You see, there is great power in doing nothing. Yes, there are times when action is required. But what I’m talking about here is staying still. Let’s dive in to what I mean by “the power of doing nothing.”
Primarily, I’m referring to three things: meditation, fasting, and nature.
Take meditation for example.
What do you do when you meditate?
Right, you sit down, remain still, allow your thoughts to come and go and focus on your breath or areas of pain, depending on what type of meditation you are doing.
But, what are you actually doing?
Actually, you are doing absolutely nothing.
And it is in this act of doing nothing that you are finally given an opportunity to be alone with your thoughts, listen to your conscious and subconscious mind, detach from your thoughts, emotions, allow yourself to just let everything go. This simple act of just letting go is incredibly powerful in that you allow yourself to enter into a state of calm, peace, serenity and blissfulness. There is nothing that can phase you, alter your mood, or take you off your center. You are on a different vibrational plane. You are on a different frequency. You are free.
If you were to enter this deep meditative state and allow yourself to just do nothing for 20-30 minutes a day, every day for the rest of your life, you will fundamentally change who you are for the better. I speak from experience when I say this that having a daily meditation ritual has been one of the most life changing experiences I have ever had. I went from an emotional, angry, egotistical person to a more clam, peaceful, loving and purposeful human being.
Next, we have fasting. Now, after you have done some sort of meditation practice you can move on to fasting. Just like meditation, you are doing well, nothing. You are simply not eating or drinking for an extended period of time. You will come to find that it is both physically and mentally challenging. It is physically challenging because you are depriving yourself of food, the thing we need to survive and nourish our bodies. It is mentally challenging because in the beginning of your habit of fasting, you are in a constant battle with your mind of whether to break your fast or continue torturing yourself.
For me, I practice a form of fasting called “intermittent fasting“. This is not a diet per se but rather a structure of eating. You simply eat during an 8 hour window and fast until the next day. So, I typically eat my first meal around 3 pm, stop eating around 9 pm and don’t eat until 3 pm the next day.
The first week is usually very challenging, since you are practicing a new way of eating, skipping breakfast and delaying your first meal.
After the first week, you will experience a feeling of deep focus, more energy, and better mood. Not to mention there are a multitude of health benefits that you will gain from eating less and giving your digestive system a break, from weight loss, gut health, decrease in risk of diabetes, cancer, and a slew of many other benefits.
Lastly, we have, nature. As humans, nature is our natural environment. It is where we first lived when we came on this Earth, thousands of years ago as Neandrathals.
It is unreal how I can go from feeling so stressed, full of anxiety, and anger but then go out into nature and breathe in nature’s fresh air to feeling refreshed, nourished and calm.
In present day society, we live in “boxes”. We live in our box homes, go to work in a box office/cubicle, come home to our box homes, eat from box cardboards, workout in a box gym, watch our box tvs, etc.
However, when we get back out into our natural habitat, into nature, we immediately can feel a sense of calm, freshness, and pureness. Just feeling that cold winter air hit your face or that summer breeze can instantly make you feel as if mother nature is speaking to you and telling you that everything will be ok, that she is here for us and that we are powerful beyond our imagination.
So, I encourage you to take some time out of your busy day to do…nothing.
Meditate, fast and just sit still in nature.
Your mind, body and soul will thank you for it.
Peace and Love,
Sonam