Imagine this situation: Someone wakes up last minute possible and rushes to work. Maybe eats a granola bar on the way. Skips out on any water. Getting to work and being bombarded with 100 things to do. potentially even skipping lunch. Eating while working at the computer. gets off work. has to pick up the kids. gets home and orders take out. Finishes dinner and is exhausted. By the time dinner is done and the kids are settling, the food coma from the highly processed low quantity oils in the takeout start the hit. Now deeper exhaustion and fatigue sets in. By this time, it’s closer to 8PM and there is no energy left to engage with your significant other or kids, but to watch Netflix and repeat the whole day over again.
Above is an example of what it means to be in a altered state. Affected highly by not only the responsibilities and stresses of the day, but by the type of food being ingested. part of getting out of an altered state is getting ahead of our day. Having a game plan. This way, we aren’t waking up with sky high blood pressure, heart rate out of control, and next thing we know: its bedtime and our head is smacking the pillow. A huge first way to prevent this “fast forward on the remote” living is to wake up early enough. No doubt that waking up 1.5 hours before we “start our day” is a huge win. I’ve witnessed this in the most peaceful individuals and happy individuals. They aren’t waking up 20 minutes before they have to leave the house. its 1.5-2.5 hours. This way we are able to get the mind right, potentially exercise, pray , and prepare. Enjoying some time with ourselves, our family, and walk into the day with a sharp mind. The flip to this is programming ourselves to have extreme anxiety by waking up last second and rushing out of the door. Its just not an option in the high performance, mental and physical optimization world I live in. Many others would agree that they want to have full energy, low anxiety, and peaceful presence in this day. This is the one way to do it.
There has to be moments where you, or you and your spouse are sitting down and planning on how to get ahead of life. This way, we aren’t left in a constant state of execute, execute, execute, without gratefulness, peace and enjoyment involved. When is it her turn to have that time after work while you watch the kids? And visa versa. How can you both be up early enough to get your minds right before the day starts? What conversations are we having about food planned for dinner? What convos are we having about food for our children in the morning or lunch? What planned activities are we putting on the calendar that we can all enjoy together outside of work? What time are we planning to have date night and time away from the family? How are we keeping intention with the actions we take the time we spend. Ourselves. Ourselves and our spouse. Ourselves and our kids. Ourselves and our friends. Etc. Everything does not go as planned. One thing for certain is: structure in a household rubs off on everyone around you. using a calendar is a must. Your kids will notice it. Your spouse will notice it. it will contagiously help everyone. We eliminate anxiety by creating “many knowns” and things that we are all on the same page about. Things we can look forward to. Intention with our activities and time outside of school and work. Its necessary. You don’t need to store it all up in your head because you have it listed down, and you can trust in the ability for you to plan and be on the same page as your spouse and kids. there are apps where everyone’s phones can match up on a calendar. Coolest thing I’ve seen for families honestly. Staying ahead of life. reenforcing presence and quality living.
lets talk about food and where fasting and meditation come into play with mental health and overall success of our days. When we are fasted, our mind and body are unaffected by substance. If we first got the stimulation aspect in lock: No cell phone the first hour or 2 and starting the day with calm, quality and good routine; add the fasting on top of it, and we are totally in an unaltered state. Unaffected by society. Unaffected by the processes of food digestion and impacting our brain. Unaffected by excess stimulation of anything other than what is inner. This time where we are unaffected can be the best times for reenforcing self awareness. You may feel sharper mentally in the morning. You might be more creative. You may think about tough things as well as great things. When we are less affected by the outside world and outside food and consumption, we are then able to dig inner more. Which is very necessary.
“How do we develop self awareness to the point where we can step back often and realize what we are doing well at, how we can be better, and realize where we are falling short.” It takes that space and time in an unaltered state that i spoke of above. This can even be complimented with going and taking a walk. Now you are unaffected by food, you are unaffected by media and stimulus, and you are in nature. A place that has always been and always will be simple. You have once again reenforced presence, self awareness, calm, and focus.
Andrew Huberman the scientist on Huberman Lab says he fasts until about 11AM. Funny because i do the same exact thing and didn’t even know he was doing it. There are huge reasons behind it. You will notice the clarity, the focus, the clear energized feeling. You are in an unaffected state because you are note weighed down by food. Water and air. That is it. Have you ever tried a 24-72 hour fast? The results are awesome. I like the sweet spot at about 30 hours before i break it. Do this maybe once every few months or so. You will notice this light, peaceful, mentally clear feeling that starts to really come on. An opportunity for your body and mind to have a break from processing, digesting, and having to work as hard. Big benefits from that.
Maybe our systems get too overloaded to often? Another good reason why fasting can be that simple break that gives us time to slow things down. Internally and then what comes out externally.
Give the mind a break from the phone. Give the stomach a break from food. Give the sexual organs a break from being used. Give the eyes a break from screens and stimulation. give body a break from being over used.
There is a power in fasting from things in several senses as listed above. not just food.
Now imagine us in a unaltered state. We haven’t ate yet. we haven’t used our phones yet. We are outside sitting on a bench. Now lets add meditation in the mix.
Deep breath work. Programming your system to focus on nothing but the breathing. eventually getting into a state closer to 10-15 minutes where some thoughts start flowing. letting them arise. breathing through them. noticing where we feel them when they hit our stomach, our chest, or wherever they may be. Accepting them. letting go.
The little time of practicing breath work has such a high return on investment that will carry over into all areas of life. Such a powerful practice.
you now are unaffected by stimulation, food and by even your own thoughts. you have practiced being a pure observer, and you have now reenforced a more peaceful state of mind. this is mind training. this is training the skill of peace. this is training presence.
Always look at things as “I can improve this somehow.” Then the real life moments will arise where you patience is tested, and these are the moments where this type of “getting ahead of life practices” will come in handy. you will be able to handle them more maturely and calmly. With more ease. This is the power of growing in the practice of not being in an altered state. You are now far ahead of the day, and you will notice most of the time that things will start generally going in the direction that you expected them to go in. And when things go a different direction, you are able to handle them in a flexible, understanding way because you have practiced what it means to be far from the perspective from stress and overwhelming fast forward motion.
You can now be in more control to when that altered state can occur. You are now more aware to when altered states of frustration or like states are starting to arise. You are prepared to handle them. You know what space is required to process them.
I will finish this off by saying: after consistent 6+ years of meditation: this state of flow where I am on a cloud is active a majority of my day. it catches me by surprise with how light I feel. weight off the shoulder. almost as if I could fall over and just float away. its a natural high. senses are stronger and higher. breathing is more slow and focused. I find myself in the midst of chaos situations and still being able to hold composure. I remember I had some serious struggles in my journey where I’ve made mistakes the past 6 years. they are lesser and lesser as the years go on. more and more peace. more and more situations that I’ve been in where I’ve made a mistake, or not made a mistake and been able to be here today and be stronger from that perspective I went though. Seeing people and things clearly for what they really are. feeling things deeper than i ever have before. its quality. i want to feel pleasure and pain deeply. I want to understand them both and take them seriously. they’re apart of who we are. A higher quality experience of life. that is what fasting and meditation will do for you.
You will simply feel things in a way that you’ve never felt them before. observe it. appreciate it. its the way things are supposed to be. It brings you back to a child again. Always goes back to being a child. when wonder, curiosity and a new feeling would arise. That is what will start happening.
You are prepared.
you are trained.
everything is a skill. everything can be improved up.
THE_HUMAN_EXPERIMENT1993 