Watch what and how we eat

I have just returned from five days of fasting and every evening we entered a sweat lodge a practice descended from the Blackfoot (or Niitsitapi) tradition. My five day birthday fast was an amazing roller coaster of experiences that ripples inward and outwards. It changes our relationship with food that is for sure, as well as how privileged we are to choose to sacrifice food and our livelihood for five days. To surrender for us to step closer to ourselves. Camping out in nature, drinking nothing but water. A vision quest perhaps. It supports us to see more clearly.  To move more slowly and appreciate everything a little deeper. To shine more brightly.  So maybe just maybe if you are healthy (please check with your doctor if unsure) this week invitation is to eat your dinner and make it the last meal. Just take it slow drink water when you want. Hunger will probably come and go. Like waves. Or maybe not.

Fasting is an ancient remembering. A quiet pause in the constant rhythm of consuming, in a world of greed. A chance for the body to rest, repair, renewal, and listen more deeply to itself. When we look at the animal kingdom they fast when they need to repair, we have forgotten this ancient art in our race that all consumes us and that we consume. We need to remember the deep wisdom of our food body and gift it what it needs, not what we are drawn too by the advertisements, our friends, the menu, whats on the supermarket shelves or in a fast food chain.

When we fast gently and wisely, the body begins to shift from constant digestion into restoration. Inflammation softens. Energy becomes steadier and clearer. Sugars rebalance. The mind feels calmer, lighter, less clouded. Many people notice improved sleep, better focus, and a deeper connection to true hunger and what nourishment really means for them.

After around 12 hours without food, the body begins moving into deeper repair.Stored sugars are slowly used up, and the body starts turning toward fat for fuel. Somewhere between 14–16 hours, many of the most accessible benefits of fasting begin to emerge for most people — clarity, metabolic balance, digestive rest, and gentle cellular cleansing.

Longer fasts can deepen these processes.  In my first yoga teacher training I was educated in fasting once a month in the way I am sharing with you today.

For many people, a simple overnight fast of 14 hours is enough perhaps finishing dinner by 7pm and breaking your fast around 9am. A soft boundary. A daily rest and reset for the body. Then once a month do a night and whole day, no food from 7pm and then a whole day and night till 8am the following morning. But be kind if you need to come out of it early do, and ensure you fast on a simple easy day for yourself, not a hectic busy one. Tell your family you are fasting so they keep food away from you. It helps not seeing food as we are very visually stimulated.

And yet fasting is not only about food it is also about space. Space from noise. From urgency. From endless wanting. From the greed we have been programmed into. We can gain a greater emotional steadiness, patience and gratitude. So its great to do it when camping preferably by yourself so you can have some 'me time'

In the quiet that fasting creates, we often discover how much we consume to fill places within ourselves that are actually asking for rest, breath, stillness, care, listening, and presence.

So, if you choose to fast, let it be an act of kindness rather than control. Drink water when needed nothing else, it purifies and cleanses. Move gently.Listen carefully. Give you self the gift. When it time to break your fast. First eat a banana to reawaken your digestive system then half an hour later eat something light.

Then at your next meal you can eat as your body desires.

Allow the body to feel less like a machine to manage, and more like a living harmonic relationship to honour by giving it a rest.