Community members are invited to join Healthy Acadia on Thursday, November 3, 2022, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., via Zoom for “Food memories: Connecting through Stories,” with special guest Emily Shanahan. The free online event is the latest installment in Healthy Acadia’s Monthly Mindfulness series.

The human brain is hardwired for storytelling. It's one of the oldest and most universal forms of communication, with examples found from cultures across the globe from every millennium, including Navajo, Greek, Sumerian, and many more oral traditions we don’t know about.

The act of storytelling creates a shared group experience that’s both relatable and memorable. We empathize with characters and their experiences and remember facts better if in a narrative format. Storytelling is empowering on an individual level, providing the storyteller autonomy over their story: to challenge assumptions, give voice to their experience, and build a new shared experience to build community among listeners.

Food, in addition to life-giving sustenance and nutrition, is an important vehicle for storytelling. Food is an intimate and powerful connector: to our families, our friends, our romantic partners, our cultures, where we live, a specific place or experience, and more. We all have foods we feel connected to for a myriad of reasons. 

Studies show that our brains connect food memories with the experience more than the actual taste of the food. Telling the stories of the foods we love, why we love them, and the connections and memories we make through them, helps us to connect to others.

In this workshop, we will use simple visualization techniques and writing prompts to explore our own food memories, with opportunities for sharing.

Pre-registration is required for this free event. The one-hour session will be offered virtually via Zoom. To register and receive the Zoom link, go to bit.ly/mindful-1122.