The “YUM!” Power-Up

The Point of the Game

Experience compassion for oneself, for others, and the earth. Appreciate what is happening in your body and your thoughts as you enjoy the meal alone or together.

There are only four rules to play…

Rule #1: Ground yourself fully in the moment by taking 3 slow, deep breaths.

Let go of whatever has been on your mind, and tune into the sensations of your living body, of your windy breath and the feeling of being a physical being in this very moment.

Rule #2: Think of as many ways to thank the food you are eating as possible.

Pour gratitude into everything about your food. For instance, you can give thanks to each animal, and each plant that you are about to eat. You can give thanks to the trace minerals in the food that our bodies need to survive every day, and even the particles of energy within the food that will soon become our very bodies. You can give thanks to the farmers who grew the food, to the soil which provided the nutrients within it, and to the Earth for providing the precious conditions for life to exist!

Rule #3: Enjoy the first three bites of your meal as much as you possibly can.

Savor every nuance of flavor, every micro-landscape of texture, and how everything about your food coalesces into the river of a life-giving experience.

Rule #4: With every bite, give thanks to your beautiful body for sustaining your life.

Day after day, year after year, our bodies work so that we can live, so that we can live our one wild, wonderful, and mysterious life.

YUM! Post-Game Power-Up Boost (You can contemplate this after YUM! has been completed!)

Every second, 500,000 cells in our body die and are replaced by new, healthy cells. Every minute, 30 million cells go through this transformation and every hour, 50 billion cells. Almost every year, our body is comprised of an entirely different set of cells than the ones we lived and depended upon before. Almost every year, 98% of the atoms and molecules in your body will be replaced, which means quite literally, you are a completely different physical you! This regeneration happens every moment, of every day, and we don’t have to be aware of it all for it to continue happening, sustaining our precious life. The energy within the food we eat literally becomes a part of who we are!