WHEN EXPERTS CHANGE THEIR MIND - THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF AWARENESS AND PLAY
We’ve seen a LOT of flip flopping from experts in the wellness, er, medical field, er, industry, in the last few years. Don’t worry, this isn’t a soap box on any of that. I was really surprised to come across a video recently from someone I greatly respect talking about a massive change of heart on something he had advocated for for years.
Some of you may know Dr. Peter Attia. He’s a Stanford/Johns Hopkins/NIH-trained physician who focuses on the applied science of longevity. He’s appeared on tons of podcasts, shows and medical journals. As a wellness nerd, I love his deep dives into the science behind health and longevity.
When he did a pretty hard 180 on fasting, it really caught my attention. Admittedly, I allow myself to go down some pretty deep rabbit holes and while I LOVE to experiment, I’m guilty of following the experts too closely at times and losing my own way. I’m also guilty of putting lots of pressure on myself to do MORE. I’m really bad at taking days off from work, working out, or having a to do list. I even overextend myself with my kindness and empathy and it’s opened me up to being taken advantage of.
So how do we find a balance between intention and flow/surrender? How do we hone this skill?
I’ve written before that the one thing I recommend people do every day is to become aware of how they feel and how they want to feel. I make it a point on retreats to tell people NOT to follow what I have done but to try a bunch of different things that have helped me and see what works for them. On retreats we have breathwork, meditation, ice baths, yoga, group time, alone time, journaling, music and family style dinners. It’s meant to be a buffet of things that folks can pick and choose what FEELS impactful and worthwhile to them.
I’ve spent the last ten years as a vegan and large stretches of that I’ve also done some pretty extreme fasting. Minimally 16 hours daily and at points full seven day fasts of only water in the desert. Dr. Attia was someone I listened to closely about his research and experience with fasting. In this interview Dr. Attia said that he found that fasting was inhibiting his ability to build muscle mass, especially as he was getting older. Intuitively I had started to feel this lately and had already begun to shift away from long fasts.
I began to make a massive shift in all of my routines. I became obsessive with checking in with myself (following my own advice) and feeling what came next rather than thinking it. The experiment was to see if I could recognize the thoughts of my mind and urges of my body but ultimately set joy as my target and see where it led me.
The result:
Everything feels like play. Meditation, ice baths, workouts, emails, kitchen dancing during meal prep. Everything. Everything is play. I eat what I want, when I want, but with intention and the goal of nourishing my body. I expect things to happen in perfect timing and spend almost NO time doing things when it feels off. That’s not to say I don’t do things that are challenging, it’s more an awareness of when it’s time for action and time to leave something alone. I stopped fasting, ate meat and even indulged in some recreational substances, and, my body fat went down and my muscle definition went up. My sleep cycling improved and my energy is through the roof.
Belief in what we are doing is SO powerful. There have been several experiments where people who mentally rehearsed what they were doing and what the outcomes would be had equal or more success than people who actually practiced that skill. A group of overweight women who were hotel maids were told by scientists that they burn tons of calories while they are working. The scientists left and came back a month later to find that with no changes to their diet or lifestyle, almost all of the women lost weight.
I was listening to Joe Dispenza talk about the joy of the unknown, the infinite potential that exists there. He says you’re either defined by your past or a vision of your future. The present moment is truly where the unknown exists but it takes work to get to that level of presence and I would argue the level of self acceptance so many of us lack to stay there. That was definitely the case for me. When I gave myself permission to feel things rather than think them, to truly love the present moment no matter what was happening or what my mind or body were doing, everything changed.
We are by nature evolutionary beings. We don’t look the same as we did when we were five, or 10 or 20. Over time our bodies change but so do our feelings about the world around us and how we want to interact with it. What’s important to us changes from day to day and even moment to moment. Does having practices, intentions, routines and commitments matter? For sure. Do we need to make sure to check in with ourselves to make sure these things keep us on our highest trajectory and we believe in what we’re doing? I would say most definitely.
We need to give ourselves ROOM to grow, to evolve. It’s great to learn from others but ultimately, you are your greatest teacher. A plant can thrive in a small pot and some even thrive there. Others will at a certain point need something bigger. If you stare at a plant it doesn’t appear like anything is happening, but give it time and nurture it and a single seed can literally feed you for months.
What are you doing to cultivate a deeper relationship with YOU? How can you bring more PLAY into your life?