Thanksgiving holiday is a celebration known particularly to individuals who live in America. Families gather together on a Thursday in November each year to gorge themselves with multiple plates of food : veggies, fruits, desserts. Oftentimes turkeys are involved because there is some connection to the history of the Pilgrims who first came to America.
The opportunity this week is put food on the center stage of your mindfulness practice. Elevate the role and importance of food just as happens during Thanksgiving holiday. This week, however, I invite you to give thanks to each bite of food that you eat in a new and quite different way than is the custom Thanksgiving.
For each bite that you take throughout the week, look back into the history of where that food originated. How did each and every bite of food get on your plate – ready to be retrieved and inserted into that precious, sacred vessel of your body?
What do I mean when I say look back into its history? Use the power of your imagination to acknowledge and honor all of the individuals that it took to serve food on your plate each meal this week.
Think for example of the:
- Individuals who planted the seeds that started the growth process;
- Truckers who transported the food;
- Migrant workers – if they were involved – who harvested the food;
- Farmers and ranchers responsible for farming the food;
- Personnel at the packing plant;
- Grocers;
- Check out people at the grocers (if you purchased your food at the grocery store and had the food scanned by a human rather than a machine);
- Family members or other cooks who actually prepared the food.
When you begin to search deeply into the history of the food that lands on your table each meal it becomes quite amazing to realize the hundreds if not thousands of individuals who were required and needed to make this magic happen for you.
Look back even farther. Acknowledge and honor the contribution of not just human beings but the bacteria, the fungi and even the bees that were needed to help the food grow into the form you now see on your plate. Treat the entire week as if each day were Thanksgiving. Before you actually put the food into your mouth pause. Use the power of your imagination to:
- Celebrate
- Honor
- Give thanks
to each and every individual who made it possible for you to celebrate the delicious morsels you ingest during all meals of the week (whether you are eating on the run or casually at the dinner table).
Celebrate each day as if it were Thanksgiving Day as you give thanks not just to those persons in your immediate family (including yourself!) who had a role in bringing the food to the table but also to those
- Unseen
- Unheard
- Unknown
Individuals and creatures that made it possible for you to have this very special opportunity to nourish your body mindfully,
Robert
© Parkinsons Recovery