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.

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

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 "

Water is bad for you?

Ok..I am off this thread

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...?

This guy thinks by water we mean tequila

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.

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.

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...

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.




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.

下士聞道，大笑之

I got a stomach bug about a month ago. It was actually a very nice experience believe it or not.

I just let my body purge. I resisted nothing, and my body chose not to vomit, which made a difference. I fasted for three days I think. Rested a lot, and shit my brains out, until there was really nothing left. I would have liked to remain in that state of being "cleaned out" for a little while longer, but my body was weakened a bit and so I fed myself.

I would like to try again in a more gentle way soon.

Does anyone have a link to a "program"?

Of course just drinking water and being in a clean spiritual space is enough. but I do like to change things up sometimes. Cleaning the ailementary canal made a huge difference in that instance. I can see how mindfully doing it in a state of good health might be very pleasant.

water is bad for you?
that's gotta be a joke.

the human body is ~80% water. if you don't drink enough water everyday you dehydrate. there are cases of people going up to 3 months or more just on water, but without water you won't survive longer than 3 days i doubt

Water is bad for you. I think I might write that in my human biology exam tomorrow... I wonder how far I'll get with that?

Every single cell in our bodies relies on water to function - to move molecules into and out of them; to maintain correct blood concentration (too little water leads to high blood pressure); and to filter urea and other waste from the body into the urine. Water is GOOD for you! =)

My only problem with water is that the tap water here tastes like shit... plus we're having a drought, so I might run out of water any minute now. Stupid Murray River.

Actually , there is such a thing as water intoxication - and it can kill you. Drinking excessive water can cause you to lose the electrolytes in your body. This is why doctors recommend that you not give water to infants. However, an adult has to drink huge amounts of water (gallons) for this to happen.

Arrg, you beat me to the punch but then I'm one of those office workers sitting around with a bottle of water (don't drink coffee or softdrink)

And I must really be killing my kidneys as I drink ~3L of water a day
(I sweat like a pig when I'm not sitting in the office, it's hot here)

and at that I remember when I one day made my mind up to set a new record on water drinking. I think I ended up drinking 11-12 liters.
Maaan, I felt awful. Folks, don't duplicate!

Pretty dangerous as mentioned by Veecee this can screw up your subtle balance of electrolytes in the body. Also a reason sporters drink isotone sportdrinks, to spare the electrolytes.

I believe fasting is extremely unhealthy and ridiculous. It's just my opinion but if you don't need food and water then by all means fast. But if you feel like you need it, especially water, partake.

Unhealthy? Then you havent really tried fasting have you?

your opinion is appreciated, but please read the article. you're misinformed

It goes without saying that chronically undereating is unhealthy. It's also obvious that chronic over eating is unhealthy.

Fasting is a way to ensure that the body is not doing too much of one thing or the other. It is good to try once in awhile.

How many recognize that chronic over thinking is unhealthy?

What about mind fasting?

This is good to try once in awhile also.

Someone mentioned the middle path as being exclusive of food fasts, but in reality middle path encourages daily moderate fasting as being good for the body. This way ensures the body gets not to much, and not too little. Just right. It makes the body's connection to health very strong.

Equally important to food fasting is the daily mind fast. This is middle path meditation. It is good for our whole self. This ensures that the mind gets not to much, and not too little. Just right. It makes the mind's connection to Buddha Nature very strong.

I drink three glasses of water, slowly, when I get up in the morning.
I find that dehydrate during sleep time.
I eat about three or four hours later.
Otherwise I rarely drink water as I have a high fruit and vegetable diet.
I did one 10 day water fast many years ago and a 14 day fast a number of years later.
I get weak after the third day - I guess it depends on how much weight you start out with.
Sometimes I do a one to three day short fast.
Drinking underwater can kill you

Yeah, this is key in my opinion. How much weight do we start with. A few years ago I did a four day water fast, with some bliss and some hell states, but afterward I was weak. I couldn't do yoga poses that I could do before. So it really depends on our condition before we start a fast. Are we deficient, or do we have some excess condition? I did end up mostly a vegetarian afterward though, so I can't say it wasn't an interesting experience.

Of course, there are other factors at play. High level cultivators and whatnot, but for most of us, I think it is worthwhile to consider if fasting is the right medicine FOR US.

fast-5.com has a free ebook which may be of interest to fasters.

A few years back I did a juice fast as part of a program supervised by a naturopathic doctor. Here's the scoop I got from him. The important thing is how you start the fast and how you come out of it. We did 3 days of just fruits and veggies before the juice. Then 5 days of juice and doing an enema everyday. Followed by 5 days of slowly returning to normal eating. The first day off juice fasting we just ate fruits and vegtables again. During each of the following days other foods were added to the permitted list.

The hardest part for me was not following the instructions for resuming my normal diet. I had meat before I was supposed to. Not good.

-

i'd lay off the vitamins if i were you. very hard on the kidneys, they are. and you piss something like 80% of them anyway. better to just eat and drink healthier.

if you want to do a true water fast, then don't put anything in your body it has to process. give those organs a break. that's kind of the point. and even with a juice fast you want to avoid churning the digestive system. something solid like a vitamin will likely trigger the digestive process. that's a lot of energy that the body will be wasting.

how you will feel depends on you; no one can answer that for you. i posted what it was like for me, but that's me.

-

Mantis
you could start your fast on a thursday evening after dinner.
You most likely will not get weak on friday so you can go about your business -but don't over exert yourself.
Then you have saturday and sunday to rest.
You can break your fast sunday afternoon or evening.
Break the fast gently according to the article.
No vitamins.
No supplements.

Anyone tried that diet? Eat what you for 5 hrs a day I'm almost like that naturally, it's 2pm and I'm still not hungry (pigged out last night)

Very strange as this morning I was thinking that I should only eat a healthy meal at night and just have fruit and nuts during the day when I get hungry. This would be easier as I could eat all sorts of crap

how do you guys feel about fasting 1 day a week? is there any benefit in this?

or should I save my energy and fast like 5 days every month?

Fasting one day a week is great for focus and clearity. Some times when I feel stuck I can do a one day fast and things seem to release, my mind is clearer and life start to flow again.

One day fast does not cleance the body, but it is still not a waste of energy. Just try it out and see for your self. If you have done many fasts before and your body has a fasting-memory, it is much easier. Then the one day fastst will only be uplifting and refreshing. The body knows what to do and quickly adjusts to fasting-mode.

Getting used to one day fasts also makes it easier to do longer fasts.

But, 5 days every month I would say is much better than one day every week because then you get the physical cleansing as well.

It is good to get used to it first. Work yourself up to the fasting. Start eating less and less portions of food each meal till you can go on one meal a day, and then cut it all out for the 5 day or however long fast. It would be healthier and pose less of a semi-shock to the system. Also lets you recognize real hunger for mental hunger.

Peace and Blessings,
Lin

I've yet to try it. I will, but not now...too much going on!