I fast at least once a year as I enjoy the cleansing feeling that it gives me, not only my body but also my mind. I feel de-cluttered mind wise after a fast. This passed week I have been on a fast with some friends of mine.
I wish to share some of our experiences during this time. It’s not exceptionally radical, it consist of 3 lead in days then the fasting days, 3 lead out days.
The 4 others that came on the fast with me had never fasted before, so it was great to hear all there positive experiences as we progressed through.
We got together on the first evening (Friday)and spent some time sharing our reasons for doing the cleanse.
We all had different goals and expectations. TW was give up smoking, GF wanted to detoxify in order to lose weight, SF was wanting to kick start a new rawfood lifestyle and RC wanted to do a detox, I needed to cleanse.
We met again on the Sunday to make a big pot of Broth which everyone contributed some vegetables too. This being the third day, we had our last solid meal at lunch time on that day.
We all got around the island in my kitchen and chopped up 5 onions, 2 cabbages, 6 capsicums, 3 chillies, a large bag of spinach and 18 potatoes. Fitting all these vegetable into my 2 large pots was a challenge, then GF chomped into his thumb instead of the potato.
In between trying to stop the bleeding finger I added lots of herbs and spices to the broth.
The broth took another hour or so to cook and we settled down to a game of Rummy O, which some of us had never played before. I won the game even though I was flitting from game to stirring soup and tasting.
To everyones horror I stained off the vegetables to be discarded (feed to my chickens) and divided all the liquid broth among the 5 of us, we ended up with 2 litres each.
The fast lasted for three days, then we had our lead out days.
It was amazing how everyone had similar and some individuals experiences.
Most of us did some kind of cleaning I cleaned out all my draws in my bedroom and in the kitchen.
RC dragged out all her stuff she had stored, she sorted and discarded what was no longer wanted, she did this until 3 am then proceeded to continue the next day to de-clutter her life of all the things that she had been holding on to for unwarranted reasons.
SF cleaned out her office, TW who gave up smoking wanted to wash everything mainly to remove the stale smoke smells that were lingering.
This is often a common occurrence when you clean on the inside you have the desire to clean on the outside.
Most of us were waking early and feeling energy to burn, I went with GF for a 35 km ride on the Saturday and for 52 km on Sunday, I was a bit shattered after that though.
SF wanted to get out and exercise, due to lack of motivation she had not been doing any for several months.
RC and I had been attending Buddhist meditation classes, we found more clarity in our meditation. I found everything was easier to understand, it all made sense all of a sudden.
TW had the desire to curl up and keep warm with a good book, she found it better to hibernate.
GF had the most interesting experience of all, he discovered he had gallstones when he had a gallbladder attack. This was very painful and unfortunate for him. However on a positive note he can now remove them from his body.
This just goes to show how powerful a fast can be. The idea of fasting is to give the digestive system a break and allow the body to do some healing. This is exactly what happened with GF his body decided it was time to cleanse the gallbladder.
Some of us felt a bit cold near the end of the fast. We all lost weight, some as much as 3.7 kg, but most of us around 3 kg.
We all had a lightness and feeling of well being. Everyone found that they were not hungry at all, some reported to have missed the chewing process.
So the fast had a positive result for everyone, we are all happy with the results.
This is the cheapest detox you can do. You don’t need to spend money on detox kits.
You just use the best organic fruits and vegetables available and you can cleanse your body and mind over an 8 day period and feel great.
Best results when you plan the process, do it with others as then you aren’t feeling isolated.
If you want to do a fast, then email me and I will send you the fasting protocol, it isn’t hard but important you follow the instructions. Should you suffer from chronic illness you should consult a naturopath before fasting.
My name is Raelle Connolly and I’m a Homeopath from Napier, New Zealand. I love to work with people and help them become the person that they want to be. I believe that a healthy body and mind is the key to happiness and that it’s a constant journey.