Spiritual & Philosophical Writer exploring the Ideals of Wisdom, Truth, Beauty, Love, Art, Culture, The Humanities, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Yoga, The Living & Raw Food Lifestyle, Holistic Health and Having FUN! Oh and of course, Shoes and Fashion!
One of the most valuable things that came out of my 40 day fast experience is a sense of what’s important to me and how to stay focused on that during difficult and challenging times.
Of all the times to decide to do a 40 day fast, it was an exceptionally challenging time for me. I was orchestrating my Parent’s move from their previous home of 20 years and I mean orchestrating it down to every last detail in minutia. My committed relationship of 7 years, the one I thought was forever, came to an end a week after I started the fast. A close family member had a stroke and I was caring for him. The longest period that I had previously fasted for was 9 days and so 40 days was a major goal.
Suffice to say, it was a challenging time. Food certainly could have been used as a crutch. I could have succumbed to the stress and not completed the fast. All kinds of potentially negative reactions were possible.
What is amazing, is that through all of this, some of which was already a stressful situation in progress and some that happened after I was fasting, is that I was not deterred. Rather, my resolve actually became stronger.
I found that my fast was the glue that held me together. The certainty of my fast, and my resolve to complete it, was a foundation in my life that I could depend on. My smoothies were always there to provide certainty and, through it all, I stuck with my plan.
Due to my Parents moving and my relationship change, there were often times when my physical environment was in deep chaos. Here are a few examples from my fast diary:
Today was the hardest day of the cleanse for me. I spent the entire day at my Parents new home watching the men in my family get the house ready for my Parents to move in. I picked up food and ran errands and so I was on the fly all day. AND I had my trusty supplies with me and kept with it the entire day. I took 2 small travel mugs and made 32 ounces of Green Smoothies before I left the house. I also took a thermos with some homemade soup that I had blended the day before. And I visited Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods and bought a fruit smoothie with 2 shots of Spinach. So, with a lot of unfamiliar surroundings and running around all day, I held to my goal.
Today was a really challenging day on my cleanse. There was so much activity going on at my Parents new home with their move that I just barely hung on with the smoothies. Lots of stress and lots of people eating all kinds of things … all those smells and the site of the food. It all bothered me.
All through my cleanse, I have been fully nourished and never really hungry. Today I was hungry. Didn’t eat enough and I was physically having a really hard time. It was all mental will power today. I just focused on why I was doing this and KNEW there was nothing that was going to interfere with my goal. Also, since I am staying with my Parents for the next 2 weeks and working 13 hour days getting their house ready, I am not able to make my usual really awesome smoothie combos that I make at home, with so much variety that I want for nothing. That is a challenge until these long days away from my usual surroundings are over on Tuesday.
Going to the kitchen now for a treat. Going to make some watermelon juice. That will lift my spirits for sure!
There were many challenges and difficulties. This can be part of the collective consciousness, a part of the “seen” world that we can choose to participate in. And still, the “true” reality prevailed and kept me going. There were moments of incredible clarity and quantum leaps of consciousness. Again, from my diary:
Another jam packed day with my parents and easy breezy staying on my fast. I have so much energy. The most exciting part is this amazing connection I am experiencing with myself. I am so zen. So peaceful. It is just so true … We are what we eat. Eat peace and experience peace. Eat from God’s bountiful table and experience God within. I am very moved and so honored to share my joy with you.
On top of the world. Not to say that there have not been challenging moments. There were. And I am loving it and feeling great. I feel so much more centered. More in tune with my consciousness and intuition. Physically, I feel so clean and light. I have tons more energy. I feel closer to God and myself. I feel such a deep sense of Gratitude and appreciation. More than before.
I have a much stronger sense of the taste of food, of the experience of appreciation for sustenance, of a love for nature’s bounty. I am so clear that my needs are met in every way. I am more confident, happy, peaceful, blissed out.
And I asked for help and support. There is real value in having a “tribe”, a community who cares about your well being and who is there to support you in a moment’s notice.
OK, smoothies for the day are made. A volunteer army (my family, LOL) is on their way over. Today is Day 1 of 3 of moving my Parents out of their home of 20 years. I have been supervising this move for over 6 months and we are in the home stretch. Please send me lots of love and light as I deal with what will be a busy, hectic weekend. My resolve is clear and yet it is hard to be around S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) eaters with all this stress and activity during my cleanse. The smell of the food is intoxicating. The pizza, burgers … all those smells. It’s not that I want to eat any of their food but it does make the desire for me to want to chew my type of food stronger.
So, I go forth to face this day KNOWING my resolve, committed to completing my fast and being happy and peaceful at the same time.
Please KNOW these things for me. I appreciate your support!
xoxo to all of my FaceBook Family. You have been so supportive during my 40 day cleanse and I really appreciate it.
In the end, I could have fasted for another month.
I could eat like this for months more. During the process, there were challenging times where I really wanted to chew. Now, I could go either way. What has definitely happened is I have post fast goals that have specific parameters in terms of liquid days over the course of a year. I will blog about that in a few days. Tomorrow, the big plan is mostly smoothies with some watermelon to break the fast with some chewing. So, nothing feels strange and there is no sense of anticipation to chew either. I am at peace with how this unfolds.
The point I want to make is this. We are what we eat. We are the peace we feel via the alignment of our beliefs, diet and spiritual practice. By having a goal that had such a level of commitment and which was so nutritionally sound for my body, I was able to prove to myself via extreme example, that regardless of the chaos that may occur in the illusion of the world around me, the true world, my true world, lies within. And by focusing on that, I was able to maintain a 40 Day Spiritual Fast which brought me closer to myself, closer to God, closer to my Body Temple and more committed to an ever evolving Spirit and Consciousness.
I mentioned this in my last blog post and it bears repeating. Every little shift and refinement we add to our lives is a movement on the road to higher levels of health and consciousness. So, I made a significant quantum shift. It is now a part of me that lives on forever. It is a foundation stone upon which I can depend. It is the cornerstone that holds up my house of health. It is the glue that binds me. It is Life Affirming. It is Health Affirming. It is me!
There was a quantum evolution for me physically, emotionally and spiritually. My spiritual rite of passage was exactly that. What I’ve gained is immeasurable. It’s a great metaphor for life.
***** Coming up Next: The Stats, a downloadable ebook, “My 40 Day Fast: A Rite of Passage” and The Recommended Book of the Week
—————————————–
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, please visit my FaceBook page and click the “LIKE” button to receive more information. http://www.facebook.com/HeleneLaurenceFans
Similar Posts:
Loading tweets...
