Michelle B. Slater - Starving to Heal in Siberia: My Radical Recovery from Late-Stage Lyme Disease and How It Could Help Others

APPENDIX A:

MEDITATIONS FOR DRY FASTING

For the thirty days before you begin fasting, start keeping a journal. Record your hopes, fears, and feelings surrounding healing. While youre fasting, record the epiphanies that come to you.

Find a quiet place to sit comfortably with an erect spine, with your sitz bones on the floor and your hips raised above your knees. If you need to sit on a cushion, please do so. You may also sit on a chair with an erect spine. Close your eyes and start to take slow breaths through your nose. For four long counts, inhale and direct the breath toward your belly, your rib cage, and your upper chest. Pause. Exhale for four slow, long counts.

As you begin to make this breathing exercise a steady, rhythmical pattern, start to notice if there are any body parts that are holding tension, including your muscles, chest, jaw, shoulders, and so forth. Each time that you exhale, imagine softening these areas and releasing the tension. You may even say silently to yourself, With each exhalation, I release anything that is not serving me right now.

Each time that you inhale, imagine inhaling a sense of peace that brings you to stillness and quiet. This sense of peace is individualized and may be whatever you find spiritualit may be derived from religion, nature, music, poetry, the energy of the universe, or whatever resonates with you as a deep place of safety, comfort, and quiet. Each time that a thought enters your mind, acknowledge it, and let it go. Direct your mind back toward the simple process of inhaling slowly and exhaling slowly. Do not judge yourself for having a thought; merely observe the thought, let it go, and keep returning your attention to the breath. If it helps, imagine your favorite river or stream, and imagine putting that thought into the river and watching it float away. With each inhalation, imagine breathing in healing energy, and with each exhalation, watch the tensions in your body melt and soften. Once you have come to a quiet place, begin to direct your attention to taking stock of your life.

By taking stock of your life, I mean: Where are you right now? Where would you like to be? What is serving you well about your life? What is not serving you well that you would like to shift, alter, eliminate, or change? As you breathe, with your eyes closed, relying on the pattern of the breath to soothe you, go deep within and examine what is true for you right now. Watch, listen, and observe as if you are a witness of your own life, without judgment, without frustration. Merely watch and observe what comes up for you. It may be something that seems blatantly obvious, such as I am chronically ill and no longer want to be. It may be I no longer want to feel inadequate and insecure. I no longer want to be in a toxic relationship with Person A. I love teaching and want to organize my life so that I can do more of it. Whatever comes up for you, simply observe it. If something painful comes up, acknowledge the distress, try to listen to any message it is giving you, and inhale compassion for this pain. Exhale and breathe out the pain without judging it.

After a while, you may want to open your eyes and start writing down anything important that has come to you during this process. You may want to repeat this process every day during the preparatory period of fasting.

What is my dream for my post-fasting lifemy new normal? Use a large piece of paper or a section of your journal to create a vision board for yourself. What are the parts of your life that you love and would like to cultivate more? What are the parts of your life that are not serving you well and you would like to let go of? If you were not ill, what would you like to do? Who would you like to be? Use your imagination and dream about your new normal as a well person. You may continue working on this during the fasting period, and during each exit period. Dream what may have once been an impossible dream. It may be as simple as writing out: Cello, Nature, Dogs, Volunteering, or Yoga.

Repeat the first breathing exercise above. Then focus on letting go of my identity as a sick person. If the prospect of this is frightening, you might go deep within and ask yourself why you are holding on to this piece of your identity? See what you can let go of as you allow yourself to stay in the safe place of examining your thoughts and feelings. Whatever you can let go of, cast it into a river that carries it away from you. Imagine filling yourself up with healing light that shines on all the dark places that need healing.

Set your thought and energy on a pure hope for your dry fast to heal you. Close your eyes, inhale slowly through your nose (or mouth if necessary), and exhale through your mouth. As you breathe, shed any pressure or fear you may be feeling before you fast. As you come to a place of stillness, formulate a positive intention for your fast and hold steadfast to the thought throughout the fasting period, repeating it as you walk and as you breathe.

One meditation that I find helpful while dry fasting, if Im experiencing aches and pains or emotional sensitivity, is a pulse meditation. I sit in a comfortable seated position with my eyes closed and take my pulse with one wrist pressing into the other. I identify my burden that is, whatever stress or anxiety is weighing on my mind. On each beat of my heart, I say in time, I cast my burden on my higher self, and I go free. Alternatively, replace my higher self with God, or on the river, or whatever you wish. I find this to be tremendously powerful and calming.

Coming to a quiet, still place and using your breath to guide you, pause and imagine what you would most like to manifest for yourself. Devise a succinct I am mantra for yourself. It may be as simple as I am healthy, I am. I am shining and bouncing, I am. I am a successfully published author, I am. I am well, I am. I am a positive person, I am. Whatever it may be, practice it throughout your fasting practice morning and night.

APPENDIX B:

FASTING PROTOCOL

Twenty-four-hour water fast: If you are water fasting, only consume water starting at bedtime on the day before your fast and continue to consume only water until the morning after your fast. For instance, water fast from a Thursday night to a Saturday morning.

If your twenty-four-hour water fast takes place easily, allow yourself to recover for one week, and repeat the water fast for three days. Exit the water fast for one week, and engage in a seven-day water fast. After a successful seven-day water fast, you may begin a twenty-four-hour dry fast.

Twenty-four-hour dry fast: Consume water only on the day preceding your fast. Your fast will begin at bedtime. For instance, if fasting on a Saturday, the dry fast will begin Friday night at bedtime, and you will continue dry fasting until you wake up on Sunday morning.

Three-day dry fast: Use the same principle of the twenty-four-hour dry fast to proceed with the three-day fast. Your fast will begin at bedtime, for example, on a Thursday, and you will not consume any food or water from Thursday night until Monday morning. During this time, do not apply any lotions, do not brush your teeth or wash your face, and do not come in contact with any water. If you experience headaches, dry mouth, nausea, hunger, or thirst, breathe through them, for they will pass and shift. A multitude of symptoms is normal while dry fasting. The better your preparation is, the easier you will fast.