I think it was probably around November of 1993 when I did my first water fast…
I don’t remember if I did my first one for health or spiritual reasons…
Over the years I’ve done it for both. The spiritual side of things I usually do as an experiment to see if it improves my meditations or not…
I feel the health benefits are way more noticeable than noticing whether or not my meditations are improved through fasting.
So back in 1993 my first fast lasted 3 days. I had gotten a book from the library and read about it first so I would have an idea as to what I was doing. Back then pretty much the only information I remember having was that “fasting” was something some yogis and saints did and probably not eating was dangerous. I mean people have to eat or they die right?
So yeah I wanted to read about it first. The local library didn’t have any books on the subject but I found one through something called inter-library loan. Which basically means that my local library borrowed it from a library in another city or state that had the book that I was seeking. Back then it was pretty much before computers were so widespread so I wasn’t just able to surf out a book online.
I don’t even think there was an online at that time. Certainly not for me anyway as I was living on a small mountain, off the grid. (Off the grid means, not hooked up to the power utilities or phone or anything.)
So I was only able to find just one book at that time and I read it from cover to cover.
I was very glad I did as it mentioned some of the experiences that I might have in doing a water fast, and if I hadn’t read about it first, and just fasted without prior awareness I might have gotten worried.
Also I learned the importance of breaking a fast properly. You’ve gotta do it slowly and in relation to how long of a fast you’ve had. Longer fast means that you need to take more time in slowly breaking the fast.
“Breaking the fast” means start eating again. Juice mixed with water is good. But really people have their own ideas of how to break a fast properly and over the years I’ve read different books that said different things.
E.g. the first book I read, (I don’t remember the title) said break the fast with orange juice mixed half with water. I have since read a book that said don’t use orange juice to break the fast.
So whatever… I would say just break the fast with some kind of juice mixed with water for the first day of ending the fast. For example if I did a water fast for 7 days, then when I broke the fast I would drink juice mixed with water (half juice & half water) for the first day and still be drinking lots of water throughout the that day, but definitely no solid foods. The next day I would drink juice again mixed with water. Maybe 2/3 juice and 1/3 water. Then the 3rd day juice not mixed with water. But still drink lots of water throughout the day.
So that would be a good way to break a fast of 7 or so days. Probably a good rule is 3 days of breaking for every 7 days of fast. E.g. a 2 week fast would have 6 days of careful reentry eating. Meaning the juice/water mixtures previously mentioned.
Breaking a fast slowly and carefully is very important because breaking a fast badly can actually kill a person or at least certainly mess up their digestive system for years…
I don’t really remember all the books I’ve read on this subject over the years, because I’ve read quite a few and learned things from one that I did not learn from the other, etc.
But here are a couple of titles that I like, for the interested reader.
Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and Modern Key to Health Kindle Edition
by Linda Burfield Hazzard (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005RE6GY8/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title
Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program For Conquering Disease Kindle Edition
by Dr. Joel Fuhrman (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Fasting-Eating-Health-Medical-Conquering-ebook/dp/B00SGIYYDC/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515342385&sr=8-1&keywords=fuhrman+fasting
Right now it’s almost 10 PM and tomorrow I will begin a 7 day water fast. I posted here at Steemit the other day looking for a fasting buddy, but no one showed up to join me so I will just do it on my own. Yup just water. Starting tomorrow.
Over the next week I will talk more about the “Fasting Experience.”
E.g. The day before beginning a fast you should eat lightly. Its’ just a good idea. Even better would be to just consume juice all day before the fast.
I of course did neither of these in preparation, but at least I did not eat massive quantities of food! :-)
7 days consuming only water. Actually 7 days is not really a long time, but since I have to work I dare not go longer because I can get really spacey (lightheaded ) while fasting and since I have to interact with people, count money and etc., getting spacey just would make my job harder.
Okay folks I guess that’s it for now. If you’re interested then follow along and I’ll share my experience with you everyday. Tomorrow will be day number 1.
I’m making a point of posting this here at Steemit because I feel it will help me to stay on course/target because in a way I am committing myself in front of an audience. I really need to do this for reasons of my own health. For one thing I’ve been consuming too much caffeine in the form of tea and coffee, and I’m just not feeling very good. Foggy brain and just plain feel like crap.
I always start my morning with a tea or coffee or both. That will be the hard part for me tomorrow morning. No tea or coffee. I figure I will just have hot water. It will be good for me and has no caffeine! :-)
Okay that’s it! See you tomorrow! :-)
Thanks for checking out my post! :-)
Dear reader If you enjoyed this posting please UPVOTE/FOLLOW it really helps!
Thank you. :-)