The F**king Raisin Exercise

A small step toward noticing what you've been missing

The act of eating a single raisin is often used as an introductory mindfulness exercise, and who am I to break with tradition? I will note, however, that when it comes to the ‘Raisin Exercise,’ I was absolutely a bit of a skeptic.

I particularly disliked it when I first tried it, though at the time my frame of mind was hardly optimal. In fact, I was originally going to title this post, “That Fucking Raisin Exercise,” and then go on to explain why I hated it.

But I’ve reconsidered.

I think the important thing is to remember why you’re doing the exercise—not to become a dreamy euphoric utopist who dresses in bright primary colors—but rather as a small step toward learning how to “just notice” all the things you’re missing when you’re operating on automatic pilot.

For this exercise, your homework first of all is to go find it.

There are many descriptions of the raisin exercise available online (I can’t really bear to write it out here myself). Or, if you’ve picked up a copy of The Mindful Way, you’ll find a perfectly good version in the “week one” chapter.

That’s all for now.