if you had never seen it before. (Truly, you’ve never seen this particular one!) Notice its texture, color, shape. Roll it around in your hand and look at each side, noticing the differences. Become aware of any reaction in your body. Are you already imagining the taste? Are you salivating? Are you excited, or apprehensive?

Smell
Bring it close to your nose and smell it. Where do you sense the smell of this fruit? In your nose, your throat?

Touch and Peel
Now, begin to peel the tangerine. Notice how this feels. Notice the texture of the peel itself, the difference of the outer peel v. inner peel. Is there any oil that sprays from the peel? Does this release an aroma? Can you hear the tearing of the peel?

Taste
Gently separate one segment of the fruit, and place it on your tongue. Without chewing, notice how your mouth responds. Is there an urge to bite down? Is there increased salivation? Tingling? Slowly roll the segment around your mouth, noticing the texture and taste of the unbroken segment.

Eat
Finally, gently bite into the segment. Is there a burst of flavor? Where in your mouth do you experience it? Slowly, mindfully chew the segment. Be aware of the impulse to swallow and resist it for a little bit. Continue to chew, longer than you normally would, and notice how the sensation changes. Notice how it feels to chew for this long.

Once the segment is fully chewed, swallow. Be aware of the entire process of swallowing, in the back of your mouth, in your throat, down to your stomach.

Once you’ve swallowed that first segment, sit and breathe. Simply experience the sensations in the body and the remaining taste in the mouth.

Continue eating the tangerine if you wish.

Reflect
After you have finished eating, sit quietly for a bit and reflect on the experience you just had. What do you feel right now? What were your thoughts while you were eating? What did you learn (about yourself or otherwise) from this practice?

*Side note, I don’t have kids, so I’m not sure. Do they still do this, or have parents switched to something else because some study came out saying oranges are bad? Update: The nerd in me had to look this up, and apparently 1) this practice actually started in England, so I’m just going to call it a GLOBAL phenomenon, and 2) there really were parents trying to ban orange slices at soccer practice because of the fear of citric acid ruining their kids’ teeth. What did they want to replace them with? Lollipops. (Full disclosure, I found this information on the Daily Mail, so do with that what you will.)