Spice Your Food with Gratitude
By Donald Altman, M.A., LPC
November 1, 2009
“Gratitude packs a powerful punch. It is strong enough to reduce depression and produce happiness.”
Do you ever find yourself at war with food and eating? Are you tired of living with this push and pull? Are you exhausted from trying to control food? If so, you may want to shift your focus from control to one of gratitude. The word gratitude has a long history, as you can imagine. While the ancient Latin word gratitudo means being thankful and pleasing, it is closely connected to the word grace, that short prayer before or after the meal.
What’s amazing about gratitude is that it centers on the little things. It’s about those things we tend to overlook. In the Japanese Tea Ceremony, for example, all the objects used in making and drinking the tea—the delicate bamboo whisk, iron tea kettle, and the beautifully designed teacups—are all passed around and appreciated with a sense of thankfulness and gratitude.
You can practice gratitude right now, simply by looking around the room or space that you are in at this moment. Is there is a color or an object that you find pleasant or that you can appreciate? Look until you find something. After noticing this, see if you can feel a sense of gratitude for this object being present. Someone created it or brought it into the room so you could enjoy it. Congratulations on brewing up some instant gratitude!
You can bring this same approach to the food that is before you when you eat. Simply noticing the colors or smell of the food that is pleasing is to have gratitude. Or, you might take a moment to have gratitude for all the energy that went into this food—the water, the sunlight, the nutrients from the soil, and the vast network of people who planted, cultivated, and made the food available for you.
Now, you may be thinking that gratitude could hardly be capable of making much of a difference in your day. Believe it or not, research shows that gratitude packs a powerful punch. It is strong enough to reduce depression and produce happiness. Remember, you don’t need to have a formal ritual or grace with your meal to make it spiritual. Simply spicing your meal with gratitude may be enough to make your experience with food more meaningful and special.
BIO: Donald Altman, LPC, is a psychotherapist, former Buddhist monk, and award-winning writer. He developed the treatment program 12 Weeks to Mindful Eating, and is the author of the upcoming Mindfulness Code, as well as Meal By Meal, Art of the Inner Meal, and Mindful Eating Meal Cards. Donald is a TCME board member and leads mindfulness workshops for professionals around the country. His Web site is at www.mindfulpractices.com or contact him at: info@mindfulpractices.com.
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