water fasting

[Sunya]

http://www.healthscience.org/content/view/35/111/

 

interesting article I found so I tried water fasting for 36 hours, never fasted in my life and it was hard, but after i got over the hunger I felt great. i'm going to start fasting one day a week and in december try a 5 day fast.

 

do any of you guys fast? do you find it beneficial?

[Sahaj Nath]

http://www.healthscience.org/content/view/35/111/

 

interesting article I found so I tried water fasting for 36 hours, never fasted in my life and it was hard, but after i got over the hunger I felt great. i'm going to start fasting one day a week and in december try a 5 day fast.

 

do any of you guys fast? do you find it beneficial?

 

my longest fast just this year. 25 days of water, juice, and tea. just water some days. just water and green tea most days. but on days when i had to go to work, i had some juice to help keep up my stamina. very cleansing, sort of like the cycle the body can be thrown into after a powerful transmission.

 

after the second day the stomach doesn't even growl anymore. but if you're gonna go with just water, the cleanse can get pretty heavy. flu-like symptoms, headaches, eye soreness. really nasty breath and a filminess on the tongue. aches and pains where you didn't even know anything was wrong. there can be a few cycles of this. if it ever feels too severe, just throw some juice into the mix and that should help calm down some of the symptoms.

 

once you get through the heavy cleanse days, your body can just buzz with energy. old scars may start to disappear and serious conditions can begin to reverse themselves. a lot of people do deep fasting for the healing benefit.

 

if you're gonna cleanse, i think you should go ahead and cleanse out BOTH ENDS. i was really, really reluctant to use an enema, but once i got over myself, i was glad i did.

 

5 days isn't very long, so i don't think you have too many precautions to worry about. it would be good to read up on smooth and safe fasting, though.

[joeblast]

I'd have a tough time...I'm eating constantly...

[Sunya]

thanks for the advice Hundun.

how did it impact your meditation practice?

 

i've never even thought about an enema, the idea of sticking something up my butt isn't too pleasing. you have to go to the doctors to get one?

[agharta]

It is possible to overdo water fasting. In moderation it is very beneficial. I recommend taking clays while you are fasting.

[林愛偉]

It is possible to overdo water fasting. In moderation it is very beneficial. I recommend taking clays while you are fasting.

 

 

I've done fasting over the summer. Only drinking tea, or water, warm water. Also, eating mantras and meditating. No hunger pains, only high energy, and many responses...cultivation indeed.

 

 

Peace,

Lin

[nightwatchdog]

I have undergone water fasts of several days length on occassion. I also fast weekly for a day or so.

 

I've noticed no health benefit whatsover. Honestly.

 

But I still do it.

 

Sometimes it's uncomfortable.

 

Often initially it interferes with my meditations because of the discomfort intensifying as my attention becomes more focused. At these times my mind wants to escape my uncomfortable body.

 

If there is a benefit to fasting, for me it's the exercise in discipline.

[Christoph]

I,ve not done it myself but look into dr Jubbs cell rejuvination 14 day Lifefood "fast".you consume nutrients but no solid food . Very intersting book.Find out more at www.lukecummo.com

[Cameron]

No water fasting but I sometimes do a practice called water therapy.

 

http://www.sakthifoundation.org/WaterTherapy.htm

[Yoda]

you can search taobums for more info. The only negative is that it can be ungrounding especially when mixed with practice. Right now, I eat once a day as an "intermittent fasting" thing. I tried eating every other day and it didn't work out after awhile... the bodster got confused as to what it was trying to accomplish. If you fast once a week make it a day you don't usually socialize on... that'll make it easier.

 

In terms of health benefits, calorie restriction has been shown to reverse aging related markers in human dna and has tremendously extended the life span of rodents... so it can be a powerful tool if it's appropriate for you.

[nightwatchdog]

I did water therapy for awhile. I was advised to drink one gallon in the morning daily instead of the smaller amount Cameron's link advises.

 

My kidneys got very, very cold. So cold in fact that my entire lower back was uncomfortably cold to the touch all of the time. It took several weeks without water therapy to return to normal. I did not find the experience to be healthful.

 

Perhaps the smaller dose would be better.

 

Any comments Cameron?

[Cameron]

I do it like the link says.

 

I find it to be a good practice.

 

Have you tried doing it with 1.5 liters as the link instructs?

 

Also..I hope you were using room tempurture water and NOT cold water.

[sheng zhen]

http://www.healthscience.org/content/view/35/111/

 

interesting article I found so I tried water fasting for 36 hours, never fasted in my life and it was hard, but after i got over the hunger I felt great. i'm going to start fasting one day a week and in december try a 5 day fast.

 

do any of you guys fast? do you find it beneficial?

 

Im doing a small one right now. I had three days on vegetable and soups to help the body adjust, and now i have three days on just water. Then Im gona have one day on vegetables again before Im back to my normal burgers and pizzas.

 

Fasting is great for meditation and energywork. It clears the head and gives greater depth in meditation. And of course it detoxifies the body. I do 1-3 fasts a year, some long and some short.

 

A very fun, but demandig 10-day fast is to mix chilli, pepper, garlic and a special kind of mustard seeds(think it is called white mustard??) in the mixer. Eat 3 spoons of this twise a day and nothing else but water, and sit in a suna for atleast 1 hour a day. That fast is the closest I have been to dying this lifetime... But it feels amazing afterwards. I cleances the colon thoughroughly aswell as the tissues in the body. And a lot more.

 

Ive heard that the way the ancients used fasting is that the hunger is used as a symbole of their hunger for God. When ever I get hungry I do meditation. It makes the fasting so much more comfortable and productive than if I should go around being frustrated about my hunger.

[Cameron]

As a counterpoint I have read fasting is NOT a Buddhist path.

 

Buddhism teaches the MIDDLE WAY.

 

To me..doing something like water therapy every day for a year is more balanced than fasting for a week or whatever.

 

my...2....cents.....

[nightwatchdog]

As a counterpoint I have read fasting is NOT a Buddhist path.

 

Buddhism teaches the MIDDLE WAY.

 

To me..doing something like water therapy every day for a year is more balanced than fasting for a week or whatever.

 

my...2....cents.....

 

When I lived at the monastery, we fasted every day! Zazen can be a kind of fasting. LOL

 

But as far as food is concerned, a breakfast of vegetable soup and hot tea was served at 5:00 am. Lunch consisted of rice, and steamed vegetables at 11:00 am. Every other day we had a bit of tofu thrown in for lunch. Those were the only meals.

 

This is observed because Buddha suggested his monks eat between sunrise and noon only, then fast the rest of the day. Middle path does not mean easy path. Remember Buddha was a Sadhu first. For him the middle path meant something very different from us chubby, lazy westerners.

 

[Procurator]

I fasted a lot, will start a long fast soon. Contrary to newage conventional thinking - water is bad for you, especially when fasting.

[sheng zhen]

I fasted a lot, will start a long fast soon. Contrary to newage conventional thinking - water is bad for you, especially when fasting.

 

Cant imagine that to be true, but maby you have a good reason. Why is water bad when fasting?

[Procurator]

Cant imagine that to be true, but maby you have a good reason. Why is water bad when fasting?

It is bad - period. Look at all these office cubicle dwellers - always a bottle of soda, or water or a cofee cup glued to their hand. That is not a crowd i want to belong to. They are killing their kidneys.

 

When fasting the body shuts down all external intake, different subtle gears are coming into motion. Drinking throws a wrench into these gears.

 

These experience is typical "nightwatchdog Posted Today, 05:48 AM "

[Cameron]

Water is bad for you?

 

Ok..I am off this thread

[sheng zhen]

It is bad - period. Look at all these office cubicle dwellers - always a bottle of soda, or water or a cofee cup glued to their hand. That is not a crowd i want to belong to. They are killing their kidneys.

 

When fasting the body shuts down all external intake, different subtle gears are coming into motion. Drinking throws a wrench into these gears.

 

These experience is typical "nightwatchdog Posted Today, 05:48 AM "

 

Hahaha! We had a guy, an "expert", here in Norway who was in the newspaper saying that water was bad for us. That all these superstars drinking water on pictures in magazines set a bad example to the youth. He told us we could actually die from drinking too much water! two cups a day was more than enough he said. My god, I thought, I really need to cut down on my water inntake! I dont want to die! Hahahaha...

 

Well, he got his 15 min fame.

 

Maby you confuse the word "water" that we are talking about with something else...?

[Cameron]

This guy thinks by water we mean tequila

[arnquist]

Mormons fast 2 or 3 meals once a month and make fast offerings, giving the money they would've spent on food to the church to give to the poor. So yeah, I've fasted, and it definately has health benefits, esspecially if you eat more than you should, like too many people in modern society do. But I like this simple thought from Jos Slabbert at Taoism.net

 

117

 

People in harmony with the Tao

eat when they are hungry

and rest when they are tired.

[Sahaj Nath]

It is bad - period. Look at all these office cubicle dwellers - always a bottle of soda, or water or a cofee cup glued to their hand. That is not a crowd i want to belong to. They are killing their kidneys.

 

When fasting the body shuts down all external intake, different subtle gears are coming into motion. Drinking throws a wrench into these gears.

 

These experience is typical "nightwatchdog Posted Today, 05:48 AM "

 

 

PLEASE tell me there's a punch-line at the end of this comment which you somehow failed to post!

 

lol!

 

 

 

look at office cubicle dwellers? i don't want to belong to that crowd, either. so guess what? I DON'T WORK IN A DAMN CUBICLE! anxiety, fear, and stress in the form of paperwork and office memos, in the context of a sedentary work environment IS death to the kidneys. AND the liver. AND the spleen. And the lungs. And the heart. And the intestines. and 5 sodas, 3 lattes, and a raspberry scone for the day's nutrient intake certainly doesn't help matters.

 

so... water is just like soda ...and just like coffee...

 

 

yeah, i can see that.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Hundun

[gendao]

my longest fast just this year. 25 days of water, juice, and tea. just water some days. just water and green tea most days. but on days when i had to go to work, i had some juice to help keep up my stamina. very cleansing, sort of like the cycle the body can be thrown into after a powerful transmission.

Wow, were you juicing fresh plants...or just drinking fruit juice from the store?

 

And I've done colonics before, I think it does help to clean out your large intestine. Not the funnest thing in the world, but I think something at least worth trying...

Edited November 7, 2007 by vortex

[Sahaj Nath]

thanks for the advice Hundun.

how did it impact your meditation practice?

 

i've never even thought about an enema, the idea of sticking something up my butt isn't too pleasing. you have to go to the doctors to get one?

 

 

you can pick one up at the local drug store. they're actually very common. women buy them far more regularly than men do. i almost paid $80 to have a professional do it because i was so uncomfortable with the idea.

 

 

as far as impacting my meditation... i wouldn't even know where to begin. Lin Sifu could probably do a better job of explaining that one. what i can say is that by day 10 my energy body felt pretty liberated and expansive. i took to watching the movements of some of my students with my eyes closed. it was easier to move the energy around in their bodies from 7 feet away seated in half-lotus on a cushion, than it was to touch them or to project from just above their skin.

 

i hardly wasted a single breath during that fast. every breath was both cleansing and nourishing. by day 17 my body just felt like a cumbersome formality.

 

Wow, were you juicing fresh plants...or just drinking fruit juice from the store?

 

And I've done colonics before, I think it does help to clean out your large intestine. Not the funnest thing in the world, but I think something at least worth trying...

 

 

on juice days i mostly drank juice from the store, but it was still pretty fresh. apple hill is only 40 or so miles from sacramento, and there are no additives or preservatives in the juice that comes from there. apple-pomegranate juice is pretty amazing. during the last 4 days of the fast i had odwalla superfood.

 

also, i would get fresh wheat grass juice from my next-door neighbor who grows it. one of my students lent me his juicer, but i never used it.

 

 

feces from a decade ago remains lodged and packed into our intestines. most people's bodies are in a continuous state of mild poisoning because of this. it's surprising how powerful the body's natural healing ability is when not being sapped by the intestines.

 

i read an article earlier this year about a reporter who went on a 5-day cleanse in thailand. fasting, fiber-rich juices, and enemas. one of the guys in the group said that on the 3rd or 4th day his bowels passed a marble he had swallowed when he was a child!

 

it's insane the amount of *shit* our bodies can hold on to.

 

Edited November 7, 2007 by Hundun