The first step will be to either make yourself a meal or go to your local cafe or restaurant and buy yourself something delicious to eat. For the example of this challenge, lets assume that you bought a tasty sandwich. The only difference between eating this wonderful sandwich and eating a sandwich of the past is that you are going to eat this sandwich slower than you have ever eaten a sandwich before.
I am getting hungry even thinking about how good this is going to taste.
Once you sit down with your sandwich and maybe a cup of tea, I want you to attempt the first goal of the challenge: slow down. It's simple.
Slow your movements and pay attention to every little movement that your body makes as you prepare your table to eat. Notice your leg movements, arm movements, the blinking of your eyes, the sounds you hear with your ears and the beating of your heart.
This is harder than it sounds as we get wrapped up in our minds and are always in a hurry. When we are in a hurry we pay little attention to our body and that makes it hard to appreciate our good health.
You are now ready for second part of the challenge: breathe.
Now I would like you to pay close attention to your breathing patterns. Breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. Continue to repeat the breathing patterns for at least three in-breaths and three out-breaths. At first this may be a little difficult to follow as your mind will want to wonder and think about other issues besides your breathing, but breathing is the foundation of our existence and we should not be too busy to pay attention to it as often as possible; it will help you become in touch with what you are doing and assist in the first challenge of slowing down.
Now integrate slowing down and breathing in to one act.
Now that you are ready I want you to slowly pick up your mouth-watering sandwich and look at it. What do you see? You may see bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese, among other ingredients. But is this all you see? Where do these ingredients come from? How are they sustained?
Remember to move slowly and breathe.
When you look at the bread, you now see grain and seeds that make the dough along with the water, the people that helped gathered those ingredients and the people who helped bake the bread. You can now envision the process of the kitchen being built and the people who helped build it.
What about the vegetables? You can see the lettuce and tomatoes that were picked in the garden, the people who laughed during that very process and the people who packaged those vegetables and loaded them on the truck. You can now also see the delivery man who delivered them to cafe that you are eating in right now and the smile he gave when he dropped them off.
But how is this all possible?
When we think about how all of this is possible we simply need to look no further than the elements and nature of this universe. The water that flows down our rivers, in our oceans and the snow that falls on our snow-capped mountains comes from the clouds and participates in a process of recycling a life source. The water in the rivers, lakes and oceans heat up, evaporates, vaporizes and rises in the atmosphere where it condenses, travels slowly around the planet where it drops once again in the form of rain, snow or hail back in to our rivers, lakes and oceans. From there, the water leads to our homes and kitchens where it then mixed with the dough to make the bread in our sandwich.
Slowly breathe.
All of this is done within a universal effort in seemingly perpetual fashion. You should feel grateful for this.
Now back to your sandwich: time to eat! As you take your first bite chew your food and absorb all the wonderful flavors and savor the moment. This is essentially what the entire purpose of the challenge is: savoring the moment. Now try and continue to eat you sandwich with this same type of mentality with every single bite.
As you ponder this notion I would like you to consider the benefits of living your entire life the same way you eat this sandwich. It would be an extremely difficult task to continue at every moment, but even if you integrate it into your lifestyle as regular as possible you will find greater happiness and become more optimistic as well as having a better understanding of your surroundings. When beginning to understand the entirety of what must come together for this sustained life, you will begin to see how many different factors come together and may find more appreciation for the little things once you slow down and breathe.
By following these three simple steps:
- Slowing down - by relaxing and being mindful of your body in its entirety and how it functions
- Breathing - concentrating for as long as possible and regularly on your in-breath and out-breath
- Repeating steps 1 and 2! - by simply following step one and step two and repeating them as much as possible you can begin to savor what is happening in the present moment, which is the only time in which life is available.
One of my favorite Zen philosophers, Alan Watts said that Zen is as simple as, "When you are hungry: eat. When you are tired: sleep." We are so often distracted by other things that we forget to become present and enjoy the things that we are doing in its entirety and feeling the present moment.
At least for this sandwich, we won't.
At least for this sandwich, we won't.
Wishing you the best.
