Mindful eating exercise - caregiver adaptation

This work is minimally adapted from Susan Bogels and Kathleen Restifo’s fabulous “Mindful Parenting” book. Special thanks to the work of Drs. Jon Kabat-Zin, Christiane Wolf, and J. Greg Serpa who inspired this exercise modification.

In this mindful eating exercise, participants use their five senses to experience a bite of food as if for the first time. The mindful eating exercise practices present centered awareness and can be useful for teaching caregivers a new way to drop into the present moment and strengthen the beginner’s mind skill for observing their child.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• What did you notice?

• How is this the same or different from how you normally eat?

• What felt familiar?

• What was new or different?

• Where was your attention as we did the exercise?

• Where else can you imagine practicing beginner's mind?

• What would it be like to observe your child with beginner's mind?

• Would you be willing to try?

TAKE HOME 

After this first exercise it can be useful to invite caregivers to use their beginners mind and observe their child for a few minutes and then journaling about any observations, surprises, or things they notice. This exercise allows parents to practise opening to new information in reading themselves in the present moment period.