I’ve been fasting for 4 days now. It feels good. I had planned on a water only fast, but on the first day I had decided to eat a very little raw fruit and vegetables to ease into it, but I have continued to eat like that everyday: a handful of berries and some plums, and twice a banana. Oh, and two peaches. Lots of water and sometimes juice, and tea. Mostly black tea with milk and cane sugar in the mornings especially. Quite a no-no in the fasting world, but I don’t mind. I am not doing it for the approval of an unseen expert. I do it for myself and let my body be the guide.
I don’t feel hungry at all. I have fasted before and I always felt very hungry the first two days. It used to be quite difficult on water only – those first two days – and then by the third day I would enter into a altered, more clear, state of consciousness, and then it would be easy after that. This time the fast works the same way, but without those difficult cravings. I feel clearer, and lighter.
For me, fasting is not only about cleansing my body, but changing the way I do things. One of the things we take most for granted is to put food in our mouths, unless of course we have eating disorders, but that’s another whole story. When I stop eating, I feel different. My day is not punctuated by the preparation of meals, consuming them, shopping for them, cooking them and cleaning up after them. So suddenly all this time is now released for other things. But since not eating is also clearing my brain, I now find myself with much more time on my hands and a clarity I didn’t have before. It’s like walking on air, floating through spaces, especially the kitchen, with no great interest in food. That is definitely a change from the way I normally do things.
Normally I feel a bit heavy, am preoccupied with many different thoughts, and turn to food and related activities as distractions. Now I am more quiet and reflective. I feel energetic and strong, not at all weak, but at the same time I feel subdued. It’s actually a great feeling.
This feeling creeps up on me slowly. I start to become more aware of my surroundings, and I feel high. But unlike an alcohol or drug high, I get to the place of being high quite slowly. Instead of a rapid half an hour, it took me 24-48 hours to get that high from fasting. And now I’m on my fourth day, and it’s still no more than having a glass of wine on an empty stomach. You feel it. So I really the slow gentle way I have reached this state. It’s sustainable.
The fasting also cleanses, and I already feel that. I had an allergic reaction to pollen in the air, and my eyes were irritated, I was sneezing, and my throat was itchy. These have gone away as my body has started to eliminate the allergens in my blood supply. I do have to cleanse my body a bit more often. Two short showers a day takes care of toxins coming out as perspiration and I have to clean my teeth and tongue too, as that is where the body deposits the results of all that internal scrubbing.
I have lost four pounds. One pound a day. That is also helpful as I am about 30-40 lbs overweight. It’s actually a really nice bonus. I hope to lose 10 pounds by day 8, which is when I am scheduled to stop the fast. But the way I am feeling I feel like carrying on for a month. I think I would feel fantastic, since I am not hungry at all. I mean, really, not at all.
The reason I went on this fast was to honour my three boys and their companions as they traveled to the annual Shambhala Music Fest in the interior of BC. I wanted to send them good vibrations, good prayers, for their safety during their absolute abandonment to the ecstasy of music and community. I wanted the car ride there and back to be safe and smooth. I thought I could emanate such positive energies much better from an altered state of consciousness. So far, so good.