Spring is currently here. As my body transitioned out of Winter, I felt a need to do Fasting. Two New Moons ago, I began my Fasting journey, with the intention to do a meatless Fast till the following New Moon, a month. My husband and I used to eat meat only occasionally, until we had children. Since we have children, we have included meat in most of our meals; this was a conscious choice in order to support the growth of their bodies. Now that they are already in their mid to late teens, where most of their physical growth have taken place, I have come to a decision that meat does not have to be a constant feature in our meals.
As the New Moon began, I started my Fast from flesh foods, thinking that I would practice moderation; meaning that animal products such as chicken broth and dairy could still be in my diet. I had imagined that my Fast wasn’t going to be so drastic, as I have done more intense Fasts without food and only drank water for almost a week. How naïve I was! Toward the end of the first week, I woke up in the middle of the night with chills. I had to put on a sweater but managed to go back to sleep. As I woke up in the morning, my husband commented that I felt warm to the touch. I measured my temperature and it was slight elevated, 37,5 degrees Celsius, with no other symptoms. I drank some mint tea and went back to sleep. Slept all day long, not eating anything but drinking fluid. At some point in the afternoon, I had a low-grade fever of 38 degrees. But by evening, I could feel the fever pass, I felt better that I could even eat some Congee (rice soup). As I went to bed that night, I could not imagine falling asleep as I had slept all day, but I did until morning, by which time, every trace of this fever had passed; I felt well, energized and ready to begin my work week. The only remnant of this less-than-24-hours ailment was a lower back pain, something that I do not know normally. I had imagined it was from lying too long. I went to work, got myself acupuncture and rubbed some liniment to help release my back. I went to bed the second night with more liniment on my back, hoping for a release of the back pain.
In the night, I began dreaming; dreams of travelling to other worlds. At some point I sensed or heard a voice with a message, it stated, “Do you see why your back pain is taking time to resolve? It has to transform on multiple planes before it can resolve in your back.” I saw images of dots having to line up, like Lucky Sevens on the slot machine in a casino. I woke up with a feeling of being awakened. I understood then and now that my back pain wasn’t/ isn’t just about me. I realized in this moment that I needed to have patience. I continued on with my everyday activities: giving treatments, doing my regular practices and taking care of the family, including cooking. But I made it a point to take special care of my body, giving it acupuncture, taking warm baths and giving it time-space. Within 2 days, it was gone – the back pain was gone! I could move my body without wincing or having to change my movements to avoid tipping my pelvis forward. I was freely moving again.
My meatless-Fast continued till the last New Moon, with little issues. I felt lighter and spacious in my body; I had a sense of freedom. Who would have thought a simple little thing of taking out meat from my diet for a moon-cycle could invoke such an intense experience. I was aware of having healing reactions or crisis, which aren’t always comfortable, but fever and pain in my body with a profound message, I really did not expect. I am thankful for the beings that give up their lives so that I may continue living, I am thankful to my body for its mobility, its ability to sustain me in this lifetime and the life lessons that it provides me.
Image by Mihai Panait on Pixabay
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