Pavel Somov - Reinventing the Meal: How Mindfulness Can Help You Slow Down, Savor the Moment, and Reconnect with the Ritual of Eating

Pavel G. Somov, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Pittsburgh, PA. He is the author ofEating the Moment, Present Perfect, The Smoke-Free Smoke Break, and The Lotus Effect. Visit his online Mindful Eating Tracker at

www.eatingthemoment.com/mindfulness-tracker.

Foreword writer Donald Altman, MA, LPC, is vice president of The Center for Mindful Eating and author of One-Minute Mindfulness and Meal by Meal.

Just as food breaks down to give us a savory experience and fuel us, Reinventing the Meal breaks down the art and science of mindful eating to teach us how to enjoy and get what we need from food. Its a guide to using positive life precepts to enrich each and every dining experience from first whiff to final swallow.

Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, MEd, is the author of four books on eating, including The Food and Feelings Workbook

For years when Ive talked to friends about my mindfulness practice, Ive paraphrased a line of Thich Nhat Hanhs: You can eat the tangerine like this, says the Buddhist monk nonchalantly. Or, he suggests, enunciating with care, you can eat the tangerine like this. How satisfying to find a whole book that shows me the sublime depth of eating. Reinventing the Meal is a mindful pleasurea dessert from start to finish, and a delicious reminder of the power of awareness.

Stefanie Marlis, author of rife, fine, cloudlife, and other poetry collections

Pavel Somov brings together mindfulness practices and wisdom from Eastern traditions with scientific insights to thoughtfully challenge and inspire the reader to higher consciousness, all within the arena of the most basic of human activitieseating. He delivers a bounty of food for thought that compellingly assists us in re-imagining ourselves, as well as the meal. In an era of fast-food and fast-paced living, Reinventing the Meal offers a well-needed path toward health, serenity, and a meaningful connection to life.

Jeffrey Weise, PhD, psychologist specializing in the treatment of eating disorders with a private practice in Pittsburgh, PA

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2012 by Pavel Somov

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Text design by Michele Waters-Kermes

Acquired by Melissa Kirk

Edited by Jasmine Star

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Somov, Pavel.

Reinventing the meal : how mindfulness can help you slow down, savor the moment, and reconnect with the ritual of eating / Pavel Somov, PhD ; foreword by Donald Altman, MA, LPC.

p. cm.

Summary: In Reinventing the Meal, renowned psychologist Pavel Somov presents readers with a plan for mindfully reconnecting with the comforting rituals involved in preparing and enjoying food. Chapter by chapter, this guide helps readers reinvent their relationship to food and eventually see each meditative mealtime as an opportunity to reconnect with the body, the mind, and the world at large-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60882-101-3 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-60882-102-0 (pdf e-book) (print) -- ISBN 978-1-60882-103-7 (epub) (print)

1. Food habits--Psychological aspects. 2. Eating (Philosophy) 3. Awareness. I. Title.

TX357.S65 2012

394.120019--dc23

2012014107

To my mother, Irina, who fed my body and taught me love, and to my father, Georgy, who fed my mind and taught me freedom.