In my dreams I ate croissants, muffins, and cookies. I was just shoving them in one after the other. I started feeling a little guilty for breaking my fast early, and then I realized it was a dream, and kept on eating, albeit a little more delicately. I awoke and still have that feeling of slight guilt. I felt like my dreaming self had betrayed me in some way.
In my waking life:
It is at this time in the fast that everything truly feels easier. My body seems to have adjusted to the new reality and I feel generally energized. I am not running around or going on the same distance walks and bike rides I was a week ago. But I am quite capable of writing for hours of the day, and doing morning yoga.
There are some subtle changes to the chemistry within. This is truly a letting go of a lot. I catch a whiff of alcohol on my breath which means there is some internal fermentation going on. This and my skin, in parts, is coming off like after a good herbal scrub. This makes me feel as if I am a caterpillar molting from the cocoon. Maybe by day 40 I will have wings? The body does not want to waste energy on anything that isn’t going to be here in a month, so it has sped up the process of releasing. It is doing this primarily by choosing where to allocate resources.
This is similar to our yearly Spring cleaning. we spend some energy each year to remove the old to allow for more movement, or more goodies. Stagnation is the only result if this process is ignored. By clearing and releasing we feel more at peace and more at oneness with our innate and truest self. The waves of abundance role in in every aspect of our lives as we follow this natural rhythm. The passion we feel and allocation of time and energy brings us to that next experience. It
A desire to go to a concert when honored perhaps also brings forth a meeting between you and a new business partner. While you’re there you bump into an old friend you haven’t seen in years but have thought about often. These kinds of occurrences happen often and with ease in that divine rhythm of timing.
To allow them to come to us we must first purge the old. It is hard to go to a concert when you have obligations somewhere else. There simply is not enough bandwidth to do everything all at once. To release one is to embrace another and to do it again and again. Each interaction with these brings forth more momentum into what you truly love and it is easier to discern what you desire to have around and which engagements you wish to make obligations for.
By simply saying no to something, be it food, alcohol, videogames, sweets, or anything that you regularly imbibe in, you open yourself to a whole lot of free time. As I move through my day I am surprised continually by how much freedom I have now that I do not go out to buy food, put it away, take it out to prepare it, cook it, eat it, then clean up the dishes and put them away. In this moment that time has been returned to me. I can choose to spend it however I choose. (mostly typing)
Technical notes:
In long fasts I suggest a weaning off from whatever it is that we are using daily. It is possible to go “cold turkey” but this also has the tendency to shock the system. As the system is shocked in such a way, it seeks to balance out through a similar but different means. For example if you “quit” smoking one day, the desire to smoke does not leave that same day. and the habit will either manifest as a return to smoking or a similar habit that you may not wish. It is wise to either start off by going one less cigarette a day and/or replacing the habit.
When we say “I quit drinking” or I “quit smoking” we have created a negative attunememt. This is like saying “do not think of pink elephants.” We of course now do the opposite of what we were told and think of pink elephants. The same thing happens when we “quit” something. We are continually playing whack-a-mole with a thought pattern until we destroy the game or give up and start back on the habit.
An example of replacing the habit is this. Instead of not doing something, tune into doing something else. For me this has been writing. I am not not eating. I am writing. As you wish to remove smoking from your life, rephrase it as “I want more water” or “I want a mint” and each time the desire to smoke comes up, first do your new habit. Make it a ritual and be consistent. As you program yourself to do this, and begin to wean off smoking, each time the desire arises, it is now answered by the new habit of drinking water or eating a mint. Play with it and see what works best for you.
Fasting is easy. It’s the not eating that will get you.
All the Love,
Ryan Orion
Ryan Orion 
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