Fasting like a Savage

My seven-day water fast, alone on a private island in Fiji. (7 minute read)

A couple years ago, while discussing with my homeopath the strange body aches I was experiencing, she suggested doing a long water fast, and told me to look at the health benefits people were deriving from it. I did a bit of reading on the topic, was intrigued, but did not feel ready.

While recently visiting Fiji by sailboat, I decided to spend a few weeks on land doing a work exchange with a host running two backpackers’ lodges in Suva and Levuka, as well as a tiny island resort.

When my host asked me to relieve the island caretaker for a week, I decided to use this opportunity to be alone on an island to do a seven-day water fast.

Even though people would consider me healthy, lean and in good shape, I have suffered strange pains in the past couple years, in my ankles and lower back in particular.

I brought plenty of Artesian bottled water with me as I did not trust the water from the roof catchments, as well as liquid trace minerals. A local fisherman took me to the island and the caretaker went home for a break. I was now alone on the island, in the company of three resident dogs.

By the time I got settled in the cabin, it had been twenty four hours since my last meal. My first day of fasting was spent traveling by bus and taxi, and was easy and uneventful.

Water fasting being a means to give the digestive system a break and allow the body to heal, I was eager to begin the journey.

I woke up the next day with cramped calves and lumbar area, and a mild headache. After drinking a warm glass of water with lemon, I started stretching my body.

With no agenda, and being committed to doing this fast, I decided to engage in every activity mindfully, whether walking, collecting trash or cooking for the dogs. I took my time for everything, watching my mind. Strangely, most of the time, my state of mind was pretty blend and simply focused on acknowledging, observing and questioning the aching.

When the digestive system is given a chance to rest, like in a long water fast, the organs go through a purge. Liver and kidneys start releasing toxins into the colon, which in turn get into the bloodstream and can induce discomfort and aches.

That alone can make one break the fast and start eating, since food is a source of comfort and pleasure.

Everyday was pretty much the same in terms of aches, but I leaned into the pain and did not panic. I was tempted to drink fresh coconut water, but did not do it upon reading that the calories would trigger the liver into a digestive mode again, thus breaking the fast, and lessening its potential benefits.

I walked around the island picking plastic bottles, raked leaves around the property, and dragged dead palm tree branches to shore up the sea wall.

I did a couple yoga practices a day and took copious naps whenever I felt like it. I held inversions and twists for five minutes or longer, getting deeper into my stretching and yogic breathing than ever before.

I also started becoming aware of the whole fascia around my legs, chest and torso, an intricate web of filaments holding the flesh body wrapped around one’s skeleton, and focused on relaxing a much broader network of tissues around my muscles and organs.

Even though I stretched quite profoundly, having some of the best yoga practices I’ve ever had, my aches, especially in my back, did not get any better. That also could have been a source of discouragement, and could have forced me to break the fast. I kept leaning into the pain with trust and curiosity. Having a long history of dealing with back spasms and recurring sciatica, I have faith in my body’s ability to heal.

I did not have any creative urges during my fast, nor any libido, which could also be confronting for some!

Being on an island with no food (yes with coconuts and papayas but they would both break the fast), is certainly more conducing to undertake a long fast and enduring its possible discomfort, than living close to a coffee shop or grocery store. Or simply at home with ample temptations in one’s fridge or pantry!

Having no other food than rice to feed the dogs, I fished with a cast net everyday, a difficult task that, remarkably, took my attention away from my body aches.

How frustrating to cast a net over a perfect school of sardines and having the net land in a miserable twist, bringing home a few tiny sardines after two hour of waddling in waist-deep water!

I cooked rice, green papaya and sardines over a wood fire, with the dogs watching with great trepidation.

Hunger, body aches, fogginess, headaches, sluggishness, fears and judgements were met with trust and determination. I was curious about the effects of this fast and kept my expectations to a minimum.

I slept, stretched, napped, swam, fished and did some cleaning work, giving my body some movements.

Seven days of fasting, and two days of re-introducing food into my body in the form of vegetable broth, and later fresh coconut water and a very ripe papaya, was an ideal situation.

The past couple years, after selling the farm, have been focused on recovering a certain joie de vivre, finding inspiration and acquiring wisdom and vitality, to keep giving the World all the care it needs.

The stress and effects of having toxicity accumulated in the digestive organs and colon can only impair one’s ability to feel good, energized and creative.

As much as this fast was decided on the spur-of-the moment, it was a success, and I’m now trying to digest its benefits. One seems to be an increased lightness of being, and a relaxed and joyful state.

A long water fast is not for the faint of heart, but the better prepared and the more supportive the setting you create for yourself, the better chance you have to navigate your detox with ease and confidence, as well as to successfully re-introduce food when you break your fast.

For more information on water fasting…

What happens to your body during a water fast.

Articles and coaching for water fasts