She has a lovely "O" and then closes her mouth for "MMM" with a smile.
Most times, after I've finished the third OM, she does a few more on her own.
It's amazing how just that stopping to chant OM and bringing the mind to the present, focused on the food, is so calming and uplifting. I eat more slowly. I notice what we're eating. I eat with a smile.
As a child in Hebrew Day School we learned to say a blessing before and after each meal. In fact, before and after every act in our daily routine from opening our eyes in the morning and stepping out of bed to going to the bathroom -- of course that made us chuckle as kids -- to finishing the day with a prayer before bed - The Shama.
I did it all as a "good girl" would, but at that age I didn't have a sacredness attached to my actions. Simply, I was repeating what was "right" and "good."
Now, a bit older (40 in Feb!), I look to have myself remember to pause and make the mundane sacred, bringing my awareness to every act.
With Chetana around it's quite fun. We remember to say goodbye and thank you to our tooth brushes, we stop to tell one another we hear an airplane over head, we pause in our meals to call out to the crows, we pick up tiny specks of dirt form the floor and throw them in the trash. Life is full of minute precious details.
When Chetana makes the sign for "butterfly" when she sees a beautiful painting for the first time or when she points excitedly in the store at a book on the shelf and says "boon boon" having recognized a-just-like-home copy of "Goodnight Moon," or stands up in her bed first thing in the morning making kissing sounds to let us know she's awake...well, life is full of beautiful details.
Jai Gurudev. Victory to the Big Mind
