Los Gatos Retreat Center

“Hi, my name is Kernut, and I am a Meditator.”

“My name is Kernut, and it’s been three hours since my last meditation.”

(ahahaha I crack me up!)

This weekend I spent at a wonderful – and much needed – meditation retreat in the luscious, green Los Gatos mountains. The views were spectacular, the location peaceful. Greg facilitated the meditation retreat and Patty was the gracious hostess of her mountain-top retreat center.

So, I need to meditate. Daily. It keeps the crazy away. Now I’m just bonkers. That’s not as bad as crazy.

This was not my first meditation retreat, but it was the probably best so far. I’ve been meditating for years, but gained new insight when doing several types of meditation in the two-day retreat. The most memorable and practical types for me were the mindful breath meditation (just remembering to breath deeply on a regular basis, or before answering the phone, or when at a red light), and then there was the mindful eating meditation.

OMG The mindful eating meditation was an eye-opening experience. We did the exercise with a grape. Just one green grape each.

A regular little grape.

First, I looked at it’s pretty light-green color, turning it over, examining it’s shape. I smelled it: a sweet, “light green” scent. I felt the smoothness of it’s skin, the firmness of it’s flesh, the cool feel of it. Then, without biting it, I gently put it in my mouth and just held it there.

And it grew to four times its previous size.

(Aww geez, get your mind out of the gutter. My parents read this blog. Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Remember, I’m your first born – you were so proud of me once.)

No, really. Suddenly the little grape seemed HUUUUGE. I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she’s had a pill. The once-little grape was now MASSIVE. It took up all the free space in my mouth, and then some. I wanted to let out a chuckle, but I couldn’t because THERE WAS A MASSIVE ALICE-IN-WONDERLAND MAD-HATTER-TEA-PARTY GRAPE IN MY MOUTH.

And there we sat, each with a massive grape in our mouth.

After what seemed like spending a comical eternity with a massive grape where my tongue used to be, I bit into it. The cool juice filled my mouth and I very slowly finished eating the grape.

I will never look at a grape the same way. How could I? We shared something so deep, so intimate, so real…

Hey, don’t forget the part where I say I’m bonkers. (Kidding people, just kidding!)

The whole process seemed to take much longer than the 5 or fewer minutes, but it really changed how I view food. I realized how quickly I tend to eat, often consuming far more than I need to feel full.

But I never will be able to look at a grape the same way again.

Next: Buddy, The Fearless Chihuahua and Protector of Meditators…