If you thought fasting only consisted of not eating, think again.
When it’s time for a mental, emotional, and/or physical reset, there are a variety of ways you can fast to cleanse your life of what’s not serving you and renew it with what can.
What do we mean by that?
According to Dr. Graves, fasting gives your mind, body, and life a break.
It is typically thought of as restrictive dieting, but it can include much more – positively affecting your entire life.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can fast in order to detox the unwanted and welcome new light.
Diet Fast
Ok, we’ll start here because it’s most common.
Giving digestion and metabolism a break by limiting diet consumption can have positive effects on health.
When these systems get rest, they are often able to conserve energy typically used for digestion and use it in other areas such as detoxification, fighting inflammation, balancing blood sugar, and strengthening immunity.
While diet fasting may not be for everyone, for those who are interested, there are a variety to try such as:
- intermittent fasting (eating during an 8 hour period and fasting for 16)
- fasting mimicking (such as ProLon that offers food packages for a certain amount of days)
- 24 hour fast
- 5:2 restricted calorie fasting (eating normal for 5 days and restricting calories for 2 days)
- alcohol fasting
- gluten, dairy, and/or sugar fasting
- processed and/or fried food fasting
Negative Self-Image Fast
How many times a day do you come down on yourself? Maybe it’s something you said, you ate, you did or did not do?
When it comes to our self-image, we can be our worst enemy for positive self-talk.
To fast from negativity, first be aware of unhealthy thoughts when they pop up.
Whether comparing yourself to others, trying to fit in to a cultural standard, or not having good self-esteem, catch yourself when you begin to go down the rabbit hole.
Then, try to reframe the thought. Ok, so you ate some extra dessert…a few times in a row and now you have feelings of ugliness about your body and your self.
Rather than sit in guilt, reframe it. So you ate bad. Now it’s time to do something good for your health. Go for a walk, take a warm epsom salt bath, get a massage, etc.
Technology Fast
Technology is an intricate part of today’s world, in which some of what we do on a daily basis can’t go without.
However, overuse or non-helpful electronic advances can have harmful effects in our lives if we aren’t mindful.
Whether physical issues such as hand/finger/eye pain, fatigue and disrupted sleep, or mental anguish from a busy mind, negativity, anxiety or depression, sometimes a break from technology can be a welcome intention.
To create a technology fast, consider:
- not checking emails or surfing the internet in the evenings
- putting all phones in a basket away from the table during meal times
- reading and journaling before bed rather than watching television
- taking a break from watching the news
- adhering to a technology-free weekend
- enjoying quiet
- getting outdoors when you want to reach for social media
Relationship Fast
Even though we may love someone, it doesn’t mean we can retreat for awhile to take care of ourselves – especially if the relationship is bringing us down or encouraging unhealthy behaviors.
Know that it’s okay to pullback until you are ready to regroup.
If you need a kickstart for a fresh-start this spring, acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, and holistic counseling could be a wonderful way to reset.
Please call us at (303) 688-6698 or click here to schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation with Dr. Graves to talk about what you’ve been dealing with and to learn how the CNMA office may be able to help.
The CNMA office provides naturopathic care, testing, massage, and holistic counseling to those in Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Centennial, Parker, Larkspur, Monument, Colorado Springs, and the greater Denver metro area. For those outside of these areas, virtual appointments are available.
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