Say grace, rewire the mind.

My friend and I went to brunch last weekend at a French spot in Alameda. We're newer friends but had connected over lively conversation at an event some weeks prior. As the food came out, my friend kindly interrupted our conversation, looked me in the eye, and asked, "Do you mind if we do a little gratitude prayer before we eat?" I smiled, nodded, and said yes.

She thanked the earth, the animals that were sacrificed in the making of the food, and called out the intention that we may turn this fuel into good in the world.

It was a lovely moment, a punctuation mark before an everyday activity. She emphasized she was not religious and instead pointed out that saying gratitude prayers can actually enhance the flavor and enjoyment of the meal.

I am a believer that there is no true mono-sensory experience, that the mind and its conditions, perspectives, and attitudes affect our sensory inputs. Those conditions may not have full control or determination of the sensory input, but they do indeed affect them.

This moment of gratitude reminds me of a fascinating experiment known as the McGurk Effect, which demonstrates how our senses are interconnected—specifically, how visual input can influence our auditory perception. When hearing the sounds "buh" and "vuh" independently, we can distinguish them for what they are. However, if we are watching a video of someone mouthing the sound "buh" while playing the audio "vuh," I will hear "buh." What I saw visually created an auditory distortion that matched the visual input.

So I think it's not a far stretch to believe that an inflection of gratitude would enhance flavor. But I think there's even more benefit to it than just more yums.

When we punctuate our daily activities—like ones that we cannot avoid without a hunger protest—with an act of gratitude, we are integrating behaviors that cultivate feelings of well-being. Gratitude is a powerful tool against ruminations and negative thoughts as it is harder for both sentiments to live in the same garden. For one to integrate gratitude into their attitudes, it is not a single light-switch act that turns them from ungrateful to grateful, from sad to joyous. It is more a daily act of cultivation that is aided greatly by habit-stacked rituals like saying grace over a meal.

We may not even feel the gratitude at first. The regular practice of it, however, is both the planting and the watering of gratitude. With time, the seeds germinate and flower. With repeated exposure, a sprinkle of introspection, and a genuine desire to move into a grateful perspective, one will begin to see the sprouts of those regular rituals. Gardening, tilling the soil of the mind, is the rewiring of the mind; it is the means of adjusting our subconscious.

Saying grace, a prayer of gratitude over our food, plants the seeds for happier thoughts.

Next time you sit down to a meal, consider taking a moment to express gratitude—who knows how it might enrich not just your meal, but your day.