This is something the ancients used to do. But what are the benefits? I can only relay to the reader that which has been my own experience. I have practiced Fasting, on and off, for forty-six years now. Recently I went back to fasting after not doing it for several years.
What prompted me was the pain and aches in my joints, the regular headaches, the sleeplessness, anxiety, foggy mind and general lack of energy I have been experiencing. I went to my book shelf looking for help and pulled out my trusted old friend, ‘The Miracle of Fasting by Paul Bragg. I honestly don’t know why I stopped reading this book but I suspect it was due to the modern trappings of life. Fine food, fine wine and lazy living brought about by the notion that I am now simply too old to do the same things I did more than four decades ago. However, according to Paul Bragg, that is not the case. Never say Never!
So, I started Fasting again by firmly being sure this is what I wanted. In the past, if I got too hungry, I would sometimes cave in and quickly run to the fridge. But this time… this time I wanted to make it work again.
The first time I re-did a fast it was without food or water for a whole twenty-four hours. I noticed the hunger pangs subsided after a few hours. I slept a lot and spent time in my garden – in nature.
A slight headache came on but I knew it was due to toxins re-entering my blood stream and giving my liver a run for its money. I knew that eventually impurities would be eliminated from my body.
As the hours passed on I also engaged in prayer, talking to God as if He was a person sitting in the same room with me. I felt closer to God. I could feel that fasting not also cleansed the body, but the mind and spirit also. I instantly knew it was a timeless sacred and spiritual practice that brings you face to face with the weaknesses of the flesh and the addictions of the mind. It’s not an abstract practice, but rather an inter-dimensional journey.
My thoughts were all over the place. My emotions started bubbling to the surface, but after a while, things settled down and I was getting clearer on what was truly happening to me. It was a time of chaos while energies were aligning.
From what I had read and experienced I also knew that my life’s experiences that were imprisoned in every cell of my body were being set free during a Fast. Paradigms were shifting and my Being was changing for the better, while aging with grace.