The gut is often referred to as the 2nd brain and people regularly practice gut cleanses, detoxing and fasting to achieve optimal gut health.
Fasting the mind is equally as important and it’s not too hard to do.
Simply sitting for a few minutes at the end of your formal meditation without any focal point allows your mind rest and reduce mental overload.
The focal point is whatever you are focusing on, this could be your breath, your body or a visualization. Let go of the focal point and allow your body and mind to rest in stillness for a few moments.
Similarly, at the end of a yoga class students allow their body to rest in Savasana, which by the way is my best posture. Savasana, or corpse pose, is crucial to allowing the body to rest and reset.
Inner stillness is the key to outer strength. – Jared Brock
I like to think of it as decluttering the filing cabinet of my mind. A toxic overload of accumulated stress and old stale thoughts and thinking can build up pretty quickly. Just like the gut resets and finds a balance after a detox, cleanse or fast the mind knows what to keep, what to refile and what to let go of.
I also think the mind is like a well shaken snow globe. The glitter represents the thousands of thoughts that come and go, all day long, all the time.
Fasting the mind of stimulus is letting the glitter settle, tho it doesn’t take long for the mind to be shaken up again.
Just like fasting the gut, the benefits of fasting the mind are enormous. People say they feel calmer, clearer and more focused.
Everyday will be different and with regularity it will become easier.
Personally, I think it’s easier than a gut cleanse, as it takes less time, I can do it more often and I’m not hungry!
If you need some help with establishing a routine check out my classes and courses.
Image courtesy Hans Vivek - Unsplash
