How did the French Fry become Mindful? (A technique, not a joke.)

The Mindfulness Talk:

Let’s talk french fries.  

Imagine sitting in a busy, noisy mall food court, eating a meal that includes fries.  You are tired from shopping and making decisions, a bit in a fog, and someone stops to ask you how the fries are tasting.  You look down at your meal with surprise.  They are only on your plate because they came with the meal and even though you were eating those fries three at a time, you barely even remember eating them.   

Now imagine sitting on a park bench on a chilly spring day with a bag of fries warming your lap.  You had bought them after smelling a street vendor on your walk.   You pick up the first one and nibble on the end, noticing the salt and the heat.  You slowly eat that one fry in several small bites and then with a smile, you reach in to enjoy the next one. 

Thich Nhat Hanh describes mindfulness as the difference between “real” and “ghost”.  Those mall fries were ghosts, from how they ended up on the plate all the way through how they ended up in the stomach.  But I’m guessing those fries weren’t the only ghosts in that scenario.  Would a giggling baby have been truly seen? Would a quiet lost child have been fully noticed?  Come on, you know what it feels like to be that mall eater!  You know the answer.  In that scenario, everything is a ghost including the person themself.   

Mindfulness and Presence feels the opposite. Small things are noticed and seen.  Choices are made, then experienced with the senses.  Feelings are noticed and felt.   

Here’s the secret sauce for those fries: all you need to turn them from ghost to real is your breath.  Just a few slow breaths and the things around you begin to turn real.  Right there in the middle of a busy mall.  Put that fry into your mouth, notice it and feel it and slowly enjoy it, and suddenly more things around you turn real! 

So the next time you notice the ghosts…. just breath.  Just breathe and enjoy your fries.  And just like magic, you turn real again.      

Finding Present Meditation:  

Find something to eat.  It doesn’t have to be fancy - just quick and handy for this finding presence meditation. 

Hold the food close to your nose and begin to notice your breath.  With each inhale, notice one new thing about the smell of this food. 

As you hold the food, begin to notice how it feels and looks in your hands.  With each inhale, notice one new thing about the feel or look of this food. 

When you are ready, take one bite but let it sit in your mouth.  With each inhale, notice one new thing about the texture of this food.

When you are ready, begin to chew.  Chew very slowly.  With each inhale, notice one new thing about the taste of this food.

Continue eating this food and becoming present.  This can be your meditation today, or move on to the mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation:   

Put the food down and continue to breathe.  Think back to when you held this food close to your nose.  Think about the smells you noticed.  Don’t be surprised if a memory or thought or feeling floats to your mind. Just notice the thought or feeling like you did the smell - noticing one new thing about it with each inhale.  

When you are ready, think back to when you held this food in your hands.  Think about the feel and the look that you noticed.  Don’t be surprised if a memory or thought or feeling floats to your mind. Just notice the thought or feeling like you did the feel - noticing one new thing about it with each inhale.  

When you are ready, think back to when you held this food in your mouth.  Think about the texture that you noticed.  Don’t be surprised if a memory or thought or feeling floats to your mind. Just notice the thought or feeling like you did the texture - noticing one new thing about it with each inhale.  

When you are ready, think back to when you slowly chewed this food.  Think about the tastes that you noticed.  Don’t be surprised if a memory or thought or feeling floats to your mind. Just notice the thought or feeling like you did the taste - noticing one new thing about it with each inhale.  

Closing Routine:  

When you are ready, rub fingers together and take three cleansing breaths.  Or use any closing routine that works for you.