一天之中，身體不斷傳遞各種訊息，大腦則依據訊息做出即時判斷。有時候，大腦快速回應；有時候，大腦不當一回事。

這種互動關係，像極了行事曆上的待辦事項，有些事重要卻不急迫，有些事急迫卻未必重要。

我常想起極度疲倦卻仍堅持把劇追完的畫面，這種生活片段，在網路興盛後成為許多人習以為常的日常，表面美好，實則透支生命。

睏意是身體最明確的訊息之一，我們聽見了，卻用意志力一再拒絕。這就是價值觀的故事，也是自由意志的真實展現。

事實一次又一次提醒我們：人類在智慧的演出中變得愚蠢，在過度揮霍自由意志時荒腔走板。

在「重要與急迫」之間，在「想要與需要」之間，我們總是誤解時間，擁抱瑣碎，犧牲真正重要的事。

 

深入檢視身體傳遞的生理訊息，哪些既重要又急迫？哪些重要卻能稍緩？哪些則是被我們長期忽略的？

以排便為例，這是最日常卻必須即時處理的訊號。有時候身處不方便如廁的場合，有時候非得由身體發出緊急警報。

我們對排便的關注度往往超過對睡眠的重視，代表潛意識裡，排便被視為重要的訊號，但我們卻忽視了牽動它的根源：飲食與腸道菌相、睡眠與情緒壓力。

排便只是入口，它揭露了一張更大的健康網絡。飲食習慣影響菌相，情緒壓力干擾睡眠，而這些又回過頭來影響排便。

若只談排便，很容易陷入狹隘的思維。真正該努力的，是提升身體的整體效能。於是睡眠與菌相浮現，進而撞擊出「斷食」的角色與意義。

處理混亂，必須先做引流，把廢棄物和不必要的干擾徹底排出。生活與工作如此，身體的健康營運亦如是。

 

我們如何理解身體的訊息？這取決於接收與解讀的能力。而斷食，正是提升這種能力的修行。

斷食讓我熟練於分辨食慾，食慾有兩種來源：一種是血糖降低時的急切警報；另一種來自大腦記憶的慣性提醒。

前者看似必須快速回應，後者則能透過理性延宕或拒絕。

但斷食的經驗教會我：即使是最急迫的飢餓訊號，也可以適度無視。因為我已熟悉身體的能量分配系統，也適應了長期無食物進駐的狀態。

古語「食色性也」，提醒的並非單純的口腹之慾，而是慾望的本質。慾望需要理性對待：適度回應，也適度拒絕。

滿足慾望會帶來短暫的神經獎賞，但理性會提醒我們：暴食帶來的耗損，縱慾造成的後果，往往得不償失。

生命歷練讓我有緣遇見斷食，從實證中，我抽絲剝繭出自律的角色，也在自律與喜樂之間，來回鍛鍊出養護生命的覺知。

 

食慾的傳導，其實只有兩種：一種是「餓」，另一種是「不餓」。我們每天都經歷這兩種訊號。大部分人只關注飢餓，而忽略了「不餓」。

即便是每天三餐的人，也會經歷短暫完全沒有飢餓感的片刻，因為短暫且無聲，往往不被關注。

若能放大並延長這種「沒有食慾」的片段，熟練身體安靜無聲的狀態，就會發現：

那是身體最渴望的一種寧靜，也是身體書寫健康劇本的基礎。

沒有飢餓，意味著血糖穩定；沒有飢餓，意味著能量供應平衡；沒有飢餓，意味著不需要進食。

然而，我們卻在身體不需要的時候，不斷給予食物。

這種日常習慣，是否與最後臥病在床、毫無尊嚴的餘生之境，有著某種潛在關聯？

這個問題，值得我們嚴肅思考。

 

（介於夢想、熱情與慾望之間的某個位置，藏著我們的自我。）

 

When Appetite Vanishes Completely

Throughout the day, the body constantly sends signals, and the brain responds in real time. Sometimes it reacts swiftly; sometimes it dismisses the message altogether.
This dynamic resembles the tasks in a calendar: some matters are important but not urgent, others urgent but not truly important.

I often recall scenes of people so exhausted yet still forcing themselves to finish a drama series. Such habits, normalized in the age of the internet, look harmless on the surface but in truth drain away life itself.
Drowsiness is one of the body’s clearest signals. We hear it, yet willpower repeatedly rejects it. This is a story of values, and also the raw expression of free will.
Reality keeps reminding us: in the performance of intelligence, humans often become foolish; in the squandering of free will, we lose our rhythm and direction.
Between important and urgent, between wants and needs, we repeatedly misjudge time—clutching at trivia, while sacrificing what truly matters.
—

A closer look at bodily signals raises questions: Which are both urgent and important? Which are important but can wait? Which do we chronically ignore?
Take bowel movements, for instance—a routine signal that requires immediate response. At times, we are in inconvenient situations; at others, the body escalates into an emergency alert.
Our attention to bowel movements often exceeds our regard for sleep. Subconsciously, elimination is treated as crucial, yet we neglect its deeper roots: diet and microbiome, sleep and emotional stress.

Bowel movements are only an entry point, revealing a much larger health network. Eating habits shape the microbiome; emotional strain disrupts sleep; both, in turn, affect elimination.
Focusing solely on bowel movements narrows our vision. The real task is to enhance the body’s overall function. Sleep and microbiome thus come to the forefront, leading us toward the role and meaning of fasting.
To resolve disorder, one must first clear obstructions—removing waste and unnecessary interference. What applies to life and work applies equally to the body’s health system.
—

How do we understand the body’s signals? That depends on our ability to receive and interpret them. Fasting, in essence, is a practice to refine this very capacity.
Fasting taught me to discern appetite, which stems from two sources:

one is the urgent alarm triggered by falling blood sugar;

the other is a habitual reminder from the brain’s memory.
The first seems to demand immediate action; the second can be delayed or denied through reason. Yet fasting taught me this: even the most urgent hunger signal can be overlooked in moderation. I have grown familiar with the body’s energy distribution system and adapted to extended periods without food.

The old saying “Food and sex are of human nature” is not merely about appetite—it speaks of desire itself. Desire must be approached rationally: sometimes satisfied, sometimes denied.
Satisfying desire brings a fleeting neurological reward, but reason reminds us: bingeing leads to depletion, indulgence leads to consequences—usually at a cost far greater than the gain.
Life experience brought me to fasting. Through practice I unraveled the role of self-discipline, and in the interplay between discipline and joy, I forged an awareness that sustains life.
—

In truth, appetite signals are of only two kinds: hungry or not hungry. Each day, we encounter both. Most people notice only hunger and ignore the state of not hungry.
Even those who eat three meals a day still pass through brief intervals without hunger. Because they are short and quiet, these moments are easily dismissed.
But if we can amplify and prolong such moments of “no appetite,” becoming familiar with the body’s silent stillness, we discover:
this is the calm the body most longs for, the foundation upon which it scripts its story of health.

No hunger means stable blood sugar.
No hunger means balanced energy supply.
No hunger means no need to eat.

Yet we persist in feeding the body when it does not ask for food.
Is this daily habit somehow connected to the bedridden, undignified twilight years so many endure?
That is a question worthy of our deepest reflection.