Last week I did a fast (eating and drinking nothing but water), only for 24 hours, but I have never done one before so it was a new experience. I decided to do one for various reasons; primarily just for the sake of self discipline but also to try and focus my mind and have a chance to slow everything down and just be still and listen. I was planning to meditate now and then while it was going on, to try and focus myself and also increase the control of my mind over my bodily needs.
It didn't go quite how I expected. First off, I have very little body fat, and having never done this before I got hungry pretty fast, although after a few hours I got used to the idea of not eating even though I was hungry, I became aware and overcame a reflex to eat that I had not really realised I had before. I started after lunchtime, so by the time I was going to sleep I had only missed tea, and didn't have much trouble nodding off. However, when I got up in the morning I felt fairly bad after a few hours and was thankful to be able to get a big late-lunch. I was somewhat disappointed with how well my body dealt with its ordeal, I felt tired for the rest of the day, and I would probably have been feeling quite ill if I had tried to do more than 24 hours; that will take some working up to.
From a non-physical perspective I didn't accomplish half as much as I was hoping to. The hunger was more an annoyance than something I could tap into to focus my mind, and when I tried to meditate I found my mind flying all over the shop like normal. I have tinnitus (a constant ringing in my ears) which, as well as my active mind, has meant all my efforts to get into regular meditation have failed pretty miserably. My mind didn't seem to develop the command over my body I was hoping for, I found the best way to avoid the hunger was just to keep busy, rather than forcing my body to accept it's new environment, perhaps that is something that will only come with more regular fasting. I didn't find much stillness either, if anything things sped up and became more twitchy and erratic; my senses seemed blunted and I couldn't bring my thoughts into focus as easily as normal.
Nevertheless, I think it was a valuable experience. I am planning on trying again when I next have a few days with nothing going on, maybe try 48 hours next. I am also planning on doing a see-how-long-I-can-stay-awake at some point, maybe that will bear slightly more exciting results.
I have had similar experiences when I fast (not very often) - I’m a Christian, so when I fast I try to pray in the times when I’d usually be eating. However, I usually end up just thinking about food most of the time! Therefore I’d say the reason I fast is not to try to ‘connect with God’ as such but more to show Him that I’m willing to sacrifice my earthly comforts to obey Him.
havent tried fasting but i have done the see-how-long-i-can-stay-awake challenge. i made it to 45 hours. i started from about 11am and got sleep at around half past seven two mornings later, i needed to get sleep as i had a lecture at 12 that day. i found it easy to stay up for about 20 hours but as i wasnt active during the following early hours i spent most of it fighting to keep my mind occupied. at around 11 when i had to go to a lecture it was an actual struggle just to stay conscious though after lunch i gained energy and felt normal, probably due to the food and fresh air. after that i was fine again until around two when my mind tried to close itself down again, i found that a little food and exercise kept me awake though i think that if i had had any more it would have worked against me and increased my tiredness. i ended it as i said at around 7 as i felt that i wouldnt be able to make it through until the next evening and didnt want to switch my sleeping rhythm to nocturnal in the process. so i snatched a few hours, enough to let my mind recouperate on some of its exhaustion. something i have experienced before is that it is very surreal waking during the day. for a while i was quite disorientated and had no idea what was going on and no immediate memory of anything prior to sleep. that wore off and i got through the day, still pretty exhausted but the sleep the following evening was the best in a long while.
Thanks for the comments.
Seb: That’s awesome. I think I might be more successful if I have a really definite goal like that to help focus my energy.
Adam: Sounds good, I’m really looking forward to seeing the effects. Well, perhaps looking forward isn’t quite the right phrase.