Is Fasting good for your body?

by Sarah K. Grundy

Fasting may bring health benefits and has been a topic amongst philosophers, scholars, and saints — including Rumi, Hippocrates, and Plato.

What did Plato say about fasting? Plato and Aristotle supported fasting as a way of improving physical wellbeing and mental clarity. The ancient Greeks believed that fasting is a natural instinct, as seen through those with certain illnesses losing their appetite — an important natural part of the recovery process.

What did Hippocrates say about fasting? Hippocrates, the father of medicine, sums up treatment of disease, "Disease which results from over-eating is cured by fasting; disease following fasting, by a surfeit.”

Is fasting a philosophy? According to Rūmī', life should be a journey to union with the one true God, which is achieved by practicing love—by disregarding oneself as an independent being and turning toward the truth of God's oneness. Rumi says specifically, “Fasting is the first principle of medicine; fast and see the strength of the spirit reveal itself."

Fast from food, nourish and fuel yourself with powerful minerals, gemstones, botanicals, Argan oil, tea, rose water, pink Himalayan sea salt, skin-contact with the earth, Spirulina, or whatever calls to you. Listen.

Allow that space to be empty and fill it with love and nurturing of self.

Receiving from the cosmos.

Breathe in the good. Breathe out the bad.

Fast from electronics, social media, and people and flood your cup with moonlight, lily pads, lotus flowers, wild moon energy, movement, flow, painting, and whatever your body asks of you.

Allow that space to be empty and fill it with love and nurturing of self.

Explore a large array of methods that cater to the feminine, that primal space within that’s always been calling your name. Detoxes with sophisticated pancakes and get cozy like in the womb of the sea to bring you closer to your most intuitive self. 

Stay open as you embody your purveyor of the goddess within.