In one part of my life, I am a photographer, Food, and People. I have worked over the years with many foodies and have cooked some pretty tasty meals myself, here is a link to some of my recipes. So many people have gotten interested in creating new dishes, exploring new tastes and engaged in cooking.  Well,this morning I ate the Moon. It tasted exquisite.

(Here was my view, the moon wasn’t really this big and I didn’t take this picture  this morning , however, this is a pretty accurate image of the way it felt and looked ! )

Our body/minds have an amazing ability to form deep connections when we engage with looking, seeing , feeling and sensing.  It doesn’t matter whether it is food, music, poetry, nature, a person, a concept, a tree , a flower, the earth, the sun, the stars, yourself … you get the idea we can learn to slow down and connect on a very deep level.  People have been doing this for millennia’s. However, if you want to connect to the moon, it will do you no good to look at a computer screen. Likewise, if you want to connect to a person you need to be with the person, social media does not a meal make!!!! You might as well try and lick your computer screen to taste a hamburger. We all instinctively know this.  I haven’t heard of anybody actually eating their computers when hungry. Though it sounds like a funny The Onion  story. Yet how many people have fooled themselves into thinking they are connecting when they use social media?

The ability to connect deeply is a skill that must be engaged.  Read this Poem by Mary Oliver she was there. Connected deeply. It is the connection you explore, that deep slow settling  of the soul into the object of your meditation.  Learning how to engage that connection, the practicing of deeply connecting is what we are so seldom taught. It is a profound act to give yourself solely to a single connection and be there in communion with it. It can profoundly affect your life.

So here is a recipe for eating the Moon. Actually, it is an Old Taoist meditation called Reeling in the Moon. (Eating was a good metaphor for this post and because this activity is nourishing as well).  Next time there is a full Moon find a quiet place where you can stand by yourself and have a clear view.

1. Stand quietly, feet shoulder width and parallel  and listen to the rhythm of your breath. maybe 2-5 Minutes
2.  With your fingertips pointing towards each other, palms facing your body, elbows out away from your body slowly very slowly make a circle that goes up and towards the moon, then comes down and towards your body. Fingers stay pointed at each other and the circle shape your hands and arms make is around a foot to a foot and a half in diameter.

a. Imagine that you are reeling in ,like silk, everything you can see, feel, sense , and intuit about the Moon.  Move slowly allow yourself to connect, your movement isn’t connected with breath. Form a connection with the moon and let that connection get deeper and deeper. You are gathering the essence of the Moon, that force that controls the tides, that affects your body, and you are letting that chi of the moon inside and blend with you. In Yin Yang terms you are cultivating yin Qi. Keep it light, don’t over focus. You don’t have to over focus to taste a raspberry you just taste it. Likewise, you just feel the Moon and reel in like silk everything in that connection.

b. Continue for 10, 20, or so minutes

3. Then stand quietly and let the connection gather around you, sink into your bones, your skin, your marrow.

4. That’s it.

Why would you do this? Because it is the Moon! Why do you eat yummy food? Why do you drink wine?

If you learn to connect you can become a Foodie of sorts with your entire life. You can find meals that nourish your body/mind in very unexpected places. This is a huge concept. Huge.  It is a process by which you can learn to connect more deeply to everything in your life and experience that connection and have those moments nourish you. When you learn what it is like to connect deeply, then you can shine your connection where you like. The above example is only one way to connect with your full body/mind.