A Guided Bite: A Mindful Eating Exercise

To explore eating mindfully, try this exercise, which encourages you to use all your senses, with a piece of chocolate, a raisin or the food in front of you.

As you begin, it’s important to bring all your thoughts and attention to this exercise.

• Engage your five senses

  • Touch

    • Pick up the piece of food. Appreciate its weight and texture.

  • Sight

    • Look at its color and shape. What else do you notice?

  • Smell

    • Smell the food. What scents do you recognize? Does it smell better than you expected? Does your mouth start to water?

  • Listen

    • Does your food make any sounds? Does it crackle in liquid? Does it snap if you break it in half? If you hear other sounds, bring your attention back to your food.

  • Taste

    • Slowly take a bite without swallowing. Consider the taste: is it sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami? Does it taste as good as you imagined it would?

• As you chew and swallow your food, consider its taste and any lingering sensations of scent, sound, smell, texture.

• Reflect on your experience; is it different from the way we normally eat? Did you appreciate your food more or less than usual?

How can we incorporate mindful eating into our daily lives? Tell us @GPEmbrace.