[porridgeraisin]

The main thing here seems to be giving your oesophagus' "swallowing muscle" gravity to fight against.

The traditional Indian method of eating, sitting cross legged on the floor, is similar to this. While sitting cross legged, you bend your back and have your head point at an angle towards the plate on the floor, and then put the food in your mouth. So cos(theta)*gravity has to be opposed by your oesophagus.

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Supposedly while you chew your back is straight though, isn't it?