Mental Fasting: Steps to Release Your Negative Beliefs
MORE THAN JUST PHYSICAL FASTING
There is so much emphasis on the physical body, isn’t there? The body is sick, the body is well, the body is hurting, the body needs healing, the body is too big, the body is too small, to flabby, to stiff, too wrinkly, get this procedure to make yourself appear younger, you name it, and our minds are constantly distracted by the body. It’s enough to make you go CRAZY!
You could say this is normal because we are living in our bodies, we need to keep our structure in tip top shape, the body is how we function in the world, so the focus is automatically shifted into the body. Physical fasting is a method to assist the body in healing, and many people have great success in doing so. However, is there more to us than just fasting and healing a physical body? What about the mind and its obsessive thought patterns and dictatorial leadership most of us submit to without even knowing it?
The ego mind is very strategic without letting anyone know its masterful plan. The ego will use the body to keep us distracted at all costs, so we never go back into the mind to explore what is really going on. As long as our body needs our attention, there the attention stays.
Understanding the ego’s motive is helpful so you can begin to reclaim your power back and start looking deeply inside of your mind. Mental fasting or taking a period of time to simply observe your thoughts, is a powerful tool in your arsenal toward inner peace. Much more powerful than anything the body will entertain you with.
If you have spent a lot of your time focused on your body, yet you still feel something is off, you don’t feel satisfied, you’re still seeking more depth, yet you’re not quite sure where to turn, then turning inward and observing your own mind can be a great starting point to finally understand why you feel the way that you do. And guess what, it won’t cost you a dime! Even better, right?
All it takes is willingness and a commitment to doing it. And the best part about mental fasting and watching your mind is no one has to know you are doing it. You don’t have to broadcast it across your social media channels, tell your entire family, or make any formal announcement. This is an inward study that is personal and private to you.
KNOWING THE WHY
Before you decide to start watching your ego thinking mind, knowing what your ego is up to can be very beneficial. If you don’t know why the ego is doing what it’s doing, it will be difficult to choose against it. The magician will work to pull one clever trick after another just to keep you in the cycle of believing false thoughts.
The ego is working 24/7 to pull you away from seeing the compassionate, kind, loving, non-judgmental spiritual side of your mind. This spiritual side is not as concerned with outcomes, expectations, or needs, desires, or wants in the external world. The spiritual mind is the essence within reminding you of your true home in God, which contradicts everything the ego represents.
The ego is full of nothing but falsehoods. False images, false thoughts, false interpretations, false stories, false EVERYTHING and there is no other way that it operates. Your ego will insert resistance into your mind, so you never see what is truly possible inside of you. The hard part is breaking through this barrier. Most of us believe our thoughts, after all they seem very legitimate.
Thoughts often justify the way that we feel and make us believe that they are correct, at least most of the time. However, when you recognize that there is a wise intelligence within you that can observe these thoughts, then ask yourself, what is behind the thinker? There must be something more than our thinking minds that can help us shift our perception of life.
Thoughts are a given no matter what side you are seeing from. When you become aware that you can watch your thinking mind, then you can decide if you want to BELIEVE them or not. This is the power you have, whether to take the bait of the ego, or see it for what it is, and eventually smile at its ridiculousness.
When you choose this way of seeing, you will see the beauty beneath the chaotic nature in front of you, you will feel connected with others as you understand each person has this same dimension within them, it’s simply being covered up by an illusory image. When you understand the conflict in your mind, you can use it while you take time to observe the mental dialogue produced each and every day.
HOW TO OBSERVE YOUR THOUGHTS & RELEASE NEGATIVITY
Make mental fasting a priority so eventually it becomes like riding a bike or driving a car. You don’t think about those activities after you learn them. They simply become effortless once you are comfortable doing them. Working this into your life as a daily, weekly, or monthly practice can do wonders for your sanity. It will also begin to shift your perception in ways you can’t possibly imagine.
Here are a few things to consider when you begin actively observing your own thinking mind.
FIRST AND FOREMOST: Mental fasting is NOT trying to eliminate thought or get rid of thinking because that is a losing battle. You will continue to use thought in your life to accomplish whatever you need in the world.
Rather, think of this as disconnecting from your BELIEF in what the mind is feeding you. Create a space within you that stops, observes, then decides whether or not you are going to grab a hold of that particular thought or not.
All you need to focus on is WATCHING your mind. That’s it. Don’t try to fix it. Just become observant as to how your mind tosses out all kinds of jargon that may or may not benefit you.
Mental fasting has nothing to do with controlling what you think, it’s all about cutting the cord between the decision making part of your mind and your ego. When you see that you have been giving thought incredible meaning, then you can begin to undo it.
PREPARE YOURSELF: Depending on how versed you are in this practice, decide if you want to take a moment each morning to remind yourself to become the observer as much as you can throughout the day.
You can also set aside time in the evening to look back at your day. You might journal through different interactions you had if that is something you are drawn to. Go through it and see what you were thinking, believing, spouting off in your mind, and then notice if these thoughts were accurate or if they were distractions full of resistance that lured you into unnecessary mental dialogue.
Then observe how these thoughts made you feel. Did you let them alter your perception, did you allow them to pull you down, or did they assist you in your day? Watch how a thought can transform your day for the good or the bad.
Mental fasting will eventually lead you to understanding that thoughts are just thoughts. They have no power unto themselves unless you give them power. Over time, these thoughts can come into your mind and just as quickly leave without leaving any imprint whatsoever.
BE HONEST: This one’s big! Notice how often you try to deny something, or justify your thinking, your actions, or behaviors because you are attached to your position. Really dive in and see just how convincing your ego mind can be. It might even shock you at the level it is willing to go.
If you experience any guilt, sadness, or resistance to seeing the truth behind your ego’s motives, remember this is not who you really are. This is simply the part of your mind working to keep you away from your spiritual nature.
Taking the personal self out of this exercise will grant you the space to see the inner workings of the mind more clearly. The more you step out of your personal identity, the more success you will have with mental fasting.
NEGATIVITY AND ATTACK THOUGHTS: During this time watch how often your mind will convince you you are incapable of something. How many times does your mind tell you you’re not good enough, no one cares about you, or that your life should NOT be going in the direction it is going?
Also, notice how quickly your mind will attack someone else, judge what others are doing, even when it has nothing to do with you. The ego mind is ALWAYS on the defensive and will act out in numerous ways to protect itself.
Convincing you that others are always the problem and smothering you with negative thoughts leaves the door shut to take personal responsibility for anything. The ego does NOT want you to take responsibility for anything because if you do, you start letting go of the ego and begin listening to your wiser spiritual self.
LIGHTEN UP: Be kind to yourself. This is not about being perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect human. This should feel like a massive weight lifted off of you when you accept this. Mistakes are a given, yet your ego will try to convince you otherwise.
When you hear self-sabotaging thoughts like these chiming in your mind:
I will never be good enough.
No one loves or cares about me.
I don’t have what it takes to do what I really want.
No one understands what I am going through.
There is not enough time to do what I need to do.
I don’t deserve love.
I might as well give up now.
I will never be successful.
And there are many more, remember this is your ego playing the victim and wanting recognition. The ego loves to pour the negativity on and lure you into a slumber in which you never return. Why? So you never see you have a choice to listen to spirit.
When you choose spirit, you will see that all of these thoughts are not serving you, nor are they true. Learning to see that thoughts such as these are only in your mind, and have zero power until you start storing them in a warm security blanket tucked away in a cozy corner of your mind. When one iota of doubt occurs in your life, you automatically grab this mental blanket and wrap it around you to feel powerless. This becomes a repetitive cycle you believe you can’t get out of.
So, lighten up as you practice mental fasting. You are not alone in thinking any of your thoughts. Everyone does this! Now it’s time to step into a sacred space, put on your observer glasses, and watch just how quickly you give your thoughts meaning in your life. Question all of them!
Does any thought have to become you? Does any thought need to take up space in your mind, clogging up the area so nothing pure can enter? Absolutely not! Letting go of thought, watching them come and out like waves of the ocean will help you on your journey to true inner peace.