Happy Thanks!

There is a Chinese proverb that says:

"When eating bamboo shoots, remember the man (or woman) who planted them."

To me this is a profound concept for our grand ol' day of thanks...and it should be taken further. I'm finding a lot of benefit in mindful, or better yet, concsious eating. Mindful eating focuses on the messages our bodies give us about hunger and satiation. Conscious eating takes these objectives to another level and asks us to be more present during the process of nourishment. For example...when I fix my breakfast, before I consume it (which right now I'm really into sprouted quinoa, cinnamon, almonds, goji berries and almond milk - okay so I'm a little funky right now)...I think about the following:

Give thanks to the farmers who planted the food, think about the sun's energy used to grow the seeds, nuts, berries...think about the water that nourished it, think about the people in the Himalayas who picked my berries, the truckers that carried the goods in their rigs through sleepless nights...to the store clerk that allowed me to purchase it. I think about all that power, energy and people embodied in this little bowl of cereal...and I'm grateful! I eat a bite and feel that energy, that love, that gratitude.

Try it sometime. It makes your food taste so good...and you become energized and blessed by it. I'm not kidding!

Here is another quote of Gratitude...

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. --Melody Beattie