1.10 Mindfulness Practice: Eating Raisins

Learning Objectives:

• To support participants’ awareness that mindfulness can be practiced during our everyday activities
• To engage participants in becoming more aware of their senses, thoughts and feelings
• To support participants in appreciating of our interconnectedness with others and the environment

Materials: Large size raisins (3 raisins for each participant), a spoon to distribute raisins

Time Required: 20 minutes

Activities & Instructions

Set-up

• Arrange all the chairs in a large circle.
• Co-facilitators sit apart from each other to enhance integration with participants.

Instructions To Participants

Facilitators give each participant 3 large raisins.

• Facilitator says, “Raisins are a common snack. When we eat raisins, often we just pop them in our mouths without much thought. Today we invite you to discover a different experience in eating raisins.”
• Facilitator continues, “First. Take a raisin and eat it as you usually do, that is, just pop it in your mouth and eat it.”
  (pause)
• Facilitator continues, “Now get another raisin, put it in the palm of your hand and examine it in detail. (Pause) Notice the wrinkles on its skin, the various shapes of these wrinkles. (Pause) Notice the reflection of the light off its surface. (Pause) Look at it from a different angle and notice any changes.” (Pause)
• Facilitator continues, “Compare it with the other raisin next to it.”
• Facilitator continues, “Now pick up one of the raisins and roll it around between your fingers. (Pause) Feel the texture on the outside of the raisin, and the softness inside. (Pause) Notice the slightly sticky traces it leaves on your fingers as you move it back and forth.” (Pause) For a moment, think about the how this grape, growing out of soil, has made it to your palm as a raisin. (Pause) think about all the people you are connected to through this raisin.” (Pause)
• Facilitator continues, “Pick it up, hold it close to your nose. Notice any smell.” (Pause) Hold it now close to your ear. Notice any sound.” (Pause)
• Facilitator continues, “Now place the raisin in your mouth. Do not swallow it. Roll it around inside your mouth, over and under your tongue. (Pause) Roll it to the side between your jaw and cheek. Do not eat it. Hold it inside your mouth for 30 seconds.”
• Facilitator continues, “When you are ready, eat the raisin slowly and note its taste. (Pause) Note the way it feels on your teeth as you chew it. (Pause) Feel how it slides down your throat as you swallow it.” (Pause and wait until everyone has finished eating the second raisin before starting again)
• Facilitator continues, “Now eat the last raisin, but eat it super slow. Chew the raisin as many times as you can until it turns into liquid mush in your mouth. (Pause) Is the flavor of the raisin different when you eat it super slow? (Pause) What does it feel like in your mouth as it falls apart? (Pause) How does it feel when you swallow it?” (Pause)”
• (After 5-7 minutes, Facilitator #1 checks to see if participants have all finished eating a raisin super slow, and invites participants to share their experience.)

Debriefing Questions

• “What were your experiences like eating the raisins in each of these different ways?”
• “How was the experience of eating the second raisin or the third raisin different than your usual raisin eating experiences? Did you notice any new sensations, thoughts or reflections?”
• “When you were asked to think about how the raisin got from where it was grown to your mouth, what came to your mind?”

Key Summary Points

• Mindfulness can be practiced at all moments in our everyday life – eating, bathing, answering the phone, etc. – when we stop multi-tasking; turn-off the “auto-pilot”; and be present to observe our experiences.
• As we develop new awareness and embody mindfulness through practice, we will be able to gain new experiences on many things that we do in a taken-for-granted manner.
• Mindfulness practice enables us to defuse from rigid ideas and inflexible practices.
• Mindfulness practice also enables us to recognize that we are interdependent and interconnected to other people, the environment and all beings.

Source:

• Hayes (2005), Get out of your mind and into your life. (p.111). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publication, Inc.
• Nĥát Hạnh, T. (2008). The miracle of mindfulness: A manual on meditation Rider.