Fasting as a spiritual practice

Many religious traditions have fasts which originally meant going entirely without food. Over time the fast was simplified to just abstaining from meat. For yogis the fast comes twice a month, on the days of ekádashii, the eleventh lunar day after the new moon and the full moon. You can find these days in a special calendar, or by the moon itself: when exactly half of it is lit in the sky, ekádashii falls on the following day.

The fasting days were not chosen at random: it is on these days that the pull between the sun and the moon, and with it on all the liquids of the planet, is strongest. The human body, which is 90% water, is also thrown off balance. In English the word for a madman is "lunatic." Fasting helps to neutralize this negative influence. The effect is especially good if you go entirely without food and water, that is, a dry fast.

The yogic practice of fasting is called upavása. Translated from Sanskrit it means "to be near God." Upavása is practiced in order to make a breakthrough in one's personal practice. When a person fasts, their energy is not spent on digesting and absorbing food, and so it can be directed to the mind. This strengthens concentration, and meditation goes well. It is recommended to devote fasting days entirely to spiritual practice: meditation, ásanasA yoga posture held steadily and comfortably; it balances the glands and quiets body and mind for meditation., prańáyáma, and reading spiritual literature.

Over time, under the influence of the lower cakrasA center of psychic energy in the body; seven major ones lie along the spine., the human mind accumulates various impurities. We live in a modern world where it is hard not to be distracted by fleeting impressions, to keep the mind's attention pointed in one direction, and not to start identifying with our interests, ambitions and fears. To remember and feel what our true inspiration really is, from time to time the mind needs a total cleansing. That is exactly what the practice of fasting gives. It is a day when a person is distracted by nothing and focuses the mind on the highest. On such days a person's intuition and creative abilities come alive. The energy gained during a fast is so strong and pure that it can serve as inspiration for some time afterward: a week or two. For a person today, to clear the mind, it is best to make fasting a regular practice.

The effectiveness of fasting has both physical and spiritual causes.

During a fast the body goes through a powerful physical cleansing. It switches from absorbing food to removing toxins, getting rid of diseased cells and breaking down fat deposits. On a water fast this process only begins on the third day. On a dry fast it happens already after the second skipped meal. When we fast with water, we gain a physical benefit. When we fast without water, we gain both a physical and a spiritual benefit.

At first it can be hard, both psychologically and physically. The process of releasing toxins can be painful. What is more, such a cleansing can bring back the moods a person was in when these toxic emotions, these blocks in the body, first arose. For some people fasting can come with feeling unwell, emotional heaviness, even depressed states. But it is worth waiting it out, because already the next day an incomparable blissful state of a new flow of energy arrives.

Research into spiritual experiences has shown that at the moment of reaching deep concentration in meditation, a certain part of the pineal gland becomes active. At such a time the practitioner may see a dazzling light, a radiance flooding everything around. This radiance carries the idea of rapture. Some people also hear a divine sound that changes its forms: at first it may be crickets, then little bells, then the sound of the ocean, then the sound "om." When a person subjects themselves to hunger and thirst, this same part of the brain becomes active. In other words, the practice of fasting trains those parts of our brain that are responsible for spiritual experience. That is why the strongest spiritual experiences often come when the practitioner breaks the fast and the body fills with energy. For many practitioners such moments happened precisely in the days after a fast.

How to fast properly

On the eve of a fast you should avoid heavy food, which burdens the liver and is binding. The lighter the supper, the easier the fast. On the day of the fast itself, empty the bowels in the morning. And on the day after the fast, cleanse the bowels with salt water and lemon juice. To do this, take a liter of water at room temperature, squeeze the juice of one lemon into it, add a tablespoon of salt, stir and drink. The salt water passes through the whole digestive tract without being absorbed and helps to empty the bowels completely. Keep drinking the salt water until you feel completely emptied: as many times as it takes. After that, a little later, you can have a light breakfast of a banana or other light food, preferably fruit or yogurt. You can have lunch as usual.

Besides this, fasting helps a great deal at the first signs of a cold or of feeling unwell. The body will not spend energy on digestion, and so it can give more attention to its own recovery. Keep in mind that dry fasting is suitable only for healthy people.

If you have any illness (for example, kidney problems), be sure to consult a specialist!

Some people may do better fasting on water, and some on juices. If even that is hard, fruit and vegetables are allowed. The simplest way to keep ekádashii is to give up grains and pulses on that day.

So, to sum up.

The important results of fasting are:

1. cleansing the body on the physical level
2. neutralizing the negative influence of the sun and the moon
3. a total cleansing of the mind and a breakthrough in spiritual practice
4. training the parts of the brain responsible for spiritual experience and for control over the desire for food and water

Fasting is also a way of following the principle of shaoca, the principle of purity: purity of our body, speech and mind.