I love a misleading title.

Before you start thinking I’m out on the razz every night, racing round in Ferraris and jetting off to exotic locations every five minutes, the truth is I am actually doing a fast. As in, no eating for 24 hours. Except grapes. And water.

I know that technically you spend a good chunk of any given 24 hour period asleep, and grapes MIGHT be construed as cheating, but I am not widely known for my superlative willpower, so this is no mean feat for me.

Initially I wanted to do it because my skin has been awful lately, I’ve had an abundance of minor afflictions that taken together have been very annoying and a bit demoralising, my teacher said a fast would purge me of impurities, and also I wanted to see if I could actually do it. And I have been eating an extraordinary amount of cheese lately.

I think a lot of what we rest our life operating systems on is based on long held or deeply ingrained beliefs, most often erroneous or outdated, and from time to time shaking things up a bit can show us where we’re at with ourselves, our vision for our lives, and the way we see the world. For example, I had a belief that if I don’t eat every three hours I will feel faint, dizzy, irritable and more or less keel over.

Turns out this is nonsense. Ok, the irrritable part isn’t, but I can totally subsist on grapes and water over many hours and not need to sit down like some eighteenth century waif in a corset, hand to my forehead and gasping for smelling salts {or attention, as it’s sometimes known}. So I was interested to see what might come up as a result of NOT comfort eating, of essentially denying myself something I love for a short time, of changing my routine {such as it is}, and whatever else a fast might reveal.

And as is the way of our wondrous universe, an article about fasting appeared in my presence yesterday {it even mentioned grapes! ~ eating only one type of thing is apparently called ‘mono fasting’}, so I thought I would see whether all the claims it made were true, and share them with you in case you felt inspired to try it yourself. {Also the painting well is a little dry right now but let’s not talk about that.}

So here are some of the benefits the article suggested I could enjoy from fasting:

1. Clarity of thought in times of confusion and indecision

2. Feeling more connected with your spiritual Self

3. Restored equilibrium and sense of self

4. An opportunity to review your relationship with food

5. Promotion of cleansing and healing

Also, Paul Bragg, a famous Naturopath, said: “Fasting works by self-digestion. During a fast your body intuitively will decompose and burn only the substances and tissues that are damaged, diseased, or unneeded, such as: abscesses, tumours, excess fat deposits, excess water, and congestive wastes. Even a short fast {1 to 3 days} will accelerate elimination from your liver, kidneys, lungs, bloodstream and skin.”

GREAT! Thankfully I don’t have all of the above, but when you consider that fasting is a part of all traditional systems of medicine all over the world, plus all the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits you might reap, really, why would you not at least try it? As the article says, “fasting can be one of the most powerful self-healing options available to us”.

As I come to the end of my fast I can report that:

1. I haven’t found it much easier to make decisions, and lately ANY decision has been confusing the hell out of me. This may be a time thing ~ perhaps tomorrow I’ll be Laser Sharp Decision Woman. On the upside, I haven’t had to make any decisions about food…

2. Fasting did force me to reconnect with myself because I got very upset for no apparent reason and in looking at that realised that I have been avoiding going within or spending really any time alone recently, which has unbalanced my …

3. …equilibrium. Partly this has been to do with being in a newly established relationship, which can be a great way to make you lose your sense of self somewhat if you are not careful. So yes, I’ve remembered who I am, which has got to be useful.

4. The whole comfort eating thing has had a spotlight thrown on it because I couldn’t go to the fridge and pork out when I got upset earlier. Some work to do there I think. Also the thought of my first meal after the fast has me all kinds of excited; it’s not just ‘ oh yeah, dinner’, it’s freaking ‘DINNER!?! WHAT SHALL I HAVE?!’

5. Well if trips to the bathroom {all that water} are anything to go by, I must be squeaky clean on the inside right now. I suspect fasting may need to be a regular occurrence to notice improvements in skin and other areas, but I am muy optimistic.

So there it is. I will definitely be doing this again, possibly regularly. It strikes me that it’s the perfect thing to do when you feel you’ve lost touch with yourself a bit, a way to facilitate going within; I can see myself taking a fasting day now and then to read and meditate and otherwise be quietly with myself, knowing that I’m clearing and cleansing and healing in the process.

Have you ever done a fast? What kind did you do? Do you do them regularly and what benefits do you notice? I’d love to hear your thoughts {and any further incentive to continue with fasting would be welcome!}.