What you eat vs what eats you
Healthy diet and healthy lifestyle has been the latest fad. With so many gyms, fitness centres and dieticians mushrooming in and around, nobody is unaware of the benefits of being healthy and fit. Junk food, street food and all the carb-loaded foods are acceptable by our body but they are harmless till the time we consume them in limited quantities. The moment we start binging upon them we may find ourselves in the deadly world of toxins where the entry is free but the exit is paid. That time we realise the significance of our physical well being of & we immediately kick off with the process of detoxification. We start with healthy eating, detoxification diets, exercise, yoga etc…to get rid of our unhealthy body. Well three cheers for this.
But don’t you think, an equal importance shall be given to detoxification of our mind too. An article in TOI inspired me to think and write on this topic– “It is important to see and take care of ‘what you eat’ but it is more important to see and take care of ‘what eats you’. Wow, very well said; but as usual, few suggestions/tips are ‘easier said than done’. We all have the freedom to think and act, but are we free from our own thoughts, inhibitions, our own idiosyncrasies and pre-conceived notions. We all know that thinking too much about something or somebody can drive us nuts. But since childhood we have been trained in such a way, that we keep ourselves busy thinking about people, about our society and about everything else; as if we don’t have any better work to do in our lives.
Am I trying to say that we should go against the societal norms & all those moral –ethical values? Well a big NO to this question. We all are social animals and we are afraid of seclusion, we don’t want to go against the societal norms and to be left alone at any point of time. But caring too much about society, about people and vandalising one’s own peace of mind is a way too much. These thoughts are as hazardous as toxins. The need is to categorise the type of thought that is disturbing enough and the one that is not. Some thoughts may be full of pain and distress for few and may not be for others, since it is directly related to the way we have trained our minds since long. We call few people as emotional (fools), because they may not have not been able to train and teach their minds; ‘the power of resilience’. Such minds are still vulnerable to all the toxic and negative thoughts that come to them. They keep thinking about those toxic thoughts and are agonised or are filled with feelings of anger, hatred, and resentment. Such minds will keep thinking about the ways and means to take revenge. At times, the influence of these negative thoughts is so powerful that it even overshadows the feelings of joy, satisfaction and positive thoughts. They are capable to keep us engaged throughout; they suck out all our energy and may leave us distressed. And eventually in the whole process we forget about our own happiness, our own mental tranquillity and peace. This traumatic disturbance is so dominant that one’s productivity is hampered & the individual might feel drained out completely.
But as I said earlier, few things are easier said than done. Is it so easy to train our minds in this way? Guys had it been so easy, we would have stopped going to temples, even these spiritual gurus & babas would have better jobs to do (with due respect to all the followers) , there would have hardly been any meditation centre , the physiatrists and counsellors would have been on a perennial job hunt. But since all people & things are well in place, the need of mind training becomes mandatory.
Whether by all these initiatives or by self introspection & improvisation, we all should try to channelize our thoughts in such a way that they don’t become unwanted guests and that they leave us ASAP. To begin with; let’s replace some strong and powerful toxic thoughts (a chunk) with some stupid small thoughts to befool our minds. We should also engage ourselves in some or the other physical exercise since healthy body and healthy mind are interdependent. With healthy body we may be able to take care of our fragile minds. We should also try to avoid toxic thoughts by avoiding the epicentres of these thoughts, yes by avoiding the creators of such thoughts and should look forward to the company of such people who can make us happy and contended. Be oblivious to what others say and to pen down and share any thought provoking ideas, opinions & suggestions which may be of some help in self- improvisation. And last but not the least is …Guys, go for a Music Therapy or a Creative Therapy by engaging yourself in the past and unexplored hobbies.
— Dr Anubha Gupta
(Author , Blogger , Trainer & Co-founder, ILLUMINATE MINDS )
What you eat vs what eats you
