Mealtime Rituals

Do you find yourself eating on the go while driving, sitting at your desk? Or maybe you're watching some YouTube while you eat? Or multitasking? Hi, my name is Roshni Kavate. I'm the co founder of Marigold. And I'm Rebecca Cervas, co founder of Marigold. We're a grief wellness platform rooted in storytelling, culture, and ritual. Today we're talking about anchoring your mealtime rituals and feeling nourished when you eat and why this is so important while you're grieving. I'm definitely guilty of eating on the go, eating in the car.

Sometimes it just feels like everything is too busy for me to get the time to really sit down. But how transformational it is to simply sit at a clear table space with not a lot of visual information and sit down and take the time to eat your meal without distractions. So how do we do this? What are some ways that you allow this in your day? Roshani? Because it's too easy to have your phone in front of your face, right? Yeah. I think one of the biggest ways we can live day to day is being distracted.

And while we're grieving, we want our minds off our feelings and emotions. Right. We're looking to be distracted for survival, for just feeling good. And a lot of times, you know, it's maybe watching tv, reading something, listening to music. But what that does is it really disconnects us from the process of digestion, from savoring, from really tasting food. And during grief, our sense of smell, how food tastes, all of that is altered. So it's especially important that we bring some mindfulness and attention.

And it's very simple. Like you said, have a clean table, maybe lay a nice napkin, have your favorite plate out if you want to use, you know, like a placemat. So that just gives it that sense of, you know, you're having a nice meal. Like when you go to a restaurant, right? The table is set very beautifully. There's a flower maybe. So just having that consistency can be really great. I usually eat from a beautiful ceramic bowl or plate, having a nice glass. Are there some tips you can share about how to liven up your meal time so it can seem special and fun?

Yeah. I really want to encourage us to think of the sensory input that makes us feel good and feel better. So I noticed that the whole environment in my home changes when we put music on the speaker and it fills up the space. So that can be really beautiful to have a background of your favorite music while you're eating and it also gives your mind a little bit to chew on without it being, like, scrolling on the phone. And like Roshni said, using a beautiful bowl is really helpful, and you can translate that into other things on your table.

Like, what are the textures that make you feel good? Is it soft? Is it silky? Are there colors that feel calming to you? Utilize that. Can you set up your table in front of a window so that you're looking at nature? There's a lot of ways in which we can implement some sensory input that is calming and creates a beautiful meal time so digestion becomes easier. And I also just want to note that sometimes the pain of grief makes it very hard to kind of create this calm setting. And what I like to do in that case when I'm feeling distracted by pain is to just name that thing.

You know, if you're missing someone that you just lost, say it out loud. It's sometimes a beautiful action to set a little cup of water for them, put a little side plate and give them some of your food. Invite them there with you rather than trying to push away the pain. That's a beautiful way to navigate and honor our grief journey through mealtimes. Thank you, Rebecca. Thanks for listening. And let us know, how are you anchoring and elevating your meal times?