Beyond Hunger - The Unexpected Fullness in Fasting

As we gathered in circle for the closing ceremony of our recent fasting retreat, one of the radiant women who joined us shared something that touched my heart deeply … a reminder of just how profound this work is, here on the mountain.She confessed that, before arriving, she had been worried about hunger. She feared the discomfort, the emptiness that might come from going without food. But instead, what she experienced was the complete opposite.

She felt full.
Not with food  … but with joy. With clarity. With a renewed sense of emotional spaciousness, freedom, and aliveness. She said she couldn’t believe how nourished she felt, and that the fullness she found here far outweighed any desire for food at all.

I’ve witnessed this countless times during our juice fasts. and water fasts. Despite the absence of meals, people rarely speak of hunger. Instead, they speak of lightness, peace, and a deep, cellular kind of fullness. There is something so ancient, so innately natural about stepping away from food for a time … drinking only water or juice, and allowing the body to remember its own wisdom.

In this sacred pause, the body begins to cleanse. The energy usually spent on digestion is redirected to release and regeneration. Ketosis, autophagy, stem cell renewal … these powerful inner healing processes awaken, dissolving what no longer serves: old plaque, cellular debris, denatured protein, even growths that may have quietly built up over the years.

And it doesn’t take long. Just a few days in this stillness, and you begin to feel it … a shift. A return. Your energy rises, the mind clears, and a deeper sense of well-being settles in.

This is the kind of nourishment that food alone can never offer. It’s the kind that comes from the earth, the water, the silence… and from remembering who you truly are.

This is the alchemy of Fasting.

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