I've just finished a 3 day water fast, and it was the 2nd one I've done. I do it as a way of resetting my body and giving it a rest from my greedy mind.
If you've never done a fast, or are thinking of doing one, I'm sharing my experience with it so you can learn from me - the highs, the lows, and the grateful changes.
The Highs
There's many scientific benefits of fasting. Promoting blood sugar control is what I was looking for the most, as well as reducing internal inflammation, and the longevity benefits.
One of the most enjoyable things about a fast is the calming sensation you get throughout your whole body.
My body condition going into the fast was very good compared to my previous fast, so it seemed easier and cleaner and more effective (I think this is *extremely* important as not preparing right or breaking the fast correctly really put my gut health in a bad place for years).
I'm also interested in the benefits to the mind. Creating better habits by discarding my greed, and developing more discipline (and let me tell you, I had to discard a lot!)
I was very happy with overcoming a lot of greed habits before starting the fast, and immediately after. Even during, I was going through a low patch in my mind, so to avoid the comfort of food I found really helped me overcome a large chunk of that habit.
I've been having cold showers for a while now, and recently ice baths once a week. I decided to have one during the fast as well (It kept me distracted from food :D) and it's benefits compounded the fast.
Lost some weight and did my best to stay hydrated.
Not having to do the dishes or brush my teeth was also awesome :D
The Lows
The last fast I was doing a meditation retreat with a schedule and surrounded by people. This time I was alone, and it made it much more difficult to motivate myself to do anything because you definitely have a lack of energy and overall mind fog.
There were also a few "scares" in the body with stomach cramps, dizziness, head spins. But I felt a lot of this was also psychosomatic.
It helped me to realise how many attachments to my body I had and how much worse my overthinking made it. It was actually quite draining how much I overanalyzed everything in my body, which just made it worse!
TIP - Don't look at food you're going to eat when you break your fast, it doesn't help :P
The Gratitude
Once I broke the fast, I reminded myself of how lucky I was. I was really grateful to be able to eat something as simple as eggs, and the fact I lived in a place where I could afford them and have access to them made it more precious to me.
I really tried to control what I ate, and the pace I ate, and just enjoy the food as it is, without wolfing it down and watching something on YouTube and not even really enjoying the food!
I'm definitely grateful for the progress I've made in my mind, although if I'm honest, I didn't try hard enough to clear away the negativity that was coming up.
But I'm thankful that I've still noticed progress in my mind :)
Conclusion
Fasting can be really challenging, and honestly it felt great and I wanted to keep going. Maybe next time I will do an even longer one to test my limits and dig up those deep, dark habits which I really want to get rid of.
Have you ever done a fast? What have been some of your highs and lows and have you experienced any changes?