my life 2008

...just 'cause.

I suppose my mother was about the age I am now when she began to study fasting as a viable weight loss and overall purification method. In her typical fashion, she read several books, made notes, researched some more, and talked with her doctor before she began. If I remember correctly, at one point she successfully completed a 20 day water-only fast. I recall her enumerating the varied benefits of the practice in the course of her fast: as her body rid itself of toxins (bits of which can be unpleasant), her senses grew more acute. Her voice cleared up and she was able to reach notes she'd never been able to hit (and my mother can sing...even now). I also remember that she planned the fast carefully, took time off work, and broke the fast very carefully (if you'd fasted long enough and you don't break the fast carefully, your body will reject whole food and make you very sick indeed).

I was listening to a segment on NPR yesterday in which a young man recounted how he'd been "born again" after going to a hilltop, asking God to show him the way, then pitching himself down the hill (apparently, it was a bit steep), then lying at the bottom for several hours until he had what amounted to a vision. From this bit, my mind skipped to the notion of self-denial, fasting, and waiting: myth has it that Odin did it, suspending himself from a tree by one foot and fasting until he had his vision. Jesus and Moses both fasted. Fasting is pervasive and important in Eastern religions, too. Islam has daytime complete fasting--from dawn to dusk, they can't even drink water. Granted, it isn't a fast in the normal sense of the word, but the practice of self-denial for the month of Ramadan can itself be enlightening.

I admit to a certain curiosity about where my mind will go and what it will do while I'm fasting. I've read a bit on the emotional possibilities and understand many fasters undergo a sort of existential crisis. (Such reactions may explain the religious fascination with fasting.)

Beyond my curiosity, however, I'm very interested in the literal purification fasting provides. Controlled fasting provides the body an opportunity to clean and heal itself.

The one thing I'm not interested in is weight loss, although some is inevitable. I'm where I want to be and I fully expect my body will stabilize at this point after the fast.

I'm looking into a water-only fast of ~7 days. After the first three days, I hear, I probably will lose my hunger. I want to go long enough to know my body has cleaned itself as much as it can safely, which may entail more than 7 days. Apparently, I should do some things leading up to the fast to prepare myself (more research will help me plan), and I should expect to have no energy during the fast, meaning I'll plan it for when I'll take copious amounts of leave this summer (sometime in May, I'm thinking right now). I also need to look into a safe way to break the fast, of course (I remember that Mother ate limited amounts of citrus fruit to break her digestive system in).

It's more than a month away, right now. I'll keep you posted, of course, when I start. I expect you're interested in a first-person account of physical and emotional day-to-day reactions of a fasting person. :)

d