Ever heard of ‘foodism’? Sounds like buddhism with a food-y twist. As I walked around Montreal, I was so pleased to stumble across this painted on the exterior wall of a building on St. Laurent, and the latter one inside a vegetarian restaurant called Lola Rosa. Montreal’s got mindful food on the mind and on the walls!
This photo was taken at our first PeaceMeal workshop in Colorado in February 2013. This week, our first online cohort of PeaceMeal students are working through a module on inner peace and food. They are also practising the raisin meditation. Join them by listening to the guided meditation suggested here.
This weekend I facilitated a PeaceMeal workshop at the yoga studio where I teach, Yoga Oceanside. It was PeaceMeal with a yogic twist!
First we did a meditation just to get centered and become present, and in which I asked the participants to notice how hungry they were, rate it on a scale of 1-10, and to notice where they look for hunger, what kind of sensations they feel, etc. This is an activity we can do anytime with think we’re hungry – because as it turns out, just because we think we’re hungry, doesn’t mean we actually are!
Michael Pollan’s Food Rules are a great exploration into the sets of personal codes we set up for ourselves to guide and govern our relationship and behaviours with food. They represent ethics of our grandparents, hint at cultural values and traditions, and confer plain and simple common sense. For example:
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
#36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, often says, “ “Fridges are tombs – places where food goes to die.” I tend to agree that it’s easy to forget what’s buried in the back, easy to purchase more than you need and count on the fridge to keep things fresh, and easy to go a little while without opening the door if you’re used to a busy lifestyle or a very whole foods/fresh diet. The following post comes from Mark Menjivar, a photographer and artist based in Texas. This series of photographs was published in Good Magazine in May 2009. It’s an interesting reflection of how the contents of our fridges reflect our careers, our lifestyles, and our personalities. If you’re inspired by it, we welcome you to post a photograph of the contents of a fridge in response!
Recently, I discovered the joy of kneading 
I love to cook, but I’m not much of a baker. I don’t do a lot with dough or yeast – but lately I have been delving into making my own pizza crusts.
by Nancy Shute
We’ve known for a while that a food’s aroma has a big influence on our perception of how it tastes. Now it looks like smell also can affect how much we eat.
Ever sat in front of a cup of coffee and gazed deeply into it? I mean, really deeply – seeing past its colour and texture and aroma all the way back to the red coffee cherries and the work-roughened hands that moved them from tree to basket, all the way back to the lake from where the water originated, all the way back to the field or barn where the cow stood which lactated for your morning pick-me-up?
My left hand and a mandarin
Yesterday I stumbled upon a great mindful eating experiment: eat with your non-dominant hand! Continue reading
One of the most important ways we can practice inner peace is through the way we eat. If we are lucky enough to eat several times a day, we have numerous opportunities to use eating as a way to bring us to the present moment, to practice gratitude, and realize our deep connection with all of life.
There are many simple ways that we can begin to practice mindful eating. Continue reading
