The raisin meditation is a simple and easy way to learn one of the most discussed components of meditation: mindfulness.
Think about it? When was the last time you truly tasted your food? Really savoured it? Most days we are running full-steam, gulping down the coffee, stuffing down our sandwich, while running to the next thing.
It’s time to slow down with a raisin…
The Raisin Meditation exercise is a tactile and fun way to introduce mindfulness as it engages all your senses, while enjoying a healthy snack! The point of the raisin meditation is to take something small, that we take for granted, such as a raisin and experience it purposefully through all of our senses.
You can use any dried fruit or pretty much anything else edible. Chocolate is super fun, especially as it melts, adding another dimension to the meditation. But raisins are great for this exercise because they are so common and unexciting.
The Raisin Meditation
- Feel the raisin between your fingers. Does it have bumps and ridges? What does the weight of the raisin feel like in your palm?
- Bring the raisin to your nose. Does its smell remind you of anything? How does it smell different from other foods?
- Bring the raisin close to your ear and squish the raisin gently. Is there a sound to be heard?
- Next, put the raisin on your tongue…but do not take a bite just yet! Does the texture feel different when it’s in your mouth compared to when you held it in your hand?
- After you bite into the raisin, think about its flavour. Is there more than one flavor?
- Finally, swallow the raisin. What flavours are left lingering in your mouth?
One Final Step: Gratitude
As a final step in this meditation, be grateful for the taste sensations. Close you eyes and think about your raisin’s journey from grape to you. Take a few minutes, and visualize the farmer, the grapes: all the people who work to prepare our food. When you are finished, open your eyes to a new way of being.
This exercise shows that when you really pay attention, when you are fully immersed in your life, that life becomes magical. Even eating a simple raisin takes on a new perspective.
Conscious attention applied slowly has a calming, awareness building and relaxing effect. As a bonus, eating mindfully can help us to digest better and regular the amount of food consumed. A recent study concluded that an undistracted sensory focus can increase eating pleasure and even help people regulate the type and amount of food consumed.1
