Diet For Our Minds

Description

Our culture dishes out a lot of "junk food" for our minds in the form of various media and entertainment. What happens if we "clean up our mental diet"?

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Tags: Kenton Whitman,ReWild University,Human Rewilding,personal rewilding,mindfulness,how to,bushcraft,survival,wilderness survival skills,how to survive in the woods

Video Transcription

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hello of friends Rebecca and I we've been on our what we call our rewilding journey for many years now before we call it a rewilding journey it was kind of our spiritual quest but it's always embodied everything that's why rewilding kind of works best for us because it's embodied physical fitness yeah emotional health wisdom explorations nature connection anything we can do or learn to become our best quote our best selves yeah and over those years I feel like if I could look at the different elements that we've played with there's let's just take you know fitness that was getting in good shape exercise huge benefits makes you feel great it's been awesome on so many levels

shifting your diet again incredible on so many levels very big results life-changing but the thing that to me has stood way above everything else it's been are you ready for it I'm ready for it

it's been mental training and I'm talking about

emotional resilience talking about meditation a lot of the things that we cover on this channel and the last honestly two three months I took a plunge going way deeper into the stuff than I've ever gone before I'm so kind of excited about it then I want to share it with everybody and say that I think this is the it's the key because in changing our mentality that changes everything else so this is like the diet for our mind I mean this maybe would be our most unpopular video because we're gonna be suggesting some stuff that's pretty taboo okay turn it off right now yes but this is so okay so what's been happening for me here yeah yeah it's I've noticed a big change and you very much like you say correlating with the last two three months as you go ever deeper into exploring and using yourself as a guinea pig so warning meditation gratitude below if you know that one we did a video I love and kindness meditation spending I don't even know how much time because I'll sort of wake up and use that time of nectar period when I'm half awake half asleep and do a lot of meditation in the morning and I'm trying to stay in that state of meditation throughout the day and I feel so peaceful so loving so connected so much more clearer and aware now on the flip side the other day I was hearing some bad news about the world and that bad news invokes some anxiety and I remember this very well from my past how this pattern works pretty normal though yeah I mean in our in our culture very very great and so so I heard this bad news started getting me concerned worried about the future my mind started to go down those those trails oh you know I'm talking about right right so it's and telling stories and within an hour or two I was back in a regression kind of a personal foul oh no I remember from how long ago when I had

more anxiousness than anxiety in my life really like oh well what do we do everybody everything seems wrong these colored glasses had gone on the colored every so am i right in saying and maybe this is true for many of you out there too but that's kind of a regular state that you're in a whole lot in fact it might even be sort of in a lot of ways it is and it is I'm so convinced at this point that so much of what our culture delivers it calls news right and it's TV programs and and video games and all these movies all these things that we tend to cherish and think no I could never live without that entertainment right but it's junk food for our brains and I could feel it you know as we explore our minds more and more we get more and more aware of when we're in a good place or a bad place we're not an autopilot anymore and so so I can feel very distinctly the difference just in taking this little bit of media and how it impacted my mind and I think I have a pretty good meditative base but still it impacted me pretty strongly so if all of us are under a regular diet of this mind junk food what is that doing to us yeah probably a lot of negative health benefits health benefits negative health benefits that doesn't work together we need a new word anyway it's not benefiting anyone but I imagine that it's probably not very good for us and it probably leads to a thickening of that layer of low-grade stress that we have just another layer and another layer and another layer as we compress more and more and more of that chronic stress and we all know chronic stress is really not good I think this is this is the big problem in a way is that we don't even know we're imbibing mine junk food we're being fed it all the time it's delivering that chronic low-grade stress that's eroding our not just our health but our daily experience because I treated you differently that day in the family differently that day I wasn't my loving compassionate itself in the same way because I had imbibed that junk food and it's dietarily it's the same you know our girls went to their first Halloween event in our little town and there was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and I tried it and I ate the whole Reese's Peanut Butter Cup okay once upon a time they was my favorite years and years and years ago felt like crap holy crap from one and I think I'm pretty convinced I always felt like crap I just didn't know because I was so used to feeling like crap mm-hmm and it's the same with the mentality if I remember the way my mind was before it always felt like crap you know it always was kind of push button worry yeah yeah I can see that it if we can come into clarity oh my gosh this not only would change our lives but would change the whole world right the more of us that can stop eating this fine junk food junk food but I like it and it and it works really well so what are examples of mind junk food and and I'm kind of curious about this goal like what's taboo here should we not be doing so tell me what the mind junk food is and tell me what I should be doing about it well by taboo I meant that you know we cannot suggest that it is not good to watch movies it's just so normal in our culture that we watch movies but as our mind gets into a clearer place and clearer and clearer and then we watch a movie it's stunning how it impacts our minds and the probably the biggest contender the biggest offender here I think is what is called news these days and I've started this practice lately of listening to some positive news there's a couple positive news channels daily good I think is one good news network and the effect of reading positive news is so different my attitude is different my thoughts are different and the negative stuff you know as we've often said without that we know what's out there but how much of that diet are we going to imbibe knowing what it does for us knowing that we can't do anything about most of it unless you're going to be active in something so that's what I was gonna say is what about the whole if you're not outraged you're not paying attention bumper stickers and we need to tell more people about this so more people have an awareness and what about all of that side of the news so awareness is good but if you use a perfect example oh we used to be in tribes okay and when bad news would you know come into the tribe yeah the herd is moving off right we don't just sit there and go oh gosh the herds moving off what are we gonna do we get up and we follow the herd right I was saying that in the olden olden days oh I can't wait until we're olden days that's gonna be so hilarious that when news came in quote bad news or any kind of news it was usually something that was going to be acted upon right as you said okay the herds moving off we've gotta go or the herd of stampeding and we better move our butts cuz and we're gonna not be happy if we right go quick or positive news oh yeah this happened hey tonight let's prepare a celebration so when news came to us it was always of a very actionable nature usually so nowadays you get so much news and as soon as you can't do anything about yet I feel like that um little key in us that is meant to go oh we gotta go I got to do something about this is still there so we hear all this news and it's like oh I gotta do something about it well hi we're not designed for being able to intake massive amounts of negative news and just sit there and I'm sorry right

we're meant to bring in news and then to act upon it respond right so that is that's what we need to limit ourselves to I think is bringing in some news chane we're deciding what you're gonna act on act on it be active but do not sit there and just take in more and more negativity unless you are a completely realized then master if you are contact us you cannot absorb it none of us can absorb that without really damaging ourselves right and we're meant to I feel like we're meant to absorb news within that tribe to within a community that supports so if we received bad news of some kind that there are people there that are sharing in that with us whether it's grief or its shock or its excitement it is devided right yeah which should not confuse be confused with joining online groups and such but right it's gonna talk about stuff and hash it over yeah yeah yeah on the fear and negative right because of course if it's true that our minds can't tell the difference between a real threat and a perceived threat then every time we're talking about it we're simply doing the same loop for for a body that's like right I actually I have a question here which is what's two questions first of all so what do I do as a as a person in the world or maybe some of you watching this say what am I supposed to be doing are you telling me I shouldn't watch news I shouldn't watch movies I mean what is this no song-and-dance please don't laugh is that what it sounds like to the very top button I mean you button your shirt all the way up I don't mean like that but I'm just saying this doesn't sound like it necessarily is gonna be any fun what what do i do how do I do this it's on a practical level so I actually can make it work so I can start to cultivate more awareness and more happiness you know it's I think it's coming to realize that our our culture is gonna dish out this entertainment to us and that that entertainment like junk food it's it's designed to hook us we think we're enjoying it but like Garrett our forests market at home you'd been on video games all the time he went home he played video games for a while or he had a break here though for yes nobody knows when he went home tried him for a while and then deleted all of his games and said you know what I can see these now for what they are right aren't they aren't actually that fun I just was fooled into thinking well and we know for sure because of people that we have spoken with that video game companies have a psychologist working for them who are figuring out and making this addictive how can we get this so that we hook them right and use channels I mean it's all the same this stuff is meant to hook us so what we think we're enjoying is really probably more about an addiction and what's waiting on the other side of that addiction is is all this incredible stuff connecting with people on a real basis is infinitely more fun and exciting then sitting down and taking in this the substance that's meant to addictive eating a good meal that you cooked and actually tasting it going for an adventure in the woods in the city yeah from the beach so if I wanted to do something about something I here maybe it would be useful that I pick one thing that is really kind of affecting me and and take positive action towards that like that could at least say she ate that part of me that's like but but if I don't listen to it how can I do anything about it we can say okay I am gonna choose to you know pick to pick something in community that might be local could be international but say I'm going to focus on this one thing right now could change later and that's where I'm gonna put my energy so when I feel as though I need to make change or help others or the world to choose that one thing yeah I think with news with the world news type of thing if we really think we're not addicted

let's do we won't still wanna pay attention to it let's take one day a week that's our news day and instead of watching the canned stuff on TV go online to a trusted news source it's you know the TV's gonna be it's basically the same things all the time and go there and choose your source and then read a couple things and set yourself like a half-hour hmm I like that I'd be your news time you're gonna get me anything it's important you know if there's something giant happening you're gonna find out about it so you know where and but now you've moderated it you're taking in just a certain amount enough that you can counteract with positive news okay meditation with okay so for all of us here that are trying to gain something from what you've been learning limiting news nay negative news or the real news to a half an hour a week or whatever it is that you choose you say okay Saturday night I sit down I'm gonna have a cup of tea and I'm gonna read some stuff no really buttoned up to it so but going to positive news take in some of that try it for a week and see how it feels does it change your mindset mm-hmm what else I'm always pushing that gratitude practice blow loving you know we haven't done one on a loving-kindness meditation does I saw any kind of mental visualization where you're sending out positiveness

yes especially people that are tough to send it to right so it's to recondition our mind in really positive ways and it's real live social connection that is magical calling somebody up and going for a walk with them connecting with your friends not through texting I'm not talking about for a Facebook or whatever but connecting with people getting together having real experiences real shared experiences if you have access to a campfire doing a campfire and going to a little cafe or coffee shop some friends why do strangers fit into this I know see when I when I go out with you I see you have this beautiful smile you're almost always wearing it and people notice that and you go up to people all the time and and say hey could I hope you carry your groceries to the car or could I put your card away or I mean these are examples that we use because they're ones that happen on a regular basis and I notice the other people and their smiles and often will get into conversations and discover things about people that we never knew like oh you're my neighbor and you live down the street and you actually you have about 250 acres and come hike it sometime was like whoa oh my gosh all from just a simple interaction is there value in talking to people that you don't know I think that's why we bring Forest monks out of the woods often into new towns to interact with strangers because talking to people yeah it starts to break down the barriers and we see if we're all fellow human beings and people have so much to share man this I just cannot say it enough the mental junk food it is designed to get us to sit in a little room and just intake it that's how it would be happiest if you are alone in a small dark cubicle watching the screen have glasses that are always on there you go we don't even so it it's pushing us apart yeah if we can come together we can limit the intake of that start bringing some really good healthy mind diet into our minds and then connecting with each other oh it sounds really nice it can sound a little scary though if you're not used to that kind of a thing oh yeah I mean I'm sure a lot of you can relate if you grew up on texting it's it's so much easier to text somebody a lot ups can be fearful actually to call somebody or to go and connect with somebody you can just text but that is that is doing damage to us it's not doing us a favor we think it's a tool that we're getting to use and it's cool but it's using us and it does seem like that it's not in a big way yeah it seems like almost I want to say everything in moderation including moderation and what I mean by that is that if you are going to watch the news we were talking about earlier sit down one time a week set your time limit do that if you are going to watch a movie be aware you're watching the movie I how about will you watch the next movie you watch set your alarm to stop three different times and take a 10-minute break each time it's like what that runs the movie but you're aware hey look at how much I'm drawn into this look at how much it affects my emotions right just as an experiment and I don't feel like you're necessarily saying never do these things again but to stop and notice how do they make me feel and I'm gonna come back to that peanut butter cup that you ate right I I feel like you're thinking okay hey these were so good I'm gonna have one right there don't we don't never buy these kinds of things so here's one right now what it's the same as the piece of kind of junk my junk news that you got what happens when you do take something in say you want to clean it up say you've done a good job and all of a sudden you're at work in a co-worker goes did you hear blot before you can go they've told you and you're like oh my gosh what happens when that comes into your life because we obviously we need to build in some resiliency right we can't pad our walls and make it everything perfectly you know pink ribbon safe glad you brought that up because it's this is not about anti-technology okay it is not about not taking any of this in it's about using technology to benefit us rather than letting the technology dominate who we are and shape us unconsciously so this should be a tool that we use wrench is easy it's a tool that we use sometimes feel like they're using me the technology is using us and when we take stuff in all we have to do is notice how did that make me feel that's how people change their diets out here eat this see how you feel right go a couple months on a healthy diet we take them into the fast-food restaurant how does that feel when you need it so it's not about not having those things but becoming aware and then we naturally will make decisions that result in a more positive mindset and what about that piece of you is that you do receive if I mean can you just go back to staying the course and say okay I've heard this news but you know what I feel like I need to do something I'm gonna take that one cause and I'm gonna we go tonight after work i'ma stop by and volunteer at the name whatever it is keep watching the happy news because I know sometimes as you said before something can come in that I wasn't expecting we don't have perfect control of our environments thankfully that's how we grow how then can I dance with that be good it's just it's a good thing when something comes into you right that's a challenge for you that's again that's what we do out here right it's not about avoiding those challenges but it's being aware of it so all we have to do is say hey this came in it scared the crap out of me right and here's how I felt for this duration of time and then we're naturally gonna make changes out of that awareness I understand what you're saying though awareness gives us the ability then to pause for a moment it's like the pause button before we then act I guess the final thing here is remembering that there's two levels to this and the one is your our intake so the median such the junk food that we're in taking but the next the foundation of it is the foundation there's a meditative practice right developing a mind that's stable and resilient and then it can intake some junk food without being ok affected too bad get it yeah cuz you know when I was negatively impacted like that you could tell but probably nobody else in the world yeah because this change was right but all right

I've spent a lot of time developing a foundation right if I don't have that foundation yeah that news is gonna come in good news yeah bad news right Emerson nothing down an awesome awesome so build a foundation with meditation with gratitude practice where it's positive action right so that foundation social connection in person and then be aware of what your mental diet is Wow thanks this is kinda like an interview I wanted to be really hard on yeah thanks for watching everybody uh please share with us your thoughts on this what you notice how you feel when you take in the real news when you don't what some of your practices are oh I mean we would love to hear and it's so helpful to all the other people who are reading through them love to you [Music]