More Lessons Learned From Fasting

The thought of my digestive system working 24/7 every day of my life makes me feel a little sorry for it. It never gets a break, never takes a vacation. Every day I just keep filling my belly with more food to digest, more work to do. For this reason I have periodically fasted to offer it a little rest.  Though I know some people fast for spiritual reasons, I am not that 'good'!  I have only fasted for health reasons. To tell the truth I've never felt that I could honestly fast for spiritual reasons - my motivations would likely gravitate toward weight loss and spoil my spiritual purity. Spiritual pureness aside, I have fasted on several occasions with the expectation of ridding my body of toxins and the hope of easing various sources of pain. During one such fast I discovered a relationship between my mind and my stomach.  It was a sort of epiphany - an unexpected self-revelation. After several days of only drinking a lemon juice blend, meant to detox my body, I had finally begun to come out of the 'detox fog' and feel the benefits of the cleanse. But I was still craving food -- voraciously!  My stomach was DEMANDING I feed it. Everything I'd read said that by this stage in my fast I should NOT be hungry but my stomach did NOT cooperate! It was like the kid in the supermarket screaming at his mother, "I WANT this and I want this NOW!"  My mind was like the parent calmly trying to comfort the child by reasoning, "I know you want this but I know what's best for you.. and right now you can't have it."  So the kid yells even louder, "You're not the boss of me! I want it NOW! GIVE IT TO ME!" …and the battle continues. During this time I understood that my body parts seemed to have survival instincts of their own. And they didn't hesitate to convey their needs to one another. My brain was able to reason that a fast was good - but my stomach was like the unruly child who cares only of itself! It was sure it would die if it went without food for another minute. It was determined to convince my brain of this fact and it even got my taste buds to join in the conspiracy!  Together they kicked and screamed and threw a fit crying that they NEEDED to be satisfied, immediately!  It actually made me more determined to see my fast through to the end and to show my 'child-stomach' who was boss! In the end my 'parent-brain' won the fight - barely. I have never done a fast that long since. I think three days is adequate time to give my digestive tract a lovely vacation and though my tummy balks somewhat it has become a little more cooperative!