I am on a fast at the moment. It is a 40 day fast that I have to undertake as part of my Kundalini Teacher training.
It has not been a particularly difficult endeavour to date, which I believe is for a few reasons which I would like to share with you. I am not a doctor so please get any advice you need in this regard on fasting.
I do not believe that fasts should be tortuous dreaded experiences. I am a firm believer in reducing the headache / detox / pain element of the fast and getting to the revitiising, cleansing feeling as soon as possible.
This is what I have found useful when it comes to fasts:
Plan your fast
I do not just start a fast, simply because I know that if I just go into it without some prep work I will have a myriad of difficulties including in particular sharp headaches to contend with and I cannot manage that, particularly when I am working.
If I plan my fast, I reduce my exposure to those aches and pains – they become more like a dull tension at most and they do not last for very long.
Give coffee before you fast and give it up slowly
Learn from my mistake here – I tried to go cold turkey on coffee and just died.
By the time I realised what I had done, I was already in so much pain that even starting to drink coffee again could not have helped me – I had serious headaches and some of the worst back pain of my life. I was quite shocked by that as I did not think I had a particularly bad coffee habit. As someone who was based in an office, I would certainly have had about 3 cups of strong coffee a day and that was all it took for me personally to have quite a horrendous coffee detox.
I am a great believer in avoiding unnecessary pain. If I had my time again and if I knew the effect that the coffee detox was going to have on me I would have done the following:
- The key thing is that I would have started slowly and given up coffee over time – I would have left my “key” cup of coffee i.e., in my case, my morning cup of coffee alone and I would slowly have cut back on my other cups during the day – switching to tea, then herbal tea, then water.
- Two tips here – I thought I was drinking good herbal tea that I bought from the local deli until I actually tasted herbal tea homegrown by a herbalist. She gave me her chamomile tea and it might as well have been a completely different thing to the shop bought herbal tea. There was just no comparison, her tea was full of flavours whereas what I had on my desk was just completely bland and flavourless. If you are struggling with herbal teas, particularly if you are trying to switch over from strong coffees and teas, it might be worth going to a specialist tea shop, tell them what you like and get them to give you a proper blended tea. It made a massive difference to me and a good herbal tea is literally like herbal medicine. Also when you drink a lot of strong tea and coffee, your taste buds can become a bit dulled as regards subtle herbal tea flavourings so i would just say the tea shop owner – they tend to be very happy to help – that you need a strong tasting tea and even say to them that you are looking for a substitute for a strong tea or coffee.
- The second tip is if you are partial to a cup of strong “builders” tea and not in a space yet where herbal tea is to your taste try Rooibos. When I was transitioning over to herbal tea I found Rooibos great because a good one is the closest I have come to a black tea flavour.
- I am personally in two minds about decaffeinated coffee – I am not entirely convinced that it is a brilliant substitute for coffee. However in my very early days of trying to give up coffee, in particular when I was trying to crack the morning coffee addiction I certainly relied heavily on decaff options when I just needed a coffee. You can then in time try to substitute your decaff for a Rooibos, another herbal tea etc.
In short I would not bother doing a fast until I had kicked the caffeine habit and had at least saved myself the caffeine withdrawal headaches.
Sugar
Sugar is a big issue for me because I have a massive sweet tooth. Again I would not leave the sugar detox until the fast, I would just ease myself out of relying on it in the weeks coming up to the fast. For me, there is a very clear spot in my day where my sugar addiction rears up and that is at the end of the day – I am partial to a sweet treat in the evenings. I am not sure if this particular addiction will ever leave me, however I would try at least in the run up to a fast to cut down on processed sugar and maybe go for some dates or figs in the evening instead.
This Fast
Now I should mention here that I am cheating somewhat in respect of this fast because I am doing a fruit and vegetable fast – i.e. eating fruit, vegetables and nuts for 40 days which by its nature has a lot of natural sugar by virtue of the fruit element of the fast – I usually have fruit and orange juice for breakfast and I am still keeping up the figs and dates in the evening for my treat. This is probably why I am not struggling as much on this fast.
Drink lots of water
Everyone says to drink lots of water on a fast for obvious reasons. I drink lots of water during a fast just because there is no question for me that it makes the fast a lot easier and a lot more painless. Any of the common ailments associated with fasting such as bloating or other digestive problems pass much faster when you are properly hydrated and can just flush everything out of your system.
Timing
There is just no point in doing a fast if you are ridiculously busy. There is no point in making yourself more tired, stressed and miserable about something else to worry about.
I am travelling around Morocco and as such my time is my own and I am surrounded by the most luscious fruit, nuts – dates and figs to die for and probably the best mint tea in the world which is another reason why the fast is not too much of an issue for me.
I would not do this if I was at work and in a particularly busy and stressful time.
Length of Fast
I would never normally undertake a fast for 40 days and I do not think there is any particular necessity for anyone to do so. I am doing this fast as part of Kundalini teacher training. In normal circumstances I would perhaps do a couple of days at most, just enough to leave me feeling renewed and re-energised.
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