How do you feed yourself?

Seems somewhat obvious, doesn’t it? You go to the shops; you purchase food then you eat it. Simple. But that is only part of the how we should be feeding ourselves.

Physical body

We know that food provides energy to your physical body to help keep you functioning; food is fundamental to:

• Energy for work, rest and play
• Development
• Organ flow; digestion, breathing, heart beating and brain function
• Bone health
• Immune & gut health

When you don’t feed your physical self adequately, you can start to see (& feel) a change in the way you function:

• Become irritable, cranky and tired
• Can develop nutrient deficiencies
• Organs may start to shut down
• Experience brain fog
• Frequent sickness including colds and flus

When you are burning the candle at both ends, you soon realise something must change or you have no other choice but to make a change because your physical body has given you no other option!

You can reach for the multi-vitamin bottle to dose the body up with essential nutrients to try and stop the illness progressing or make a big batch of vegetable soup seeking nourishment from vegetables to ward off any unplanned and inconvenient lurgies.  You have all been there, haven’t you? You understand to get the body back to balance, you need to feed it, provide essential nourishment to the organs by choosing healthy nutrient dense foods to stop yourself becoming ill.

But what if we were to think about feeding ourselves in a slightly less obvious way?

“If you feed your mind as often as you feed your stomach, then you’ll never have to worry about feeding your stomach or a roof over your head or clothes on your back.” – Albert Einstein

The Mind

When you feed the physical body, which also includes the brain; you can physically function but how are you feeding the mind? Have you thought about this? How does the mind function if you are not conscious about the way you are feeding it?

The mind and the brain are interchangeable. We often refer to them as one identity when in fact they are two different but interconnected entities.  The mind uses the brain, and the brain responds to the mind, but it is the mind that can change the brain not the other way around.

When we talk about feeding the mind; we are feeding the mind energy and this energy is generated through thinking, feeling, and then choosing.  Without the thinking mind, the physical brain would be useless.

Our brains are always changing through streams of conscious (awake) and non-conscious (asleep) activities; and it is through these activities that you can change the structures of the brain, building or wiring new thoughts.

 Never overlook the importance of feeding the mind and nurturing it as you do the physical body (including the brain). When you feed the mind (thinking and feeling), you are feeding and assisting the brain to be rewired differently – your mind can help the brain overcome feelings of anxiety, stress, anger, and depression by you feeding it with mindful thoughts that change the pattern of the brain.

As a society we need to start becoming more consciously aware of how we are feeding our minds. There are numerous ways (some good and some not so good) in which you can feed your mind to ensure continuous health and most importantly growth.

Some positive ways to change the brain though a mindful thought process include (in no order):

• Watching a TV series, movies, and documentaries
• Listening to the radio
• Reading a physical book
• Listening to a podcast
• Daily meditation
• Physical exercise
• Brain games
• Spending time with like-minded people
• Exposing yourself to new experiences
• Trying something new daily
• Research and development

Your choice

Choose to feed your mind as much as you do your body for consistent growth; we are not limited by our thoughts more by how much we choose to explore those thoughts.