The Taste of Mindfulness

We’ve all heard of the basic 5 senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.  For those Occupational Therapists or parents or individuals who have gone through OT you know there’s actually 7- adding vestibular (balance) and the proprioceptive (where am I in space) senses.  We are only going to focus on being mindful on the first 5 mentioned but keep the other 2 senses in mind as they can impact your emotions if they are feeling out of whack.

As mentioned in my last post, mindfulness is focusing on the present moment.  To start, it’s important to have an anchor to focus on so our minds don’t do what they are programmed to do- wander into the past or present.  I talked about breath and using that as an anchor to focus on.  Now we’ll expand from there.  Some people need to start with their breath to settle their mind and body before they can focus on a sense and others don’t.  It’s just whatever works for you.  In my opinion, taste is the easiest and most fun sense to start with for mindfulness.  It’s also has the most positive associations to our experiences.  I mention that last part because when we try to be present in the moment our mind tries to combat this by bringing up associations we have with that sensory stimuli.  If those associations are negative, then we tend to get distracted by those feelings trying to figure out where they are coming from.  This will be a goal down the road, but to start, we want to work on being able to filter our thoughts and emotions to give our brains a break from worry.  So, practicing with a sense that primarily has positive associations, it’s easier for people to not get too hung up on where the good feelings are coming from.  My theory on this is we are programmed to be more concerned with negative or scary stuff more so than positive and nostalgic stuff because survival is about understanding and avoiding the negative and scary stuff.

Associations the brain makes and the memory the brains store is amazing.  Many people do not understand how strong the mind/body connection really is.  A fun exercise to illustrate this, right now as you’re reading this I want you to focus and pretend you just took a bite out of a lemon… What did you notice?  Most people will say they felt the back of their mouths tingle and respond to the memory of how sour a lemon tastes and some even feel their body shiver if they really have reactions to the taste.  This is why certain smells, sounds, sights, tastes and touch can bring up vivid memories, both positive and negative.  The brain is always taking mental notes of how a sensory stimuli or experience made you feel so you’ll know if it’s safe or dangerous.

But I digress, now you’ll find a quiet area where you feel safe and know you won’t be interrupted for the next 5 to 10 minutes.  I usually recommend starting with something that will sit in your mouth for a while, like a hard candy or a mint.  Once it sits in your mouth, resist the urge to immediately feel or think of something.  This isn’t a race, there is no grade, the only reward you are getting is a break from worrying about the past or present.  Mindfulness is also about curiosity and enjoyment.  Ask yourself “What do I like about this”, “What is that flavor”, “What emotions does this flavor give me?” “What is that sensation on my tongue?” “What are the different sensations on this part of my mouth?”

Noticethese are pretty much all “what” questions.  When we ask “why” (our typical inclination) it runs the risk of causing judgment in our selves or other.  Replace the word “what” with “why” in the questions I listed previously… “Why do I like this”, “Why is that the flavor”, “Why am I having these emotions with this flavor?” “Why is that sensation on my tongue?” “Why are their different sensations on this part of my mouth?”… They also do not get to the point of being present in the moment because they are not necessarily questions that keep you from the past or present.

Mindful tasting can also be a good precursor to mindful eating… something many Americans do not do with our fast paced, time is money culture.  Mindful eating is a great, healthy habit to develop because, not only do we actually get to enjoy and taste our meal, we also are less likely to over eat if we eat mindfully.  Mindful eating also requires we are aware of what we put into our body.

Give mindful tasting a try and when you feel more confident go ahead and try mindfully eating a meal.  Next post, I’ll talk about how we can be mindful with our sense of smell.

Be mindful, be kind, be well and take care.

-James