During a recent retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in Blue Cliff Monastery, I learned about the difference between joy and happiness.

Generating joy and cultivating happiness are key elements to the practice of mindfulness. And while these feelings usually go hand-in-hand, they are two separate states - so what is the difference?

As a child, every food is finger food. Cereal, vegetables, pasta: if you can pick it up, it’s fair game. But at a certain point, your parents bring in the utensils. Forks, spoons, knives or chopsticks are introduced as the proper vehicles for food, and who are we to object? But even though we may finish our meals with less food on our hands and faces, we sacrifice something perhaps much more important than cleanliness. We are distancing ourselves from our food.

Hannah is a rising junior from Amherst College majoring in Anthropology and French. She is interning with me at Harvard School of Public Health this summer.

Most of us live in some area of summertime heat and we are heading to the beach to cool off. This doesn’t mean we have to leave our mindful eating habits at home. For inspiration, let’s look to countries that have a custom of healthy sea shore-snacks.