what i learned today

i've long known and understood that fasting conserves and build energies up to a higher level of consciousness, mental clarity and self-awareness, but i never knew there was even such a term as "emotional fasting".

the term came to me while i was about to take a nap, thinking to my self that after the last intense few weeks with M (both blissfully and aggravatingly intense), i needed a break. in our mutual anticipation of being together for real soon, all our fears and worries came out, as we shared more of our deeper hopes and dreams.

well, too much of a good thing can get on one's nerves, too, leaving it frayed and frazzled. so as M takes another business trip there in preparation for setting up his dad's office here, i thought the little break would both do us good in calming us and preparing us for the changes and challenges that lie ahead.

and that's when the term came to me, "emotional fasting".

so i Google-searched it and found a number of fasting sites i liked, which i then bookmarked.

i learned today that:

- fasting isn't just the physical fasting from food or sex or any other attachment, although it's the common notion;
- meditation is mental fasting, prayer is spiritual fasting;
- there is such a concept as "emotional fasting";
- displeasing emotions can be easily traced to certain specific roots:
a. anger - unmet expectations
b. fear - threatened identity
c. sadness - suffering caused by ignorance/ mistaking the "veil of illusion" for Reality
- if you're angry, the quickest way to make the anger subside so you can think more clearly is to drink lots of water (douse fire/anger with water! : > ); and
- if you're fearful/worried/anxious (air element), the quickest way to overcome them is to eat ginger (fire element; get the air out with fire) and physical activity/exertion (earth; ground air into earth)!!!

i liked the rasa sadhana site so much, i'm seriously thinking now of adding emotional fasting (as it teaches), as well as juice and water fasting (both for spiritual development and physical improvement), to my repertoire of spiritual practices for this year.