14_Mindful Eating

The raisin exercise dispels all previous concepts we may be harboring about [mindfulness]. It immediately places it in the realm of the ordinary, the everyday, the world you already know but are now going to know differently. Eating one raisin very, very slowly allows you to drop right into the knowing in ways that are effortless, totally natural, and entirely beyond words and thinking. Such an exercise delivers wakefulness immediately. There is in this moment only tasting. —Jon Kabat-Zinn Mindful Eating: At Home Resources Level: Lower Elementary (K-2) Concepts: • Attention • Healthy Eating • Mindfulness Big Ideas For This LessonWe eat every day in order to survive and rarely give our full attention to the act. Mindful eating isabout developing a healthy relationship to eating through awareness, non-judgement, and respon-sible choices. It encourages healthy eating habits by asking people to slow down, notice their food,and take time eating. To practice mindful eating, you might even reflect on the farmer who harvest-ed your food or the person who prepared it. Use awareness of all five sense to experience your foodin a mindful way. Essential VocabularyMindful Eating: the practice of cultivating an open-minded awareness of how the food we choose to eat affectsone’s body, feelings, mind, and all that is around us.Five Senses: The faculties of sight, smell, taste, hear, taste and touch.© 2018 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 1 of 2 All rights reserved.

MINDFUL EATING | GRADES K-2 PracticeThis week we practiced mindful eating. Teach your family and friends how to mindfully eat at your next meal.You may ask them questions like:• What do you see? Explore with your eyes. What colors do you notice? What shapes?• Close your eyes and explore the food using touch. What does it feel like? What textures do you notice?• What does it smell like?• Listen to the food. What do you hear? Does it make a sound if you squeeze it?• Very slowly place the food in your mouth and taste it. What do you notice? Optional: Eat the whole meal mindfully. Student Resources• D irt Made My Lunch (Song) by Banana Slug String Band• Kid’s Fizzys Lunch Lab (Games) by PBS• National Geographic Kid’s Cookbook (Cookbook) by Barton Seaver• No Ordinary Apple: A Story About Eating Mindfully (Picture Book) by Sara Marlowe• The Tortilla Factory (Picture Book) by Gary Paulsen• The Ugly Vegetables (Picture Book) by Grace Lin Adult Resources• Better Eating Through Mindfulness (Article) Jill Suttie• ChopChop: The Kid’s Guide to Cooking Real Food With Your Family (Cookbook) by Sally Sampson• Four Tips for Mindful Eating (Article) by Jill Suttie• It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden (Book) by George Ancona• Our School Garden (Book) by Rick Swan© 2017 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 2 of 2 All rights reserved.