Fasting Space

Wishing you well on this Memorial Day.

Welcome to Fasting Space. So nice to have you here.

Take some time.

At the start of this day,
whenever you're coming in here, center ourselves.

Our thinking on health and wholeness.

Today in America, we are celebrating Memorial Day.

Welcome to anyone who is here outside of the country also.

But here we are taking some space, recognize

those who gave their lives and service to our country.

People who had a deep desire to serve
try to make things better for everybody else.

And we recognize the sacrifice today that they made.

Memorial day hitting a lot harder for me this year.

I'll tell you, after spending a good share of my year

working with the veteran community,
people trying to overcome PTSD combat related trauma.

Special shout out to veterans, military families.

People so close to people who are lost. And.

So this can be a, you know, a difficult day.

I just say, hey, my heart is with you today.

Heartfelt thanks and gratitude, absolutely for everything
that you've been through and going through.

I say, you know, a day like this is not a day for politics.

Just pretty much like every other day, if you want my opinion.

But I can say, you know, we got a lot of issues in America.

Do you think that that's fair to say? A lot of issues.

But, you know,
I think today, you know, we've got some things straight to

and I think a lot about core principles

of this country
that you say maybe even haven't been lived up to.

But if we can look at them a tiny bit.

I was thinking this morning,
especially of this beautiful and timeless line

from the Declaration of Independence,
which I say to me, it's not just an American ideal.

I don't know exactly how other people feel about it,

but to me it's an aspirational vision
for all people everywhere.

We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all people are created equal,

and that they are endowed by their creator
with certain unalienable rights,

that among these are life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

You know, we can ask today,
what is the pursuit of life and the pursuit of happiness

if it doesn't include health and wholeness within it?

And think about the word liberty
and what is it and what does freedom mean?

You know, is freedom simply the ability to enjoy ourselves?

Hopefully everybody able to enjoy themselves on Memorial Day,

I know I am, and certainly that's part of it.

But when we think about the sacrifices that people have made

to make this experience possible,

you know the response that I aspire to, the thing

that I want to lean into today, the thing that is on
my heart is distracted,

you know, and to take up space to reflect

and think about, you know, how are we living
and what are we doing?

How do we use the freedom that we have?

Help us dial in a deep appreciation for it?

That's what I want.

Can a day like this help us to have a deeper appreciation

for life and health and wellness,
the precious gift that we have?

These are the type of mindsets, I think,
that can help us really dial in, say this is fasting space.

You know, it's a place for weight
loss and wellness, a place where I'm trying

to bring my best thinking, to say, how do we powerfully

dial in on things that really matter?

Fasting, to me, is something that really matters

because it is a powerful practice of health
that is free and saves money and helps

to reset the metabolism and clean out dysfunctional,

toxic things from our life, both physically in the body,
which is like,

you know, the obvious layer, but also on a deeper layer,

help us get into an emotional space
where we can process, process things,

get into a deep relationship with ourselves
and our relationship with food.

When we are feeling stuck in a place when like

we are kind of stuck in a place in America today

with health, the spiraling cost of it

and the difficulty that we have obtaining and staying with it.

To me, I never say like fasting is not like a miracle.

It's not something that is necessarily easy,

but it is something that is real and it is a part of health.

I tried to share my whole perspective on health
that is across every domain here.

We got a big food holiday.

You're going to be growing.

We're going to get some stuff on the grill later.

Fasting space in part of a day.

You know, to me, in this day we say fasting with purpose.

This is what I want ways for us to take a practice
that is getting into this deep space,

part of our health experience, say,
how do we bring more meaning and purpose to it?

For me, I say, well, we have an opportunity to do that today.

I've been doing some fasting in a day.

To me, a holiday is not the type of space that is for like,
oh, we're just going to fast through the whole thing

and we're going to deny ourselves
and we're not going to have any fun or,

you know, as like, food is very meaningful.

You know, to me, a fasting space is bringing

in a space of reflection
that can actually highlight the meaning of it

so that we don't forget about it
so that we can have a deeper level of appreciation for it.

And that just seems especially applicable today.

Personally planning.

Have some fasting space into the afternoon
and then head with family

and then really dial in, you know, to appreciate it.

This is what I want for us.

Like I was saying, like, how are we living?

Are we just
are we just floating through or are we bringing our

deepest and most sincere, you know, human spirit into it?

Is freedom.

You know, the freedom that we have is an opportunity

to pursue health and wholeness.

And to me,
this is a type of thing that is honoring to people that serve,

that is a process of respect for it, which is.

You know, the attitude that I want to bring to it today.

If whatever freedom means, whatever liberty

and the pursuit of happiness in life means,

you know, it just seems like it's an opportunity
to be of service in some fashion.

And being as healthy as we can
is going to maximize the opportunity to do that.

I think it's part of maximizing
health and life and joy in every good thing.

So that's what I want to do here.

You know, in our sessions together,
how do you feel that we are doing with it?

Take powerful steps to move our health forward.

Use the opportunities that we have to create as much goodness

you know, in the world as we can.

So what I want to do, not necessarily an easy thing to do,
you know.

Like the default state in life is like nothing is happening.

We kind of absorb into the culture.

Culture kind of.

Not necessarily trying to take powerful steps
to dial in on health and flourishing,

you know, or just say, we'll just enjoy ourselves and carry on.

I don't know, is that too cynical?

It feels like that to me.

So it feels good.

Take a few moments out of our day here.

Really dial in the thinking.

How are you feeling about it?

Pay it forward.

That's what I was thinking on Memorial Day.

How do we take gifts that we have received?

Pay it forward in the most powerful way possible?

I say, it doesn't mean this.

I hope I'm I'm balancing this line.

Doesn't mean don't enjoy ourselves,
doesn't mean don't connect with friends and family.

Think of all the discussions we've had
about what fasting really is.

Fasting is openness.

Fasting is flow of energy through the body.

To me, it's a deep space to connect in

to a space of love and kindness and compassion,

which is a lot of an inversion
compared to a lot of how people would do it.

Not any sort of punishment.

We're not trying to punish our way toward health
or trying to nurture our way there.

Yeah.

So the thought that I just want to dial in today,
and if you're not in the US, it's okay.

You can take some of these thoughts.

Apply them in your own context.

A fasting space can be a space of respect,

and you can bring different intentions to it.

When we are talking about fasting with purpose,
you know one, this purpose can be health,

you know, and we did a session the other day about it
that our health is worth it.

You know that it is a noble goal,
a reasonable thing to put our energy to.

And so like that is a space in and of itself.

But then we can bring other beautiful intentions to it,

like helping us to gain compassion

and awareness for people who do not have enough,

and the struggle and difficulty in this world
that people have in the midst

of the incredible abundance that we have, that
we're like in a struggle with overabundance in some fashion,

and yet still people do not have enough,

okay, that this can soften our heart and open us up to that.

It's like a whole avenue to bring fasting with purpose.

It's like when I am voluntarily
deciding to go without in solidarity.

Maybe to free up
resources to be helpful is bringing purpose into it.

Can that circle back around and give us motivation and help

to accomplish something difficult?

I think it can.

You know, here is another avenue of purpose
to bring in respect.

The when we think about the incredible cost,
the incredible struggle

that people have been through on a day like this, where
we're trying to remember

and bring respect and never forget.

Does the act of fasting, of saying, hey, I'm gonna

I was going to eat a meal here, but I'm not going to.

Right.

Does that open up just the tiniest, tiniest bit of space

where it is like an act of solidarity and respect?

And does it have meaning to you?

Does that bring purpose to it?

You know, I think it can only do it.

Of course, if it does, you know,
nobody forced into anything, of course.

But a fasting space does open up a space
also of reflection in the body.

It's easier.

See, if you find this to be the case in your personal practice.

It's easier to get into a deeper, reflective space

in a fasting space than it is if we just had a giant meal.

So, you know, Memorial Day mornings, I don't know about you.

Maybe you have family around already.

And now as a memorial day morning,
you know, it's not so much going on.

It's like the parties in the evening
usually, you know, or in the afternoon.

So a fasting space, you fit it in, in whatever

your personal practice is just in the way
that makes life better.

If you can do it in the morning and then and that clears out

some space, you know, you say, well,
are we doing multiple things in the same time?

If you're going to have a lot of food later, you know,
can you balance it out

if you're on a weight loss path, if you're trying to,

you know, bring balance into many things.

If you're going to be eating in the morning and the afternoon,
but the afternoon is going to be a big food experience,

why not just take that fasting space, am going to clear out

the system like it gives you a little more leeway,

you know, within a day, or you maybe say, this day
just isn't for that, but you can dial in the mindset tomorrow.

And you know, these things are concepts, okay?

You can take the same sort of concept.

You can honor freedom with health on any day.

Okay. Absolutely you can.

So this is a sort of practice,
you know, a special day, a holiday, something like this.

It's it brings extra perspective to it on this day.

But we can
we can dial into it on any day, bring it into tomorrow

or next week whenever it fits in, say, hey,
I'm going to open up some more space here.

Just try to reflect deeply on life, and I'd encourage you

to bring in that sort of mindset to the fasting space.

Like it can be its own thing. It doesn't have to be a big deal.

But sometimes if you're

looking for some extra layer of motivation, you say, well.

I remember doctor Z talking about that on Memorial Day.

You know that we can dial in.

To a deeper, more reflective space.

Sometimes that can help
you get through a challenging situation.

So I thought I would open it up.

There's some deep thoughts.

Those are my philosophical thoughts on Memorial Day, right.

Bringing in that meaning and purpose.

And then, you know, the other side of it.

Are you having some fun?

Are you getting together with friends and family?

Do you have a favorite Memorial Day tradition?

Do you grow out or these things I'd love to hear.

Feel free to share.

You know, for balancing a space just to open it up
into kind of more of regular sort of thinking.

You say, if we're going to have some holiday meal,
some special meal, how do you navigate it?

Happy to brainstorm and think about that.

A lot of people grilling out for Memorial Day.

And so there's a space that can, you know,
have a way to stay low carb.

You know,
if somebody's growing up some sort of meat on the grill.

You know, I encourage people,
there's a space where you can enjoy something

good, but, you know, you don't have to load it up.

You know, I would go an extra chicken or I would say,

you know, over extra potato salad and this sort of thing.

So these are the sort of things we're bridging a fasting space
with our healthy eating space.

I would always say,
you know, have three chickens instead of three pies.

This is these would be the types of choices
that is getting us into this hormonal space.

If we kind of dial in our thinking on the fasting space again,
remember

part of what we're trying to do
in fasting physiologically in the body.

Are we getting less calories right?

Is it less total energy coming into the system?

Yes it is.

And of course that's part of a weight loss and health equation.

The other part of it is what is happening
with the hormones in the body.

When we're getting a lot of carbohydrates coming into the body,

we're changing hormones, especially insulin.

And so this is why, you know,
we talk about super low carb diets,

keto, paleo sort of diets,
things like this, ancestral diets, stuff like this.

All and so many dietary
paradigms is just about getting the processed foods out.

So a piece of meat off the grill pretty minimally processed.

And so that's good.

No carbs keep our hormonal state in a good space.

So, these are beautiful ways to go.

But perfection not required. Okay.

If there's a time for an exception to that,
of course it's a holiday. And.

Whatever floats the boat.

Because remember the boat that we are in a sailboat,
that fasting, do the work,

you have some extra treats and some day just fine.

I always tell people, no guilt tripping of ourselves.

It's like tomorrow is the next day we get back on it.

We have powerful tools.

We moving our bodies in the healthiest way,

opening up some extra fasting space
if it feels good to the body to say, oh,

yesterday was a heavy day, does it just feel better tomorrow?

Bring some extra lightness and openness into the day

and just reset that, get right back on track?

And then of course, dialing in on our food choices
the rest of the week.

So we say keep everything in balance.

This is what I want.

This is what is the sincere
and thoughtful mindset to everything.

To me, a journal is a type of thing that can help us
stay on track with that.

Finding a moment in, you know, today,

right in our thinking,
maybe at the end of the day before bed, hey, what happened?

How did we feel about it?

Set some intention for tomorrow and.

We will carry on.

Thank you for sharing this little space
with me at the beginning of the day here.

I hope these thoughts are helpful.

Framing our thinking, our experience in this day.

I hope it's a thoughtful, reflective space for you in this day
that is meaningful.

I hope you have a good time to connect with friends,

families, neighbors, whatever your opportunities are.

Also, have some great food.

Connect with people. So wishing you well.

Have a beautiful day!

I look forward to connecting with you again tomorrow.