Sowing Food Joy & Harvesting Wellness

This summer, I’ll resume online educational programs focused upon nature-based stress reduction and strategies to deepen food joy. It seems like only yesterday – yet it’s been 16 years ago, since I attended a Mindful Eating retreat led by Dr. Jan Chozen Bays at her monastery outside of Portland, Oregon. This experience occurred in the middle of other professional mindfulness trainings (MBSR, MBCT, MB-EAT, ACT) that I began around 2000; my personal exploration of mindful eating continues to this day.

As I’ve written previously (and shared via my real-time journey on social media), mindful eating offers a doorway into an ethical, pleasurable relationship with food. Mindful eating can be as simple as slowing down when we eat, noticing the many layers of our sensory experience, savoring our favorite food experiences, or connecting more intimately with the food system that feeds us.

If you’re interested to learn more about my approach, check out this blog post that I wrote back in March 2020, which still rings true. You can register and find more details regarding my upcoming 4-week series Sowing Food Joy: Mindful Eating & Savoring Practices, which begins Wednesday, May 31, 2023.

In the four-week experiential workshop, we’ll play with foundational exercises drawn from the fields of mindfulness, therapeutic horticulture, positive psychology, and behavioral health. Weekly themes include:

• Exploring the Seven Hungers
• Savoring the Senses
• Playing with Our Food
• Growing the Good

The first 10 participants to register will receive a free copy of a very sweet & powerful little book – How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh, plus a sample of farm-grown culinary lavender (a total $15 value). If you can’t make all of the sessions in real time, registered participants will receive a link to the recording (of my presentation only, no group discussions) several days after each session concludes.

“Our food comes from this beautiful planet. The Earth is inside of us, in each morsel of food, in the air we breathe, in the water that we drink and that flows through us. Enjoy being part of the Earth and eat in such a way that allows you to be aware that each bite is deepening your connection to the planet.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Eat

Please note that while this series may have therapeutic benefit, it is not intended as a substitute for psychological or medical care. Such workshops are a great educational adjunct to other personal work around eating and health-related issues, or a stand-alone opportunity to rekindle your love affair with food.

If you have questions about this workshop or difficulties registering, please email me at lavenderbellefarm@gmail.com.

Finally, if you live in the Seattle-metro area, you might check out my pop-up herb start + garden swag sale on June 17, 2023. Online preorders begin June 1st, with free local delivery to my neighbors in Beacon Hill. I’ll also be selling sunflowers for my annual fundraiser benefiting the Ukrainian Association of Washington State.