Moshe Quote Of the Day: "Human upright standing, loosely referred to as posture, is not governed by the laws of static equilibrium...Human posture...is a dynamic equilibrium." (from The Elusive Obvious, p. 43)
As all-purvasive as the act of
eating is in our lives, it’s a wonder we here in the
In the back of all of our heads, there’s a little demon going, “Why don’t you eat right?” Eat right, eat right...Every time we sit down to a meal (or stand up at one, as the case may be) so many of us feel that there’s something missing from the part of our lives that involves eating, that we should be getting more from our meals, more energy, more pleasure, more satisfaction. Most often, we attribute it to the kinds of foods we eat.
This isn’t a column about food. I’m not a nutritionist. I don’t care to tell you what to eat. As far as this column goes, I’m happy for you to eat anything you want. But I am a Feldenkrais practitioner. I do care how you eat. Or, more specifically, I want you to be curious about how you eat. In this way, you can begin to “eat right.”
Notice, I said “how,” as in, the way you bring the food from the table to your body. How aware are you while you’re eating? As you place yourself in front of that food, are you conscious of what room you’re in? Are you paying attention to the very first move you make to feed yourself?
Perhaps this sort of self-attention is impossible for you while you eat. It may be more than you care to think about. But what are you thinking about, exactly? Are you reading while you eat? Are you talking on the phone? Are you lost in thought about what you’re going to do after the meal?
What good does it do you to think about eating while you eat? Would it be insufferably boring? Is there any benefit to it?
Let’s consider.
Every movement you make in some way involves every single part of you, so when you improve one movement, you’re actually improving your whole system. Chewing is not just movement of the jaw. There are positions you can get into that make chewing more difficult, such as lying on your side. Conversely, there are ways to sit that make chewing easier. The same is true with tasting, and with swallowing. All of these things involve more than just the mouth. The jaw can move with ease only when the head is balanced upon the spine, so that the neck muscles are not making any unnecessary effort. Your ability to chew, swallow, and taste will depend upon what you are doing with your ribs and spine, how you are sitting over your pelvis, and even upon the position of your feet on the floor.
I’m not going to give you a lesson on sitting here. You can come to an ATM or FI session for that. I am suggesting that by being aware of what you’re doing when you eat you’ll be able to enjoy your meal more.
What makes me so sure? Well, look at it this way. Eating is supposed to be a time to refuel and to revive yourself. But it’s not just the energy you get from the food which revives you. It’s also the act of eating, of letting the mind think about a natural process for awhile, of moving in a human way to do a pleasant thing.
When you pay attention to how you move, your nervous system collects information. You use this information to improve your movement. As your movement becomes more organized, muscles that are meant to move you, but which you have been using to hold yourself up, can begin to release and relax until they are needed. You feel lighter, more agile and coordinated, and you start to concentrate on pleasurable things like the butter on those string beans, or the tasty crust on that apple pie. Your tongue brushes over all the textures and you are exhilarated by new sensations. At the end of a meal, you feel refreshed, happy, and relaxed.
The nice thing about eating is that if you give yourself to the sensations, even a brief meal can refresh you. That half-hour you feel you wasted because you didn’t get to read your favorite article or make that phone call will actually come back to you later, because you will be able to do your work more efficiently during the day.
There are many ways we can improve ourselves with specific lessons, but the most important thing really isn’t the ATM you’re doing. It’s the quality of your attention. What better time to practice this attention than when you’re in the middle of a pleasurable activity?
The next few times you eat, make a pledge to pay attention to yourself. You can agree to only pay attention for five minutes, or one, if you like. You can keep your newspaper under your chair so that when you get exhausted from enjoying your meal, you can plunge into your reading for a break.
Ask yourself how you sit when you eat. Do you keep both feet on the floor? Do you have either of your feet on the floor at all? Do you lean one or both of your elbows on the table? If so, what happens when you lift them? What becomes more or less comfortable?
When you aren’t reading, what are you looking at? Do your eyes gaze at the horizon? Do you look at what you’re eating? Can you follow the food from the plate to your mouth as you move your fork? Is this a pleasant way to eat?
Do you chew on one side of your mouth, or both? How long do you chew? Do you use your tongue, or simply move your teeth? Do you bite your tongue or your lip when you eat?
What’s the quality of your breathing while you eat? Do you hold your breath? Can you smell the food as you bring it to your lips?
How long do you wait between bites? Have you finished the last bite before beginning the next one? How long after you eat do you wait to get to your feet? Do you rise while you are still chewing?
Take the time to notice these things. No need to be critical, just notice them. Accept them as they are, and go about your business. Next time you eat, notice again, and see if they’ve changed. If you like, you can experiment. But keep the whole experience fun. Be curious. Maybe you’re eating better than you thought.
Stay well.
© 2002 Adam Cole