Keeping Some of Our Awareness in the Inner Body

As you go about your tasks in the kitchen, whether it is preparing healthy meals or doing the dishes, give your attention fully to what you are doing. Make your activity a process you value, rather than seeing it as something you are doing in order to do or get something else. But as you mindfully direct your attention to the task at hand, keep a part of your awareness focused on what is happening inside you. Instead of placing all your attention on the external world or on the thoughts flowing through your mind, let your senses explore a deeper awareness. 

Be here, be presence in the Now. Try to touch what is arising within your experience of the present moment.Take time to feel the energy of your inner body as you interact with your recipe and its ingredients. Handle each fruit or vegetable with gentle curiosity. Let your senses explore the many ways you perceive the food – sight, smell, texture, taste. Simply experience the food as it is, without judgment or thought.

learn to see the perfection of each piece of produce, despite differences in size or shape. Think deeply about the interconnection of the food and you in the present moment. Relax into the stillness and the sense of ease deep inside this experience. It is a gateway into the abundance of life offered to each one of us as we open to our hearts to greater awareness of reality.This spaciousness we experience is always present, and is available to us at any time we look deeply into the present moment.

In the practice of zen-cuisine, we consciously bring this peaceful stillness to mind. Our time in the kitchen becomes another portal through which this energy of awareness manifests in our midst. Through our zen-cuisine practice, conscious awareness constructively flows into the world, creating spaciousness and well-being. We awaken to the joy of living, aware of our being part of all that is. Happy cooking!


For delicious zen-cuisine recipes, visit http://juicyfoods.blogspot.com/