When we think about living a healthy life – one which enhances our mental faculties, strengthens our body, and voids our experience of negative externalities – what have we neglected to account for?
We may naturally think of the food we consume, the time we sleep, and the exercise we adhere to. We probably don’t think about the majority of imposing factors, like the influence of others’ behaviour, the extent to which we indulge in sensory pleasure, and the stressors of work or relationships.
These conditions are often the cause of much unresolved internal conflict. With a refined set of inputs, these conflicts can be put to rest, or at minimum, brought to the surface.
Think of how easy it is to consume; eating food while watching television or listening to music while we walk down the street, completely engulfed in our thoughts if not for a greater, more appealing distraction. Ask yourself also, “how am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want.” With introspection, we come to find that we are often our own biggest hindrance.
It’s not to say that consumption is inherently bad, but a lack of conscious consumption will certainly lead to less than satisfactory outcomes; a life lacking intention and clouded by pollution.
So, acknowledging these conditions, how might we filter what we breathe? How might we go about changing the conditions we complain of, and liberate ourselves from a negative loop of self-medication? It begins with awareness, followed by letting go.
“Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society.”
~ Henry David Thoreau