Day 58 : The Bowl of Mindfulness

On the first day of this lockdown, I remember I made oats for breakfast. Now, I have had oats before, but that morning I had it in a bowl, a bowl that was different from the ones I usually have food in. Here is what makes it special -

I love this bowl; it came into my house a few months back when Osky went for his first school trip to Rajasthan. He picked it up because he liked the texture of it, it looks like it is made of stone or carved out of a rock and is not in perfect shape either, and it has its imperfections!

On day 1 of the lockdown, breakfast in the bowl was just a coincidence, not a plan. I have a habit of taking food pictures and posting it on family WhatsApp groups, some even on Insta & FB food groups. The pic of the bowl of oats peppered with raisins and almonds on top of it was met with some funny comments. Few called it a Beggar’s Bowl and some called it Dogs Bowl. Well I can’t disagree; the bowl looks like one of the many things one would dig out at a Mohenjo-Daro Harappa excavation site. That was probably the reason I decided that until this lockdown is over, I would have all my meals in this bowl. What I was yet to discover though was that - this had a story to it!

When I say Bowl & Mindfulness, probably the first thought that rings in our mind may be the Singing Bowls from Tibet, that mysterious space where time stops, and It produces a tone, which vibrates through a person’s body and gives instant calmness. Resonance of the bowls synchronises brain waves to induce deep meditative and peaceful states, clarity of mind, and intuition.

This bowl is obviously doesn’t sound vibrations, but I liberally borrowed the thought of mindfulness from singing bowls to mindful eating. Mindful eating as I know has got to do with eating slowly, without distractions, understanding physical hunger signals and discarding the non-hunger triggers, learning to cope with the guilt & anxiety about food, appreciating food and being mindful about the effects on our feelings & body.

I for a fact am not good at any of those! The thought of purposely following a practice especially for food triggers stress in me and I overeat. Though what I find truly pleasurable is observing the colour, the textures and of course the flavours of what I eat. The earthy look of this bowl of mine invoked a desire to try all my routine meals in them in order to see how the pictures would turn out! This led me to arranging portions of meal in such a way that it will look pictorially beautiful. What happened then was that in the quest of getting a perfect picture I even started ensuring the portions are balanced. Subconsciously the meals became a perfect balance of what I call PGC: Proteins, Greens & Carbs. Even if it were desserts, I would wash my bowl after the meal and then have the dessert in the same bowl. Slowly a habit emerged. I became mindful about what I was eating and its quantity. I ensured that it wasn’t all mixed together and each food was perfectly placed, balanced and appreciated for what it will give to my body. It brought in a sense of minimalism along with mindfulness, which I started practicing in other areas too. Voila, as we near the end of the 60-day lockdown, I have lost 6kgs. No diet, I ate all that I generally do, just that it was home cooked. Besides that, it was mindfully portion controlled.

In life, we always get purposeful towards a goal and that adds to the pressure of achieving it. I never had a diet plan and will never have. The simple joy of food photography and its perfection along with lovely stone textured feeling of a bowl, subconsciously took me into the path of mindfulness without me ever seeking out for it. Go all out with your heart and instincts. Seek small pleasures, purpose will automatically be achieved.

In our urban life, which is a melting pot, we seek our humble bowl, but we expect it do magic. We expect a transactional relationship with it. Instead just invite it into our life and make it a part of us. I did.