It is easy to observe the anger and violence in our mind when we are hungry. I started intermittent fasting about a week ago. And interestingly thought that since I am a mindfulness practitioner, I should observe my mind as I do this.
And so after waking up I had just one cup of black coffee (not Filter Kaapi – that delicious freshly brewed coffee with milk and sugar that I am used to having every morning) and left for my office with just water to support me till 2pm.
All was fine. I was used to staying hungry especially when I have work to do. And I was preparing for a few training sessions that I had to present. And at two o clock, my mind started to protest, my brain felt weak, my body felt faint and with great difficulty I tied some loose ends at work and left for lunch.
When I reached home, there was no electricity to use the microwave oven, and I was too hungry to heat up the cold food on the gas stove. This disappointment turned into anger and I snapped at my daughter who offered to heat the food in the gas-stove. And I took two large spoons full of rice and dal and vegetables and sat to eat grumpily. By the time I finished half the plate, I was sick and feeling full. I realised that I had taken too much to eat. Somehow I finished my lunch and couldn’t get back to work as my stomach was upset and it looked as though my body was telling me to give up my fasting!
That’s when it struck me that this was the ploy of Chippy my lizard brain which thought that I was going to die if I did not eat! Oh why did I not think of this? Why did I not take Chippy into confidence? I just announced that am going on a hunger fast till 2 o clock and knowing Chippy – she sat like a locked up animal till my mind opened the gates at 2 pm. According to my mind, at two I could eat! And that is why she threw a fit. The anger, the snapping at my daughter, grabbing that spoon and filling the plate like a hungry animal – yes exactly that is what she did – or made me do!
So the next day, I decided to take Chippy into confidence and explained that even if we don’t eat for an hour after two – “WE WON’T DIE” – There was enough food in the kitchen to feed us for maybe a month and we would die certainly but it was unlikely that the cause would be hunger. I also decided with Chippy that when I break the fast – I would do it mindfully – observe my mood – observe my hungry body and mind, thank Chippy for always reminding me to eat, observe my mood, express gratitude to all the people, animals and nature that helped put out that meal for me.
It is day five of my intermittent fast today and Chippy is happily helping me type this even though it is a little after two and both of us are waiting to go back and have a hearty meal. Of course befriending the lizard brain takes a lot of practice. It is the practise of mindfulness meditation that helps you to recognise the mind’s survival instinct. But if you try to control the mind without understanding why it behaves in such a way, we’ll never understand ourselves.
To understand ourselves, we need to sit with the intent to pay attention to our body, our emotions and our thoughts. Only when we know ourselves can we hope to understand others. And that – in today’s world – is the most important function of humanity.
To get an idea about meditation and mindfulness, you might want to checkout the FREE Five-days Introduction to Meditation and Mindfulness here.
Bell The Mind 