My breath stalled between shoveling forks of quinoa-millet hot cereal with fruit into my mouth. Repeatedly, I chewed three bites and then swallowed. Like driving through familiar territory, but not remembering if I had passed by specific landmarks to my destination, I realized I was at the bottom of my bowl. Done!
Stunned at my lack of presence with what I devoured, I realized that I had spent time preparing a nutritious meal that I did not even enjoy. To the tyranny of my stomach and spleen, they grumble as if I am feeding scraps into a garbage disposal. While some people post on Facebook what they ate for breakfast, I am busy wolfing down my food. Realization: I am unconsciously regressed like an eating competitor and lording over my food like a lion on a Safari picnic afraid a hyena is going to steal it.
Commonly my mind is occupied with what is not presently in front of me. While my best intentions are to fill my stomach with nutritious and delicious food, I still resist receiving the healthy benefits. Generating laundry lists of things to complete, scrolling social media and generally distracting my beingness from wholesome eating, I wonder how can the stomach digest when the mind is defiled?