Last week we had a family event, our post wedding party with our families in Cologne. Now that everyone is back home and we are all getting back into our routines, I want to share some insights from my transformational journey (see also my last blog). In the beginning of my hero’s journey group program we agreed to detox – detoxing the body to also clear the mind is an ancient and well known tradition in many cultures.
In the group we agreed on water fasting for three days – full 72 hours 😳. I know. It sounds crazy. I thought so, too – but I committed.
To make it as inviting as possible – it was much easier than I thought – you are hungry until you are not! – I made my water bottle look bright and beautiful with fruits and lemon and basil leaves. The first 48 hours were quite easy to manage. I could feel that I am quickly losing weight (which is actually not my goal). I even went to the gym and worked out with a light training on day 1.
Day 3 though was the toughest. I had muscle aches and could not really sleep well. I felt drained on that day to be honest. And I thought: I will never do this again!!! I assume this was the most important part of the fasting experience. I was already looking forward to cooking my veggie soup that I started eating exactly after 72 hours and zero! minutes later 🍲. Felt soooo good, the appreciation for food changes and brought so much more gratitude for food into my consciousness. Gratitude is a wonderful way of expanding our hearts.
This 3-day experience was really interesting, especially since the energy level after re-starting to eat got back on a very high level and very soon. I personally prefer the ayurvedic detox way, since you get to eat (kitchari) and I do not want to lose weight. And still, after this experience, I have been using a partial form of fasting, just did it yesterday for 24 hours, only tea, water, some veggies – after our family celebration last week. Feels like a reset for the body and the mind and it is easy to manage after you have done it once.
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Please keep in mind: Fasting and specifically water fasting is NOT for everyone. Please check with your physician or health counsellor before you consider doing it. And, it needs a certain preparation time depending on your nutrition habits.
Cologne, Nov 11th, 2023