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Prepent 5774: Day 10, Slowing Down

Remembering to focus on smart and mindful eating

by
Amichai Lau-Lavie
August 17, 2013
(Tablet Magazine)
(Tablet Magazine)

Journey into the High Holidays with Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of Storahtelling and the spiritual leader of Lab/Shul. It’s a daily dose of inspiration to get you focused and ready for the new year, featuring daily intentions, simple tasks, and tools for living better.

‘What’s with the slow cooker?’ I ask my friend, whose kitchen table showed off a brand new crock pot, still in the package.

She told me she’d been doing a lot of cooking, and had gotten interested in the idea of slow food. A lot of my friends are cooking more these days, eating healthier and even growing herbs and vegetables in their backyards or on window sills.

Maybe it’s because we’re getting a little older and more conscious of our health—and that the latest culinary trends emphasize the home-grown and organic—but there’s definitely less take-out and fast food on my menu now, more salads and a lot less meat.

Today, Day 10, is the final Prepent that focuses on the body. The last item on my list of things I’m committing to improve in the new year is eating; pledging to consider more fully what I eat and how.

There’s nothing like a Shabbat feast with friends and family to focus on the oldest recipe for community and love—and nothing better than knowing that the food that goes into my body is nutritious and grown with love, a reminder that I should be respectful of the hands that brought it to my table and the earth from which it comes.

Today’s task: take a few minutes to think about your eating habits—what you eat, when you eat, what you want to eat more of or less of in the coming year. What will help you be more mindful of yourself and the world?

For me it’s not just what I eat, but how. I tend to eat quickly, especially when I’m eating alone. ‘Slow down,’ I hear my mother’s voice telling me. This year, I’m going to try to do just that. It’s better for digestion, but also for appreciation—one conscious bite at a time.

Shabbat Shalom.

Follow along with the Scroll’s daily Prepent series here.

Amichai Lau-Lavie is the founder of Storahtelling, and the spiritual leader of Lab/Shul, an emerging New York City congregation.