Healthy Mental Digestion

We all know how wonderful it is to have healthy physical digestion. We just feel better about ourselves and about life, am I right? But Yoga and Ayurveda teach that it is even MORE important to have healthy mental digestion. Here’s why:

There is a quote attributed to Henry Ford (the car guy!) which says it well:
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t—you’re right.”

The mind has the power to shape our attitudes and our actions. The mind decides if we’re having a good day or a bad day. The mind chooses to listen to and believe certain things, often to the exclusion of many other things which may be just as valid. Just as amazing, what goes on in the mind affects even how we feel in our body. Wow!

Now that you know how important it is to digest thoughts and emotions, here are a few ways to cultivate healthy mental digestion:

Pay attention to the ways your thoughts and emotions affect your body. Do you get sick to your stomach when a fear arises? Maybe a familiar pain returns when you have a difficult conversation with a friend? Seeing the relationship between body and mind is a good first step in noticing when you’re not digesting well.

Process your thoughts and emotions through writing or conversing with a trusted friend. Could you have handled a situation differently? What did you learn from what you endured? Have compassion for yourself and for what it means to be human.

Seek out other perspectives. Just like the body needs a variety of foods with lots of spices to keep physical digestion healthy, the mind needs a variety of views from people who see the world quite differently. Liberals need to listen to conservatives, conservatives need to hear liberal views, and all of us need to open our hearts to people from other parts of the world.

Get your 6-8 hours of sleep every night. Yoga and Ayurveda teach that our mental digestion happens most easily while we’re asleep. No one really know for sure, but maybe this is why we dream! What do you think?