do you bless your food?

I went on retreat again at the nearby Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburga and while I was there, I was struck with a desire to go back to blessing my food.

This desire was connected to a series of reminders of how sacred the physical details of our lives can be (I think this is why I’m drawn to work with feng shui, as well). The way you shut a door (as the signs at the abbey request: “Please close the door gently—cultivate peace”) or the way you walk down a hallway or bow at the waist or ring bells for the sunrise—they all matter and add up.

I grew up saying a prayer before meals that I would quickly chant in a sing-song way. But I abandoned the prayer and the practice long ago, having never connected to the meaning behind it and thinking it was simply checking some kind of box.

And now I am full circle, seeing how different my food can taste and feel when I’ve asked it to be a blessing to my body and when I’ve expressed gratitude for it.

And it does!

When I was at the Abbey I asked for my prepackaged peanut butter crackers to be a blessing to my body and I expressed gratitude for the crackers and it felt like I was eating precious golden honey aliveness. (So this practice isn't dependent on the food being seasonal farmer’s market produce, either.)

Also, I realized I’m not asking The Divine/God to bless the food. I’m asking the food to bless my body, and it feels as if the food perks up with the dignity of this request and my body perks up too with the acknowledgment of what it is about to receive. The exchange takes on a quality of respect and aliveness that wasn’t there before.

And while I was at the Abbey, this phrase kept running through my heart: The body is the door, the body is the door. For someone who’s spent a lot of life up in my head, this feels important and I’m listening (and I’m tracking this pattern with doors and bodies, too!)

So that’s what I’ve been up to. Noticing the way I open and shut the door, the way I eat my food, the way I hug my daughter in the morning. Bringing attention, bringing presence. Looking for the magical golden honey.

What about you? What have you been up to lately? I’d love to hear.

With care,
Brianna

P.S. Here’s a recording of the nuns singing and chanting at the abbey of st. walburga. They chant the psalms throughout the day and if you are lucky enough to find yourself near the border of Colorado and Wyoming, the chapel is open to the public.

And if you’re reconsidering your spiritual practices or you’re wanting more presence in your physical space — feng shui consulting and coaching are both part of how I work and I’d love to connect.