Learn Joyful Eating using this tutorial and open your taste buds to the pleasure available from food.

Wine lovers make a big deal out of learning how to taste wine because they have specific techniques that really bring out the best taste experience from each sip. In the same way, Joyful Eating helps bring out a peak taste experience from all the food you eat.

Joyful Eating works by adding a little bit of ritual to eating. Savoring great food deserves a ritual. The ritual of Joyful Eating leads you through the tasting process using a series of carefully considered steps. The steps work by adding emotional vibrancy, beauty, drama, and visual excitement to eating in order to create a more intense experience. Feeling and eating meld into one fully integrated adventure.

Joyful Eating is a whole new kind of eating experience. Perhaps for the first time in your life, you will have completely tasted food with all your senses, including your most important sensory organ: your mind.

The Joyful Eating practice has been carefully constructed to maximize the available sensory information to your brain. The more stimulation you get from your senses, the more satisfying any food will be. The more satisfying a food is the less you need to eat of it. This is why there is such an emphasis on getting all your senses, including your mind, involved in the tasting process.

A little demonstration will help to show how bland and boring your normal way of eating is. This will blow your mind because food will have never tasted so good.

For this demonstration please get a raisin. If you don’t have a raisin you can try any other small edible snack.

This demonstration also serves as the template for how to eat any food joyfully. In the instructions, please mentally replace the word raisin with the name of whatever food you are eating.

Follow these instructions for any food you eat joyfully, making any obvious adjustments as needed. A raisin, for example, is a food eaten with your hands. If you are eating food with a fork or spoon, you’ll want to change the parts where you are holding the raisin between your fingers.

Please take your time. Pay attention. Allow yourself to be in the moment. And focus just on eating. Let’s begin.

6 Steps to Joyful Eating

Here are the six steps to follow when eating joyfully.

Step 1: Clear Your Palate and Your Mind

1.      Clear your taste buds by taking a drink of room-temperature water.

2.      Wait at least 90 seconds for any previous tastes to fade away. While waiting, you can perform the following steps:

·        Clear your mind of any preconceived ideas of how the raisin should taste. Discover the taste anew every time you eat.

·        Give thanks for the raisin you are about to eat. Truly appreciate how special is the opportunity to be alive to eat this raisin at this time.

·        Take a deep breath. On a long exhale, let all the tension flow out of your body.

·        Give yourself permission to enjoy yourself. Allow yourself to have fun.

·        Bring to mind any pleasant memories from similar situations in the past.

3.      Actively seek out new tastes and experiences with both your mind and senses as you eat. Find something new in every bite.

4.      Take your time. Don’t rush.

Step 2: Get to Know Your Food with Your Senses

We’ll explore how to taste using your sense of sight, touch, and smell.

Using sight...

1.      Place the raisin in the palm of your hand.

2.      And as you become aware of the weight of the raisin in your hand, carefully look at it, as if you have never seen a raisin before.

3.      Ask yourself, what does the raisin look like? How does it compare to other things you have seen before? Appreciate its color and texture.

4.      Become aware of the different colors in the raisin. Are some rich? Are some light? Are some dark?

5.      And as you are feeling the raisin, hold it up to a light. Become aware of how the light shines on the raisin. Notice the highlights...the darker hollows and folds...explore every part of the raisin...as if you had never seen a raisin before.

Using touch...

1.      Become aware of how the raisin feels.

2.      Turn the raisin over between your fingers.

3.      And as you feel the pressure of the raisin on your fingers, explore its texture using your fingers and your entire hand.

4.      Ask yourself, what does the raisin feel like as it touches your fingers? Does it feel wet, dry, sticky?

5.      How does it compare to other things you have felt before?

Using smell...

1.      Now bring the raisin close to your nose and take three short sniffs.

2.      What do you smell? What does the raisin smell like?

3.      How does it compare to other smells you remember?

4.      How powerful are the aromas? Are they faint or bold?

5.      Become aware of how your body is responding to the smell. Your body may go on sensory alert in anticipation of eating. Savor this anticipation.

6.      Are you starting to salivate?

Step 3: Food Enters Your Mouth

1.      And now slowly put the raisin in your mouth. Don’t bite it just yet.

2.      And as you are placing the raisin in your mouth, notice how your hand, arm, and mouth know exactly how to do this.

3.      Become aware of the sensations of having the raisin in your mouth. Explore the feelings generated in your mouth.

4.      And when you are ready, with awareness, slowly bite into the raisin. As your teeth gently sink into it, notice the taste as it releases.

5.      Notice the sensations as your teeth enter the raisin. Does it feel smooth or crunchy or something else?

6.      Ask yourself, what does the raisin taste like? How does it compare to other foods you have tasted before?

7.      Let the raisin warm up by spending some time in your mouth. Are there any changes in flavor?

Step 4: Chewing

1.      Breathe in and out through your nose as you taste.

2.      And when you are ready, slowly start chewing the raisin. Chew 10 or more times to mix the flavors and textures and bring the odors to your nose.

3.      At this point you may want to close your eyes so you can focus just on the tasting.

4.      When you are ready, roll the raisin around in your mouth. Let it hit all the taste buds on your tongue, mouth, and the roof of the mouth.

5.      On the first chew or two, if you feel comfortable, draw air through the raisin by pursing your lips and sucking in air, as if through a straw. Suck in air for about 3 seconds. Then close your mouth and breathe out through your nose. Notice any flavors and aromas.

6.      Let your taste buds speak to you. Try to hold back from translating experience into words for a while until you have captured the flavor.

7.      Hold the raisin in your mouth long enough to register an impression. You will be confronted by a lot of different sensations. Now try to put your impressions into words. Concentrate on one thing at a time.

8.      Try to distinguish all of the different tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, fat, and savory.

9.      Does your mouth feel like puckering? Does it feel tingly or dry? Do you detect any acidy or bitter flavors?

10.  Become aware of how the sensation of the raisin develops after the first impression.

11.  Notice if the taste changes and deepens, or whether it becomes weaker or flatter, or whether it sweetens and softens, or hardens.

12.  Become aware of the texture of the raisin in your mouth. Is it harsh? Oily? Fizzy? Smooth? Rough? Buttery? Silky? Watery? Creamy? Thick? Thin?

13.  Does the raisin have a rich, interesting, satisfyingly full taste?

14.  Is the flavor complex or simple?

15.  Is the flavor balanced? Does any one flavor overwhelm any of the others?

16.  Are there any flavors missing that you were expecting to taste?

17.  Continue to taste as the raisin cools. Some characteristics reveal themselves most clearly in cooler food.

Step 5: Swallowing

1.      See if you can detect the intention to swallow as it arises before you actually swallow the raisin.

2.      And when you are ready, swallow the raisin...as you are swallowing follow the sensation of the raisin moving out of your mouth, down your throat, and into your stomach.

Step 6: Afterward

1.      Take some time to notice how you feel after eating the raisin.

2.      How long does the taste of the raisin stay in your mouth?

3.      Notice what you taste and feel in your mouth. Is it sweet? Acidy? Burning? Is it fading or strong? Is your mouth drying out?

4.      Wait a few moments so you can appreciate the aftertaste. Are there any lingering flavors or mouth-feelings?

5.      Notice any feelings of satisfaction.

6.      If the taste experience was exceptionally good, then try to anchor it in your mind so you can recall it later.

7.      Talk about the raisin with your friends. Talk about how it tastes and feels. Try to find words to express your experience. Use conversation to heighten anticipation from the next bite and to generally learn more about raisins.

By following the six steps in Joyful Eating, you will have extracted every bit of pleasure out of one single bite. You will have experienced far more pleasure from one single bite than you would have from eating a whole lot more.

Write About Your Experiences in a Journal

Some people find it helpful to write down their experiences in a journal. Writing helps you think and reflect and learn from your experience.

Do the Exercise with a Friend

Invite a friend to eat joyfully with you. Please perform the tasting exercise separately. Compare notes Afterward. You might be surprised at how different the taste experience was for each of you.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice the Joyful Eating of a lot more foods. You’ll find an excellent list of food suggestions in the 20 Tastes to Try Before You Die strategy. Try many different kinds of foods with different textures and tastes so you can compare the experiences.

Have the Joyful Eating instructions in front of you for the first ten or so times you eat joyfully. There are a lot of steps, but they become second nature after a while. Pay special attention to the steps that matter the most to you. Everyone is different. While practicing, figure out which foods, flavors, textures, and techniques optimize your taste experience.

Practice Increases Sensitivity

We are all born with differing taste and smell abilities. Yet all is not lost. You can learn to improve your senses with practice. Through repeated use, it has been shown that you can increase your sensitivity ten-fold. A little practice can go a long way.

Example Joyful Eating Session

In this section we’ll go over an example session of my eating a strawberry using all 6 steps. Each step will have its own section and the step number is included in the heading.

I have chosen a strawberry because they are coming into season now and I love strawberries.

Step 1: Clear Your Palate and Your Mind

This is a crucial step for me to remember. Too often I am in a hurry and I just toss food down my throat without first becoming receptive to the taste experience. I notice that I’m often not really engaged in eating. Eating is like something that is happening to me, not something I am doing. If I just slow down I get much more pleasure from the food.

How can you not give thanks for the strawberry? It’s a wonderful, beautiful, life affirming miracle of nature. By giving thanks I feel it creates a special mood in me where I am capable of better appreciating what I am about to eat. I don’t go easily into this mood and it doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does it makes for an extra special experience.

The breathing step and the instruction to give yourself permission to enjoy yourself help you become actively involved in the current moment. That’s when you can enjoy yourself the most.

The last strawberries I had were not quite ripe. I try not to let that bad experience negatively impact on my opinion of these strawberries. This is not difficult. Strawberries have a lot of pleasant associations for me. I usually take some time and remember them.

My grandma grew strawberries in her garden. I remember eating perfect big juicy sun ripened strawberries standing in a garden bursting with life. The birds and the bunnies like strawberries too, so I always had company.

I picked strawberries a few times as a kid. That always takes me back to the fun I had out in the fields, eating more strawberries than I got paid for.

These particular strawberries I bought at a farmers’ market on a pretty sunny Sunday afternoon. Remembering that day brings back a lot of good memories as well.

With all these memories flooding into my mind, I am already half way to having a peak taste experience.

Step 2: Get to Know Your Food with Your Senses

I think the humble strawberry is a work of art far surpassing anything made by human hands. And like with all such common items, we tend to forget how beautiful they really are. That’s why it is important to try and get back to the beginner’s mind when experiencing food.

The deep living red of the strawberry contrasted with the dark green top is always striking to me. I marvel at how beautiful the colors are individually and together. This strawberry looks fully ripe. I don’t see any yellow or green patches on it.

Then my eye always wanders to the seeds. The lighter color of the seeds set inside small diamond pockets of the strawberry body add an amazing beauty and texture to the strawberry. A smooth strawberry wouldn’t be the same.

Hold a perfectly ripe strawberry up to a light and slowly rotate it. You will see a constant play of shadow and light across the strawberry.

And a strawberry is no less interesting to the touch. The texture of the seeds is endlessly captivating. The gentle tapering curves are pure artistry. A good sized strawberry also has a pleasant heft to it. An individual strawberry stands on its own. During a strawberry fight you can throw a strawberry pretty far.

The aroma of a strawberry is pure captured sunlight. It has a bold distinctive aroma that can’t be confused with any other food. Take your time smelling a strawberry. Enjoy it. Life is short.

There are few pleasures like a perfectly ripe strawberry. From just the smell I look forward to eating a strawberry all the more.

Step 3: Food Enters Your Mouth

I usually take a big bite from a strawberry. I think that concentrates the flavor more. When I bite into a strawberry I notice I have to put some pressure into my bite.

Strawberries are firm, not hard or soft. The first taste I notice is slightly sour followed by a little bit of sweet.

Strawberry is definitely a food you want to eat at room temperature. A cold strawberry doesn’t fully release its aroma or flavors.

After taking a bite I always look back at the strawberry. The surface of the remaining strawberry glistens like a jewel in light.

Step 4: Chewing

I notice an immediate short puckering sensation that softens out into a longer sweet flavor. The texture of a strawberry is rough, thick, uneven and chunky. I always like that. I feel a lot of moisture from the strawberry. Later I notice a slight bitterness. After chewing for a while, the flavors tail off and the texture becomes smooth.

From the appearance of the strawberry I expected it to be sweeter. I was disappointed it didn’t have that strong strawberry taste. I am not sure where these strawberries came from. It’s still early in the season so I hope they will be better later.

I always think of a strawberry as having a simple flavor. There aren’t a lot competing components in a strawberry.

Step 5: Swallowing

I noticed after the taste had gone away, my body started to get ready to swallow, without my conscious thought.

Step 6: Afterward

There isn’t a noticeable finish to this strawberry. After swallowing, the strawberry flavor is just gone. That isn’t the case with other strawberries I have tasted. Some have a longer finish. Other times I have felt very satisfied and pleased after eating a strawberry. Not this time.

I do detect a slightly sour taste still in my mouth though. Interestingly, I feel slightly fuller from having the bite, even though it wasn’t that big a bite. Not a special strawberry to the taste, yet it still smells wonderful.

Even though this wasn’t the best strawberry in the world, by eating joyfully I still enjoyed myself and got the most pleasure possible out of that strawberry. Without Joyful Eating, even the world’s finest strawberry wouldn’t be memorable because you wouldn’t take the time to experience and appreciate it fully.

I didn’t have an opportunity to talk to anyone during this example, except for you of course. But even writing down the experience helped me explore it more than I probably would have otherwise. If you are able to talk to people about your meal while you are eating, you will multiply your enjoyment tenfold.

Several of the tasting steps ask you to put into words the impressions you are getting from the food. This can be hard because most people find it difficult to put  an experience into words. It takes time and practice to learn how to give words to feelings. You’ll find just the act of trying to explain what you are experiencing helps you notice more about what you are eating.

Choose to Eat Each Bite Joyfully

The ultimate evolution of Joyful Eating is to joyfully eat every bite of every meal. Joyful Eating all the time is very difficult. It takes a lot of discipline and concentration. Not everyone will be able to do it.

Start slowly. Every day, eat the first bite of one meal joyfully. Then add more bites and more meals as you feel comfortable.