Food For Thought - Ice Cream for the Soul by Joy Koenig, MD - Personal Growth, Wellness, Healthy Lifestyle, Meditation, Inspiration

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
CATEGORY

        Mindful Meditation

DESCRIPTION

        Turn your trip to the grocery store into a walk down memory lane.

INSTRUCTIONS

        Every grocery store is filled with childhood memories. Next time you go the grocery store, find and buy a food item that brings back a warm childhood memory. Feeling bold? Tell the cashier at the grocery store or a friend about the memory behind the item. Make up a poem about it (Ode to an Oreo), or write about the warm memories it surfaces for you. You can even eat it as a mindful meditation (see SWEETS FOR THE SWEET and ICE CREAM FOR THE SOUL.

JOY'S JOURNEY

        As a preventive medicine physician, I know that practicing what I teach is the best tool I have for helping others be happier and therefore healthier. However, there are times I get tired of my self-imposed task of role model, especially when it comes to continuously giving up some of my less healthy favorite foods.

         One day as I was grocery shopping, I looked down at all the healthy choices in my cart and said, "How boring! Not today!" and went in search of something unhealthy. I found myself in the candy section, and my heart rate picked up a beat or two -- I discovered how many of my childhood treats are still around for the next generation.

        Rather than totally blowing it, I looked for the item that held the warmest childhood memory, took it home, and turned it into a meditative and joyful meditation. Now, when I'm at a specialty store, I look hard for things like candy necklaces and those miniature wax soda bottle treats. There are even a web sites where you can order hard-to-find treats from yester year.

QUOTES

I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain
just to eat leaves!
Michael Rivero

Looks are so deceptive that people should be
done up like food packages --
with the ingredients clearly labeled.
Helen Hudson

Old people shouldn't eat health foods.
They need all the preservatives they can get.
Robert Orben

Dr. Joy is available to present playful workshops (playshops) at your corporate training retreat, non profit organization gathering, or club membership meetings. She is located in Denver, Colorado, and travels throughout the US to deliver Serious Fun ™ Programs for personal growth, wellness, and inspiration. Please see the program pages for details and contact information.

This playful meditation activity is COPYRIGHTED. If you are a professional trainer, coach, human resources person, counselor, or therapist it is not ethical nor legal for you to use it or share it with your clients or those you supervise/train as part of your job. See the copyright notice on the front page of this e-book. Remember, character is what you do when no one is looking. Please take the high road, and pay me appropriately to use these materials professionally, even if you work for a church, school, non-profit or the government.