Loving Earth’s founder and managing director Scott just got back from a trip to India, during which he was initiated into a curious new form of meditation. You guessed it…chocolate meditation! But how does it work?
Although there are certainly those for whom chocolate is not a true passion, we’ve yet to come across someone who can’t appreciate a good piece of chocolate. In our line of work we come a cross a wide range of chocoholics, and few of you will be surprised that the majority of real chocolate lovers are women. Yet even for those who aren’t dedicated fans of the wonderful cacao bean’s most popular offspring, chocolate is still a uniquely delicious food. Whether it’s just an occasional piece with a cup of tea or coffee, a seasonal indulgence around Easter or Christmas, or a daily concern without which life would be hard to imagine, almost everyone consumes chocolate now and again. What we’re inviting you to do is to experience chocolate in a new way…
Here’s what to do:
- Get yourself some chocolate – all you need is one piece – and sit down in a quiet, comfortable place.
- Put a square of chocolate into your mouth. Don’t chew!
- Sit back and close your eyes.
- Focus on the chocolate alone and allow it to dissolve slowly in your mouth.
- Pay special attention to what you feel, what you imagine. What is your mind’s eye showing you?
We tried this just the other day, right before we had a meeting here at Loving Earth in Campbellfield, with interesting results. Eight of the team spent five minutes engaged in chocolate meditation before we each shared what we experienced.
*TO AVOID BEING INFLUENCED BY OUR EXPERIENCES, YOU MAY WANT TO TRY YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE MEDITATION BEFORE READING ABOUT OUR RESPONSES!*
Cece was the first to speak up, experiencing strong reminiscences of being a child in Kenya, going back perhaps to when she first tasted chocolate. Rohan found his senses speaking to him, bringing him through a cycle of tastes: initially a sense of bitterness, followed by sweetness and eventually a smooth earthiness. This contrasted with Richard, who imagined the jungle, the mist, the earth and the Amazon, from where we source our cacao. Doron found himself thinking of Indonesia, which is interesting for two reasons: firstly, he’s never been there, and secondly, he wasn’t aware that the chocolate we were tasting was sweetened with coconut sugar from the island of Jave…in Indonesia!
As with everything, people experience chocolate mediation in many varied ways. Give it a go yourself – it’s even better with some friends or family. We’ll be getting back to this subject in the near future and we’d love to hear how you get on! Until next week, take care.
