Mindfulness · worksheet 38
We almost always eat while thinking about something else. This exercise invites you to do the opposite: discover a very simple food with all your senses, as if for the first time.
Before you start
- What it is for: To discover through experience the difference between autopilot and mindful attention.
- 5 minutes for the raisin; then one meal a week with the same attention.
- If you don’t have raisins, any small food will do: a piece of chocolate, a nut, a segment of tangerine.
- If you have a difficult relationship with food, talk to your psychologist first.
Prefer paper? Download the PDF to print (with a page for psychologists).
What to do with your results
Note what you noticed for the first time (taste, texture, urge to swallow) and where your mind went. There is no right answer: noticing is already the exercise.
If you find it hard
If eating mindfully is difficult for you (a complicated relationship with food), do the exercise with an object (a stone, a shell) and talk about it with your psychologist.
For psychologists
The PDF also includes a page for the psychologist: how to run the exercise in session, points to watch and scientific references. You are free to use it with your clients.
For psychologists: aim, audience and duration
Directly experience the difference between “autopilot” and mindful attention, by observing a simple food with all the senses, as if for the first time.
First contact with mindfulness; rumination, autopilot. Adults and adolescents. Duration: 5-10 min.
References
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Delacorte.
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G. & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (2nd ed.). Guilford.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
Free worksheet for non-commercial use: you may share it with credit to the author, without modifying it (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence).
