Zen practice emphasises letting go…letting go of striving to achieve something and accepting the mind as it is in that moment. It is the practice of seeing things as they are and realising that our ideas and anxieties about things are just that; ideas and anxieties. It allows us to let go of worries and fears and be present in the moment. Zen practice can reduce stress and bring about calm.

And when we look up Zen in the dictionary, we not only get this definition but also ‘peaceful and calm’.

Feeding children can be hugely stressful. We can spend the whole day tormented by our thoughts of what to eat for dinner, whether they’ll eat what you’ve lovingly prepared and concern over whether they are getting enough nutrients into their bodies from their restricted diet.

We bring this stress to the table and our children pick up on it. It feeds the pressure on them to eat resulting in them not wanting to be at the table, also finding mealtimes stressful and refusing food.

If we can come to the table calm, our children are more likely to be calm at the table and in a mindset that will allow them to explore more foods.

If we’re calm around mealtimes, we can make them fun and the table a place for quality family time when we just so happen to share food.

If we’re calm, we can be present in the moment and remember that we’re responsible for the food on offer and our children are responsible for what and how much of that food they eat.

In doing so, we can let go of our fears and support our children to let go of theirs.