Physical health with fasting: Day 1
Tomoko and I are now on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand. We are at a small health spa and have just begun a new experience for us: it’s called a ‘cleansing fast’ and it lasts for seven days. I have to be honest here … it was all TOMOKO’s IDEA!!
What is a CLEANSING FAST? A fast is a period of time where a person doesn’t eat any solid food; cleansing means the purpose is to clean the body.
Well, the first day is finished and it went well. Actually, the day before the fast officially started (we call it ‘Day 0’) we didn’t eat any solid food, just drinking water and some juice during the day.
Prior to doing the fast, there is a lot of information to read and also there is a ‘pre-cleansing’ process. During ‘pre-cleansing’ you really should’t eat any processed foods (almost everything in the supermarket is processed!), just RAW foods like fruits and vegetables. The ‘pre-cleanse’ ensures that your body is ready for the fast.
I really didn’t know what to expect with this fast, but I liked the idea of it for two reasons: it’s a challenge to go without food for seven days, and it’s really a healthy thing to do.
So, after watching some videos and listening to the orientation talks, it was time to start. The daily routine begins at 7am with a ‘detox drink’ (‘detox’ is short for detoxification) at the ‘detox counter.’ This drink is a bit thick and slushy but it’s not too bad. At the 7am drink time, we also receive a packet of 31 capsules. The capsules are both supplements to provide some necessary nutrition during the fast, and also there are ‘cleansers.’ These capsules help to move the toxins out of the body.
So, it’s the drinks five times a day and the pills five times a day (6 pills each time), and what else? Well, let’s talk about one of the most important parts of the fast; it’s called a ‘colon cleansing’ and the brand name they use here is ‘colema.’ In everyday English we would call it an ENEMA. We do the colema twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon. It involves inserting a tube into yourself (at the anus) and waiting while a liquid flows into you and then flushes out the colon. Okay, here’s the surprising thing about it … the colema is filled with COFFEE and vinegar. Yes, that’s right, freshly brewed coffee!!
Usually, coffee is not so good for the body when ingested into the stomach (coffee does have positive aspects but it seems that most natural healing experts agree that coffee is not good for health), but it’s a good stimulator and cleanser when it’s used in the colon as part of an enema.
So, twice a day, we lay on a special board that slopes towards the toilet, with a large bucket of diluted coffee-vinegar mix hanging over our heads, and let this liquid flow into us. At times it’s necessary to push and expel the liquid. Sometimes it’s interesting to see how much liquid you can allow into the colon before expelling it. Do you want to try it?!
So, how do we feel right now? Mostly we are weak and pretty tired, but not always. We wake up early (around 6:30am) and take our first detox drink, then I go for a swim in the sea. I bring my ‘reef shoes,’ snorkel and mask and swim out pretty far to the edge of the coral reef to look at the fish. The reef is in very poor condition here but there are some fish around and also some live coral. Sometimes we are hungry but not always; more tired than hungry for sure. There are wonderful dishes available here so it can be hard to see the menu and people eating and smell the appetizing aromas …
Much of our day is spent reading, taking our pills and returning to the detox counter. It’s hot here and I’m usually pretty inactive in the heat during the day anyway. There are many books and videos around here about health and natural healing, and I think we’ll have a look at some of them soon.
Well, that’s it for day one of our 7-day fast. I’ll report more soon. Stay tuned …
