French fries and the California raisins

I started a continuing education class on Tuesday night about mindfulness and cognitive therapy. The class is lead by an LCSW and there are eight women in the group. I love it! Mindfulness is about being present in the moment, truly present. I was telling Jared about the exercise we did regarding mindfulness in eating. We each got one raisin and we looked at it, smelled it, put it to our ear and twirled it around on our fingers, let it sit on the tongue, chewed it, and then swallowed it. The activity took a couple of minutes which is a long time to spend with a raisin. I'm supposed to spend one meal this week in mindful eating. The art of being present while I eat. Paying attention to taste, texture, emotion, and the feel of food in my body. Well, as I stated earlier, I was telling Jared about this exercise. The following was part of our conversation.

J: So, you guys sat around licking raisins?

A: Sort of.

J: When you put the raisin to your ear, did you hear the California raisins singing like one those old commercials.

A: No, not really. I did like those commercials though.

(The French fries arrive at our table for dinner. The French fries that we plan to share.)

J: I wouldn't suggest that you spend this meal in mindful eating or you're not going to get any fries. I'm starving.

A: Got it. I think I'll talk to someone else about this awesome experience.

J: Okay. How's your burger?

Ha! The class lasts for eight weeks. The other fun part of the evening was the body scan that we did. Basically, a body scan is somewhat like guided meditation and progressive relaxation. It's a thirty minute process of being aware of the body as guided by the instructor. Here's the thing though. I promptly fell asleep. Sitting up. In my chair. I came to when my head bobbed to the side and I woke up to find everyone else still scanning. So, what's a girl to do? I fell right back to sleep. I'm supposed to do this exercise once a day. It's been two days and I've fallen asleep both times. Damn good naps. We start at the toes on the left foot and move to the head. I've never gotten past the toes.