The Taste Of Tomatoes

I recently attended a workshop run by Sally Chaffer, in which she introduced us to the spiritual experience of eating strawberries. Now, this may seem more like recreation than spiritual development, but it was all about mindfully eating strawberries: being aware of their appearance and texture as we held them in our hands, smelling their fragrance, and then eating them slowly a bite at a time, giving ourselves a chance to enjoy their luxurious taste.

I have to confess that this is very different from the way I normally eat: gulping things down mindlessly as I focus my attention on something else entirely.

I'm not sure how I came to eat like this. Was it because I would get into trouble with the adults if I didn't eat up my dinner, so I learned to eat as quickly as possible lest my appetite dwindled away and left me stranded half way through the green beans? Or is it because some primitive survival instinct kicks in and prompts me to eat up my food before some competitor grabs it away and I starve to death?

Whatever the truth of it, Sally's approach to eating is much more fun. And as you might have guessed, she was using the strawberries as a practical exercise in being in the moment, illustrating the advantage of focusing your attention on what you're actually doing, instead of being somewhere away in the past or the future, missing the experience of actually living your life.

If you happen to live within traveling distance of Leeds, UK, you may be interested in attending one of these workshops of Sally's. The next one is scheduled for 19th July. She titles the workshops Inner Peace Now! and you can find some details about them here. (You may recognize Sally from the comments she leaves here at The Secret Of Life - I've written more about my experience of her workshop at Sue Ann Edwards' blog.)

That experience with the strawberries reminded me of something which happened to me several years ago. A friend offered me an organic tomato she had grown, inviting me to taste it and see what I thought. Biting into that tomato was a real revelation. There was a sweetness to it, a subtlety of flavor, which brought me very vividly back to my childhood. It was a long time since I had tasted a tomato like that.

"Wow!" I said. "That's what tomatoes used to taste like!"

My friend smiled, clearly pleased at my reaction.

But afterwards, something unexpected happened. The next time I ate a tomato, just an ordinary non-organic tomato I bought at the supermarket, I tried tasting that one as well. And you know what? That tasted pretty good too. Not as good as my friend's tomato perhaps, but I could still detect that same sweetness and subtlety of flavor. And gradually, as I tasted more and more tomatoes, I realized that tomatoes generally tasted pretty good now, a lot better than all the tomatoes I'd tasted for many years. And I soon realized that this had nothing to do with the tomatoes themselves. It was all to do with me. It was simply because I had started paying attention as I ate. Tomatoes had really always been this good. It was just that I hadn't been focusing on what I was eating. I had been biting into something which my mind had labeled 'tomato' and then dismissed from my attention. Why go to the bother of tasting those things, my mind had been saying, I know all about them already!

But now I knew better. Now I had experienced the benefit of actually tasting the tomatoes, of being present while I was eating them.

Of course, I had failed to extrapolate this fully and bring the same degree of attention to all my eating, but it's never too late to start. And there may be more benefit involved than simply enjoying the taste. Some people believe that eating mindfully improves our digestion and allows us to extract more nutrition from our food. This seems to make sense. Why shouldn't our digestive system operate more efficiently if we're paying attention while we're using it? So many other things do - why not our stomachs?

Mindfulness can also be helpful in losing weight. Compulsive eating doesn't tend to be mindful eating. It tends to be something we do while we're thinking of something else, perhaps focusing on whatever problems have led us to eat compulsively in the first place. Or perhaps what's happening is that we're focusing on what we're going to eat next: eating a biscuit while our mind is on the biscuits that are still in the packet. Or worse still, on the packets that are still in the shop, just waiting there to be bought...

If compulsive eating is a problem for you, you could try eating mindfully for a change. Focus on that biscuit. Enjoy its taste, its texture. You may then derive more pleasure from eating that single biscuit than you did from all those packets you slung mindlessly down your neck.

And then: who knows? That one biscuit may be all you really desire.

Postscript: My blogging platform, Typepad, has now introduced more flexibility in typefaces, so I've taken the opportunity to increase the font size. I find this a lot easier to read. Do you agree, or do you find it too large? Any feedback is welcome!

 

These may also be of interest:

Taking The Lid Off

Feeling What Is

Comments

[Linda]

I am glad to read this interesting blog about the taste of food. I would have to personally disagree about the taste of various tomatoes myself. I pretty much won't buy them unless they are organic or'best'. I am convinced that the ordinary tomatoes are not as tasty. I think those that I have been able to grow in the past myself also tasted a lot better than those bought in the supermarket.

One problem, of course, is that many fruits and vegetables are picked before they are ripe, so that they can be shipped without being harmed. I find those less tasty than the organic, 'vine ripened' or 'best' that can be purchased easily nowadays.

But you are absolutely correct that taking the time to eat things rather than wolfing them down really does make them taste better and can help to reduce the amount of food as satisfaction will come from a different source (taste rather than abundance!). Thank you, as always, for giving me food for thought.

[Sally]

Comments
Thank you for your positive comments about my workshops and I am pleased that you have taken the ideas away and lived them.
My experiences recently have led me to a bit of an "Aha" moment in that I realise that one of the reasons we maybe don't really eat mindfully is that when the body sits down the mind steps in and we either engage in conversation with those around us ......or just get lost in thought which is usually past or future and very rarely NOW!
Perhaps that is one of the key reasons that we observe certain foods don't taste like they used to ......a child isn't as preoccupied with thinking as they eat....or planning the next thing they have to do.
On the retreats I run in Sandsend I encourage people to revisit the old childhood activities like getting absorbed in looking in rock pools for crabs or skimming stones across the waves or collecting shells (and the occasional piece of Whitby Jet) That is vital practice ......being totally absorbed in what you are doing now. Jesus said "be as a little child" Notice how rarely we are totally absorbed....maybe in gardening (if you enjoy it and not see it as just another chore!) or painting or whatever hobby you have. But can you be totally absorbed in washing up or cleaning your shoes or eating your meal? Watch where your attention is in the everyday activities and realise that everything can become a Spiritual Practice.
I have just spent 10 days in Ibiza with my entire family and in some ways it is a bit of a Spiritual Retreat! Observation of all the old patterns arising is really fascinating!
Be well
Sally

[People in the Sun]

I'm trying, but I'm just such a little piggy. I try to chew more, but I quickly forget. But I do agree with you, and with being absorbed in eating as a way of conscious living. We lose a lot with our obsession with multitasking.

[Simon]

Hi Linda - Many thanks for your comment! It's not always easy to touch all bases in a short article, so thanks for clarifying this. Yes, I totally agree that there are significant differences in the quality of food from different sources, due to the kinds of factors you mention. It's just that I think it *all* has more to offer if we take the trouble to taste it.

When I saw that you'd left a comment, Linda, I wondered if you'd guessed it was one of *your* home-grown tomatoes I tasted that time! And yes, it's still the best one I've tasted. Not only that, it opened me up to enjoy the potential of all the other tomatoes...

[Simon]

Wow, Sally, I'd certainly have attended one of your seaside retreats by now if I'd realized I got to play in the rock pools! :-)

Teaching people to reconnect with their childhoods as you do is a great idea. Taking up gardening the last few years has been a bit like that. The last time I spent so much time in the garden - actually *connecting* with the garden instead of just sitting in it - was when I played there as a child, and the gardening has reminded me of how much larger than life everything seemed back then, almost as though the whole world were contained within the garden.

[Simon]

The truth is that I'm as challenged as you by this, People! Yesterday, I was sitting there bolting all my food down as usual and I suddenly heard a voice telling me to take my time and chew everything 25 times. For a moment, I thought it was the ghost of my grandma, who always used to give me that advice. But no, it was my wife Chris. She'd just read my post.

[Bendz]

Hi,

Nice post about mindfulness eating. Mindfulness when eating reduce the amount of food taken by us. Useful post.

It's easier to read your post due to the font size. Nice effort.

:-)
http://cosmichealing.blogspot.com/2008/01/zen-meditation.html

[Marion]

I loved this post, Simon. I can eat licorice very unmindfully! With tomatoes, I think the variety and homegrown quality is very important. There are tomatoes in the market that taste like nothing...a huge disappointment.

I practice eating mindfully with very dark chocolate. A small piece, if allowed to be eaten slowly, brings such pleasure! And with its sharp taste, I can't help but be in the complete moment.

I'm glad your wife's around, to keep you eating slowly and chewing your food! So much better for your digestion!

[Robin]

Hi Simon - I think this is a great article. I've learned to eat the way you are suggesting from what I learned while healing myself of compulsive eating. Compulsive eaters often eat standing at the sink or while doing something, so they can think they are not really eating.

Frank and I always set the table and focus on our food, at meal time.

Cheers - Robin

[Sally]

I like the larger font size too Simon .......saves me spending so much time searching for my glasses!
Great post on mindful eating ......feel a follow up could be taking the jobs we do which we don't enjoy and practice mindfulness with that. I have been working with washing up for quite some time as there is always a lot of grumbling thought around that. YOu know the stuff......why does nobody else wash up as they go? and that old chestnut ......"as soon as I've done this I've got to do.....that .....and that!!"
I spent the afternoon yesterday in "mindful ironing" post holiday. A job usually regarded as a chore.......where I have to have a good comedy on the tv to distract the mind as I work. Yesterday I chose silence and worked consciously and guess what? I did a better job and it was over so much quicker than usual. Stretching things a bit to say I enjoyed the ironing but it was great to spend so long being totally present. So go on folks .......pick a job you dislike and try doing it mindfully!
Good to hear that Chris is keeping you in line Simon :)
Be Well
Sally

[Pam]

I like the larger font, Simon. Re mindful eating, there's a difference between knowing and Knowing, and I'm still somewhere between the two. I find it so much easier to eat fruit mindfully than biscuits -- perhaps because eating fruit feels more connected with nature?

[Malcolm Campbell]

It became easier for me to appreciate the true taste of tomatoes when I stopped covering them with salt and the true taste of strawberries when I stopped covering them with sugar.

This seemed difficult at the time, but in reality, it was far easier than learning how to stop covering the times when I am eating with thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow.

Malcolm

[Alexys Fairfield]

Hi Simon,
I happened to love strawberries and all fruit and they really do taste better when we slow down and savor the flavor and essence of them. Imagine how many hands that piece of fruit has passed through before it gets to us. It's whole consciousness in itself.

We always have to remember to savor the flavor of life.

Btw. I love your new flexibilty of your fonts.

[Simon]

Hi Bendz – Thanks for dropping by!

Marion – Yes, my wife taught me about chocolate too! The benefits of eating slowly and mindfully seem to go exponential with chocolate. Allowing it to slowly melt in your mouth is a whole different level of experience from gulping it down: kind of like the difference between a swimming pool and a puddle in the road.

Robin – Many thanks for sharing your own experience of this – and it’s a great idea to use a routine like setting the table to assist your mindful eating. It goes to show that even the ‘ordinary’ tasks of the day can become a form of spiritual practice.

Speaking of which…

Sally – Thank you! For some reason or other, I find the phrase ‘mindful ironing’ very amusing, but I agree that’s a great thing to perform such humdrum tasks while totally present. I had a great experience with ‘mindful photocopying’ once! Honestly. Photocopying is something that I usually find really tedious, so one day I decided to focus consciously while I did it. And this was one of those (so far) rare occasions when I managed to follow through my intention not to get carried away by my mind. And guess what? I had several minutes of feeling totally blissful while I copied away. It sometimes seems like the more you detest something, the more powerful can be the experience you have if you just accept and get on with it.

[Simon]

Pam - Yes, that difference between knowing and Knowing! Tell me about it... That's where I spend most of my time, not just when I eat but in regard to just about everything I write about in this blog. I'm hoping that the action of writing it is part of the process of bridging that gap, just as I hope that the process of reading it will be for others. What I will vouch for is that when you make that leap and slip into Knowing, it's really, really good: well worth holding out for.

Malcolm - Sometimes you state things with such eloquent brevity! And isn't that exactly what we tend to do with everything? We take a perfect day, then spoon great dollops of thoughts all over it... so that the day can no longer be tasted.

Alexys - It all depends how you look at things, doesn't it? Some people might see all the 'hands that piece of fruit has passed through' as a health hazard! But if we can understand that all those people have worked on our behalf to bring that piece of fruit to our table, then perhaps we can eat it with the gratitude it deserves. And when you eat with gratitude, it seems to me that you are automatically mindful. Perhaps saying 'Grace' wasn't such a bad idea after all...

'Remember to savor the flavor of life': I like that a lot...

[Simon]

Thanks to everyone who commented on the larger typeface - I'm glad you like it! I now have to decide if I have the time and energy to convert all the previous posts to the larger size. I guess it would be an interesting practice to do it mindfully...

Thanks, too, for all your comments! It's great to take a week or two off from blogging and come back and find that people notice I've posted. I really am grateful for your interest!

[JR Enthusiast]

Thanks for such an interesting post, Simon! REALLY intriguing. I'd also like to share something that I have found recently. It's a book called Harmonic Wealth and it’s all about finding harmony in your life in all areas - financial, relational, mental, physical, and spiritual. It has some really good tips about how to engage all five pillars (or areas) of your life, and to learn more about how they complement each other. Rather than dealing with each issue individually, maybe take a look at the bigger picture.

Here’s the link to that book I recommend: harmonicwealth.com/read

a James Ray Fan

[Sue Ann Edwards]

"Appetite" is ALL emotionally driven, where "hunger" is our body signal for nutrients. Where our eating habits are *off*, is when we are eating for some other reason then "hunger".

And this is an excellent exercise for learning how to distinguish between the two.

Our areas of "fat", are where we have stored dense emotions from the past. As we heal these issues, the fat leaves. Our weight will go up and down as we awaken. Sometimes we will gain weight right before a deep cleansing.

The emotional FEELING of "not enough" or the fear of "not enough" in any areas of our life, will result in "over eating" of the *wrong* things. Even tho we eat, we will not be 'getting enough' nutrients.

I guide to *bless* our food energetically, imagining it has just what our body needs at the time. And AVOID processed foods; they are empty foods.

[S.E.]

Lovely. I know this feeling well, especially with tomatoes. There was something about those moments, now regarded as stolen, but back then, just being in time, plucking a tomato from the garden and biting into it. No refrigerator, no dressing, no salt and pepper, just pure delight.

[Simon]

Er, thanks for the tip, JR.

Sue Ann - Thank you! This all makes sense, especially the idea of 'not enough' fueling our eating - and the idea of blessing our food, as you suggest, fits in very well with the mindful approach. The only thing is: I'm not *entirely* convinced by the idea of us losing fat when we heal our emotions. It's something I've heard before, but surely that would mean that thin people are more 'sorted out' than fat people, which I'm not sure is always the case. On the other hand, I believe it is very likely that there is a connection between shedding physical toxins and releasing toxic emotions - and I know that the former are certainly stored in fatty tissue, so maybe you're right. In fact, you're pretty much *always* right, Sue Ann, so I ought to know better than to argue... :-)

Great to hear from you, SE, and thanks for this lovely contribution: "those moments, now regarded as stolen, but back then, just being in time..." Those cherished moments are always 'ordinary', aren't they, while they're being lived? If we realize they're special at the time, then the mind has kicked in, and the magic bubble has burst.

[cardiogirl]

First off, I do like the larger font, but I would experiment with taking it down one point size. It's much easier to read, but it's a tad large for me.

Secondly, It is crazy when we slow down and actually taste our food. I find I'm usually in a hurry to eat because I'm hungry and I want to stop the hunger. Then halfway through the meal my head catches up with my stomach.

I also find that I tend to eat our of boredom. For some reason I enjoy the activity of it. That sounds so lame, but I'm trying to break it down to see how to break the habit itself.

And lastly, I know what you mean about homegrown tomatoes versus store bought. While both taste good, if we slow down to actually taste them, the homegrown have such a vivid flavor.

[Mark]

Savoring the flavor is a wonderful way to practice mindfulness. It is great that you had this experience and that you are expanding on this lesson of awareness.
I like the new type size.

[harrybell]

I see you've had sufficient positive responses to your font size to be considering changing all the rest. But I thought I'd still add my own endorsement, before going off to savour the individual nuts in my muesli.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

rofl...it's something that came to me as I cleaned my own this weekend...

A CLEAN refrigerator makes a BIG difference when it comes to our eating.

especially if there's not much in it...for if it's dirty, it looks like 'food is all gone' but if it is clean, it looks 'ready to receive'.

[Simon]

Hi Cardiogirl - It's great to hear from you! I totally agree about the typeface. A tad smaller would be even better, but that would be pushing Typepad's new flexibility too far unfortunately. There's still a tendency for their typefaces to be too large or too small, at least as they appear in Firefox. But most people seem to prefer the new larger size, so I'll be sticking with it.

I think a lot of people tend to eat out of boredom, which makes it all the more ironic that a lot of the time, we're not even paying attention while we're doing it! Maybe we keep on eating because we enjoy the experience - as you say, the activity itself can be enjoyable - but then we find that our mind has wandered while we were eating so we missed all that enjoyment. So we need to eat some *more* to make up for what we missed. But then our mind wanders again, so we need to eat even more, and so on... And a large part of the problem is not being *present*.

[Simon]

Hi Mark - Thanks for dropping by. 'Savor the flavor' is a great expression, isn't it? Could be the motto of the mindful eating movement...

Hi Harry (or should that be Mr Unzipped?) - It's always great to hear from you. Thanks for your feedback and I hoped you enjoyed the muesli. Brazil nuts are my favorite, but you don't usually get them in muesli.

Hi again Sue Ann! I see what you mean. But we're very lucky - empty fridges are never a problem here. Chris panic-buys vegetables several times a week.

[AngelBaby]

Hmmmm do you think this is why I love chocolate so much? I do tend to take an enormous amount of time to eat one little bite, to savor the flavor and how it melts in my mouth. Mmmmm dare I eat another bite? I just could not resist, sorry. LOL!
I really do need to go get some more chocolate, back in a minute.

I have something for you on my site.

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

[Simon]

Thanks, Angelbaby, that's a very evocative comment you've left. I could almost taste the chocolate as I was reading it! Like I say, the benefits of mindful eating do seem to be magnified with chocolate. Maybe eating chocolate is a good place to start a spiritual journey - as long as you don't overdo this particular spiritual practice...

[Sally]

WOW.......I sure did start something on that workshop ......having read the last couple of posts I now know the next gathering will be mindful savouring of chocolate......strawberries were a good starting point but chocolate has me more inspired to be totally present in the moment!
Sally

[Simon]

I think you're onto something there, Sally. Put 'free chocolate!' on your posters and attendance will go sky-high!

I'm glad these comments have proved inspiring...

[Liara Covert]

As people learn to stop rushing through life, they begin to rediscover the subtle nuances in what they have been doing. The beauty and peacefulness are always accessible. Imagine what your life would be like if you decided to slow down. Then, do yourself a favor. Slow down and prove a few things to yourself. Realize you can open your senses wider and drink in the moment differently.

[Simon]

Hi Liara - Perhaps when we slow down, we can find the gap between one moment and the next, and drop into the space which underlies the construct we call reality - and see what we find there.