A Taste of Mindfulness
There are different ways of learning. When most of us went through school, the main way we learned was by reading or listening to lessons or lectures. Most of us are used to learning in this way. We learn the ideas first and then do the activity.
There is another way of learning. One that operates in the reverse order. Take swimming, for example. The only real way to learn to swim is by getting in the water. A teacher could explain swimming to you a million times but unless you get in the water and actually do kicks and strokes, you will never really learn to swim.
So, this is another way to learn. You learn through the doing of an activity. And, in fact, there are some things that are best learned through doing. For example, we’ve just used the word mindfulness a lot, and you may be wondering, “What is that? Just what is mindfulness?” In the traditional way of learning, we could tell you about mindfulness, what we think about it, what it involves and so forth.
The approach we are inviting you to take in Mindful Mood Balance is different. Let’s start by doing an exercise together. We will have an opportunity to talk more about it once we’ve finished.
The Raisin Exercise
Read about the exercise and press Play when you’re ready.
Before You Begin
You may want to pause briefly at this moment and get a couple of raisins. If you don’t have raisins, you can use another type of food, e.g., salty nuts, chocolate, a slice of orange or other fruit , or another small item you have on hand.
When you return, find a comfortable place to sit. Listen to the instructions. This practice will take approximately 8 minutes.
Audio Player
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Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
What Did You Notice?
Take a moment to bring your attention back to the computer screen and jot down your responses to the following questions. Feel free to provide as much information as you like, as there are no right or wrong answers.
- What sensations of seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting did you notice?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
- In your experience, what does eating a raisin mindfully have to do with depression and staying well?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
It is not unusual to find that paying attention in this way reveals unexpected little things about a raisin, such as its ridges, the folds of its skin, how squishy it is, or a burst of flavor in the mouth. Something that is often noticed is the difference between eating a raisin mindfully and your normal way of eating. The raisin exercise allows you to directly sample a new way of relating to experience, one that may contrast with your usual way of doing things. Consider your own experience of eating a raisin mindfully, and how this might relate to working with lingering symptoms of depression and staying well over time.
A Link Between Eating a Raisin and Preventing Depression
The Raisin exercise is designed to introduce you to the practice of mindfulness. What you just did, by paying attention, noticing where your mind went, noticing if there was judgement etc., is what we think of as bringing mindfulness to eating.
Our plan in coming sessions is to see what happens when we bring the same quality of awareness not just to the experience of eating but to difficult thoughts and emotions, including the ones that can increase our risk of depression. What might we learn about our emotional world and well-being if we pay attention to it in the same way we explored the raisin?
The Raisin in My Group
Let’s join the group as they are in the middle of inquiring into the experience of mindfulness practices. As you watch each clip, take a moment to reflect on what you hear. What did watching the experience of group members help you learn about your own experience with introducing a difficulty into the meditation?
Click on the questions to hear from each group member.
