You have to have TWO pieces of toast. That was the hidden belief I discovered when I practiced mindful eating one morning. One of my favorite breakfasts is toast with peanut butter and jelly.

I remember my first artichoke. I was a young graduate student in California spending my first Thanksgiving away from my family. Never had I seen such a strange thing on the table and couldn’t imagine how to go about eating it. “One leaf at a time,” my host said. So I picked a leaf and bit down.

She was a patient teacher.