Raw Food Explained: Life Science
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2. The Actual Conduct Of The Fast
2.1 Pre-Fasting Considerations
Many times you will find that the guests have had a long history of constipation or perhaps other troubles with the bowels that make regular bowel movements unpleasant and as a result are not indulged until absolutely necessary. When you encounter this sort of a situation, you should consider placing that guest on a pre-fasting dietary of nothing but fresh fruits high in water content for a period of two, three, four, or maybe five days before commencing the fast. Usually this guest will have had at least one and perhaps more bowel movements over this period of time. When some sort of a near normal bowel pattern has been established, then the actual fast can be initiated.
When you are mailing out your follow-up letters after receiving some notice of a guest’s intentions of coming to you for a fasting situation, suggest that if he or she is or has been having troubles with his/her bowels or elimination, he or she should eat nothing but fresh ripe raw fruits with a high water content for at least a week before arrival in your center or fasting establishment.
The intent of the pre-fast dietary is to nave established a near normal bowel function to minimize the blockage of the bowels when alimentation is resumed at the end of the fast.
2.2 Fasting Considerations
By now you will have established a working relationship with your guest (or have dismissed him or her as someone whom you would rather not work with) and are ready to consider the starting of the fast itself. During the first few days of the fast, you are going to have many opportunities to get to know your guest even better as you continue to work together. You should immediately begin to emphasize the various things that the guest will begin experiencing in the beginning of the fast. Headaches (or other types of withdrawal symptoms) will be quite common with most of your guests, and they should be allayed as soon as possible.
As the guest moves into the fast with each passing day they need to be encouraged to do nothing but rest without any form of exercise or attempt of any kind to get up a bit and walk around “to keep the strength up,” etc. You want him or her to want only to rest. It is when he or she has arrived at this state that the body is able to really begin its’ housecleaning operation without hinderence or interference. The real true measure of housecleaning at its very best! When the guest holds on to that idea of reserving energy every day to get up and move around to keep the strength up, that energy is being withheld from the housecleaning procedure. The brain or computer is then in the position of being able to divert all of the efforts to the one job of cleaning out the debris that has been accumulating over the years.
When the housecleaning is finished, the body will again direct the energy back in the muscles and other functions as discussed later in this lesson. It is very important that you have responsible answers ready for your guest’s many questions that will be forthcoming at those times when they are experiencing strange and bizarre feelings and symptoms. Your guest can easily become very apprehensive and concerned unless you have good answers and reactions to questions. The actions you take and the reactions you make to the guest’s many ploys, whether fancied or real, will have a direct bearing upon his or her cooperation and willingness to follow your directions.
You have to remember that you are the “operator,” the “thinker,” the “originator” of the thoughts and actions that are being carried out in the “subject,” the “doer,” the “guest.” The guests are very dependent upon you for their guidance and directions so long as the composite personality is maintained. When you lose that relationship, if it is destroyed in any manner, you the “operator” have lost the confidence of your “subject.” This can be a devastating experience for the guest, because you have left him or her without guidance at a time when not thinking clearly. This is where self-mastery, control, and poise are necessary. These stem from knowledge, understanding, and a feeling of empathy for your guest and his/her problems. If your dedication to the cause of Hygiene and its wonderful results is not there, you can expect some rough sailing on the seas of public relations with storms aplenty in the forms of unhappy and troublesome encounters with lawyers, courts, and just plain irate former guests. If, on the other hand, you have demonstrated your forthrightness in dealing with the overall situation, you can expect rather smooth sailing with only an occasional storm of any consequence.
As your guest progresses in the fast, certain things must be given due thought and consideration. You very closely observe the guest’s progress. If he or she is detoxifying in the usual manner after several days of fasting and resting, all is going well. The actual number of days required to last before the housecleaning is finished will depend pretty much upon the amount of adipose tissue that is available to be used as fuel during the fast. If the guest is well endowed with fuel reserves (obese), many more days will be required to attain the level of a guest less well endowed. In either case, the guest will remain in a state of relative weakness so long as the housecleaning is going on. If the fast must be broken ahead of time, that is before the housecleaning is finished, time must be allowed for the guest to gradually begin eating and making the necessary adjustments to post-fast eating allowing sufficient time for the body lo make its necessary adaptations.
Ideally, the guests should be able to arrange their schedules so that they can “fast to completion” or until the housecleaning is finished. On the other hand, there are many things that come into the picture that may mitigate against such an arrangement, in which case, adaptations will have to be resorted to that are in the best interests of the guest.
When the guest is able to “fast to completion,” the energies that have been used in the actual processes of housecleaning will no longer be needed for those purposes and will be released. The brain, sensing all of the things that are taking place in the guest’s body, will then start shifting energies back into the muscles and the skeletal system of the body. The guest will then begin to feel a new sense of strength and energy returning. The guest will then experience a desire to evacuate the bowels, and the arms and legs will become stronger. At this point in time, it is well to understand and to caution the guest that while he/she may actually feel a surge of strength returning to various parts of the body, it is of very short endurance or for very short lengths of time because there is no reserve to replenish it as it is used up. Many times this strength will be completely used up in a simple little trip to the bathroom or during any type of light exertion. A faster needs to realize his/her actual condition and not overtax him or herself at that particularly critical time in the fast.
As time progresses, the tongue will begin to clear, the breath and mouth will sweeten, and that nasty taste in the mouth will have changed into one of salivation and the dissolution of the phlegm and mucus of the mouth and respiratory passages. The guest is then ready to be considered for breakfast (breaking of the fast). It need not be broken on that particular day but should be done within the next two to three days when everything has pretty well settled down and the body is really ready for food.
When
actually ready for food, the throat and sublingual glands will signal the desire for food, and then it is time to break the last—at the discretion of the supervisor in consultation with the guest.
2.3 Monitoring the Faster
All during the fast, it is a good idea to keep daily checks on the progress of the fast and its effect upon the guest. Each of you will be interested in various aspects of this procedure, but there are certain things that should be considered by all supervisors in the conduct of the fast. Among those things are notations of the guest’s weight, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, urine color, bowel activity, if any, and how the guest is feeling along with your comments and observations of what you are seeing objectively along with the guest’s subjective responses to your questions.
As you gain experience in these areas, you will soon find that what are considered to be standards among the usual and accepted standards of the medical establishment are above the standards of healthy people. Blood pressures of 100-110 over 60-55 are not at all uncommon in healthy people. Pulse rates of 50 to 60 are quite normal for guests in mid-life.
Another important item is the be ever alert to the possibility of your guest not taking enough water which can lead to a state of dehydration. He or she needs to be encouraged to drink water every time the urge is there. If that means providing fasters with warmed distilled water to increase its potability, by all means give it to them that way and encourage them to drink water every time they feel thirsty and to not put it off for any reason.
Some signs that your guest is not drinking sufficient water could include: scanty urine or a highly-concentrated nature; a sallow, light, loose skin that does not have the usual elasticity when lightly pinched and released (sort of sticks together); increasing pulse rate; lowering of blood pressure; lethargic or listless countenance and attitude—a detached or “not with it” response; and possible other signs.
If you note any of these things, start questioning your guest and observe closely the amount of water taken from his/her water dispenser. Don’t wait for most of the signs to appear to start making your inquiries, perhaps the water is becoming intolerable to your guest and you may need to add a few drops of fresh lemon juice to enhance its taste.
In the course of monitoring your guests, you may have occasion to have questions concerning some of the readings or indications. It may help to get on the telephone and talk with a friend—anyone that you know who has some experience in these matters. Your peace of mind will be greatly enhanced. Reference to the section following “Generalities” regarding the slowing down of a fast can also have meaning for you.
2.4 Post-Fast Dietary
In breaking a fast of longer duration than three days, consideration should be given to the best methods for breaking the fast (see Lesson Forty-eight following) in the best interests of that particular guest. Many things need be considered in making these determinations. Some of these will include the age of the guest, the goals of the guest, the length of time he or she has fasted, the amount of toxic materials that have been eliminated, the stability of the guest from a physical as well as psychological point of view, and the state of rapport that currently exists between you and your guest (sometimes it is best to comply with your guest to salvage as much of a deteriorating relationship as is possible).
Following a fast of 15 days or longer, the post-fast dietary becomes more important with the passage of time in the fast. When a person has fasted that long or “to completion,” his or her intestinal flora will have been largely depleted and require a little time to be regained after the realimentation period. An ounce or 28 grams of food may not appeal to the appetite of that particular person who is breaking the fast. This person needs to be encouraged to eat it as gently and easily as possible to reactivate his or her digestive system. Usually by the time he or she has had the second or third ounce (28 grams) of food he or she will begin to have an appetite. By that time, the intestinal bacteria have proliferated and have become active in their own right. The appetite of the guest then picks up gradually, and you can begin giving them slightly larger amounts of food so that by the second day he or she should be able to handle an orange every two hours or perhaps 100 grams (slightly less than four ounces) of grapes or of watermelon. When watermelon is in season and available, I personally think it is one of the finest foods available on which to break a fast.
It seems that from a consensus of opinion that a fast should be broken in the morning so that six meals can be taken—one every two hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. to get the alimentary system working at its optimum capacity. There may be times and circumstances when it will be necessary to break a fast on something other than fresh ripe raw fruits but those occasions should be rare and only where absolutely necessary for some valid reason.
Raw Food Explained: Life Science
Today only $37 (discounted from $197)