Create a cooking meditation with these 4 steps

Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore or something you have to do. It can be a beautiful meditation where you’re fully connected with yourself and the present moment.  Think about it… this food is what you’re putting into your body to nourish and sustain you. 

It is energy.  

Do you want to put rushed and frantic energy into your food, or do you want loving, calm and peaceful energy infused into it? 

I’ve found that when I’m in a hurry and I’m rushing around, I often don’t end up saving any time because I have to redo something, or I missed a step, or I cut myself (oh is it just me?). Plus I usually end up with a huge mess on my hands and by the time the meal is ready it looks like a tornado hit the kitchen. 

In recent years, I’ve used my meditation practice to re-train myself in the kitchen. As soon as I feel myself go into rushing mode, I stop, focus on my breath and follow these 4 steps to turn the process of getting food on the table into a cooking meditation:

1. Focus on your breath. Even if you don’t do the other steps and you JUST focus on your breath, it will make a big difference. When you bring your focus to your breath, it slows your breath, which slows your mind, which slows your body. It also brings you into present moment awareness so that you can be fully connected into the food you are preparing. 
2. Turn on mantra music. Play it softly in the background (or turn it up full volume!). Chant out loud or let it play while you cook and let the high vibration of the sounds mingle with your breath and the food you’re preparing. 
3. Read the entire recipe before you start chopping, measuring or cooking. And then read it again! I think we’ve all had that experience of jumping into a new recipe with excitement and realizing something needed to be prepped a day early, or thinking we have all of the ingredients only to find out we’re missing that one key item. Reading through the recipe, assembling all of the ingredients and prepping before you cook helps you get organized so that when it’s time to cook, it’s all ready to go. 
4. As you chop veggies and prepare the ingredients, take your time, and focus on your breath. Wash the veggies and give them a little massage under the water. Feel gratitude for your veggies for providing you with nourishment. As you chop, breathe, chant and be present. Taking time to carefully chop your veggies smaller means they will cook faster, will be easier to eat, and will look beautiful on your plate. 

The One Simple Breath is the perfect breath for your cooking meditation. Download it here, and turn tonight’s meal prep into your own cooking meditation.