Not many people know the story of Umami and yet it is folded into our everyday experience. It is the very essence of tasty food. It is the secret behind what makes food delicious ( In fact Umami means Delicious in Japanese!).
Here is the story in short. In 1907 a Japanese Chemist, Kikunae Ikeda, was intrigued by what made his Dashi, a Japanese broth he was eating, so delicious. He worked for years in the lab to find the secret ingredient and Eureka!
In his article, published in the Journal of Chemical Society of Tokyo, he announced the new flavor he discovered. It was not salty, sweet, sour or bitter. It was Umami. It was delicious!
The scientific community and the media ignored it or made fun of it. In one instance, a reviewer wrote, “…a silly idea concerned with something called deliciousness.” In time cooks around the world would start to use Ikeda’s discovery as a baseline ingredient as they explored and created new cuisine. Umami is based on Ikeda’s secret molecule (which is Glutamic acid). Today, it is widely respected and recognized. It is regularly used by chefs. It is now the key ingredient in parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, soy sauce, meat stock, and many more familiar everyday foods.
Umami integrated into our lives and nobody questions it’s impact on our taste buds anymore. It is purely YAMMY!
Why am I telling you all that? It seems to me that we are living in another era where the very essence of “healthy living” is right within our reach, but not yet embraced by the general community. The equivalent to the discovery of Umami in the early 20th century is reconnecting with Mindfulness Living in the 21st century.
There are many ways to describe Mindfulness. I will share just a few:
“Mindfulness is Knowing what is happening in this moment and what is happening to me in response to it”( Sylvia Booorstein).
“Mindfulness means moment-to-moment non judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment…Mindfulness brings to parenting a powerful method of paying attention to whatever we are doing in each moment and seeing past the veil of our automatic thoughts” ( Myla and Jon Kabat –Zinn).
“Mindfulness and Mindfulness skills can be practiced at anytime. Anywhere while doing anything. Intentional paying attention to the moment without judging it or holding onto it, is all that is needed “( Marsha Lineham).
Those are just few of the definition of mindfulness. I am sure you are familiar with those or others. There is also plenty of research of how Living Mindfully will improve our lives, physically boost our immune system, reduce the Cortisol stress hormone , emotionally reduce anxiety and depression, and increase sense of well being and interpersonal experiences (more accepting, less judgmental/critical relationships).
In our Listening Mothers and Reflective Parenting classes we explore how becoming more mindful will help us become less reactive, more attentive to ourselves, our kids and our partner, less stressed and less judgmental, more accepting, and more present.
When we achieve a state of CALM, we are able to access our own Inner Wisdom. This is where we find our parental intuition that has been woven into our DNA but got lost in the current bombardment of conflicting child rearing information and expectations. When we act from our inner wisdom with strength and kindness our kids benefit. This win /win situation is within our reach.
To conclude, with Mindful Practices we discovered the Umami of everyday life. How long should it take for something so fundamentally essential to become an integral part of each one of our life? We want to get to the point that we just experience the Ahh, naturally and effortlessly. Yam!
As the new school year starts, we can decide to take a minute and set our intention or wish for the year. Perhaps more parents this year will join the growing Community of Mindful Parents. I sure hope so!
Namaste!
For more information about our online community, or local Listening Mothers or Reflective Parenting classes, please visit www.communityofmindfulparents.com, email info@communityofmindfulparents.com or call 206-275-0104.
Photo by Ed Yourdon
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Dear Yaffa:
Thank you for reminding us that it is the seemingly ordinary moments in life, such as our children’s smiles, our elders wisdom, friends embraces, mistakes, which make life worth living. Many of us forget, often in the name of helping others, to consider the Umami of our personal lives and how such is the ultimate source of strength for all the good we try to do. Today, I will pay attention to my words when my teenage daughter walks through the door stressed out with too many commitments. May they reflect her dignity as a child doing the best she can, even when she does not know when to stop. Selena ( Psychologist)