Wow that's very interesting! I'm just now ending day 1, and I'm curious to see what kind of cravings I will get haha (though definitely not looking forward to them)

I believe the famous "retracing" is responsible for this. We revisit the tastes, the smells, the memories, and even the physical pain we experienced before. Not to mention those negative emotions, like anger, resentment, sadness.. all those feelings from the past that have been living buried in our cells during so many years...they all come out and back to haunt us.. But this is desirable, so we can heal and prevent future and bigger pain, like cancer, etc.

I remember I ate a poisoned fish when I was 7... I had terrible leg pains back then. During my last fast, which ended a few days ago, those leg pains, exactly, came back... and even that crazy taste in my mouth... (I am in my late 30s now). I knew it was the same old pain because of the intensity, the location, the hour..every thing exactly the same.

It happens with old desires, dreams, life ambitions and frustrations. Personally, that is what I fear most about WF, the emotional pain, and I always try to prepare my mind before hand for it. And I have been able to endure those, and every time I end a fast, I emerge not only physically healthier, but also more self content, peaceful, centered. My concentration is improved, my mind is focused, sharp, and Depression ... impossible!

Yes, just so. With the junk food being released. Sometimes you get taste hallucinations: very real sensations. And it doesn't matter if it was decades ago since you ate such and such. Important not to get swept away by all the fun stuff :-) that can come up, and to just be able to watch it come and go. I think that's why rest is so highly recommended. If you're having to keep it togther on a whole lot oflevels it makes it impossible to just 'be', and let the WFast do its own thing.

"Retracing" happens on several levels. People often ask about funny/strange symptoms and say, "should I stop the WFast?" The answer is almost always, "no!"
Usually, if probed, someone will remember, "oh yeah, there ws this thing I had when I was younger." Often the thing was never allowed to run its course, which it would have, and turned into another 'thing',another symptom, morphing...

So, you might get a recurrance of a childhood illness (if you fast long enough, and depending on what the body deems to be its "schedule" of housecleaning.) The reason you don't want to ever quit on a 'low', in a Water Fast is that you interrupt the body's process to finally, healthfully *complete* some important *releasing* work that was very likely suppressed, with drugs, or however.

If you allow the body to go through these cycles without interfering (and without giving way to fear or whining!) -and generally they come quite quickly, and go quickly too, then you are truly putting vital energy in the bank (!), and rebuilding your immune system. It can be done!
That's pretty wonderful.

It's all so much simpler than we all have made it.
Out with the old, in with the new/nutritive.


Very important considerations you've raised.

C

I wanted to post about this, but then i said maybe it's just in my head. I have experienced smelling food for 0,1 sec and then suddenly disappearing as if that food was right in front of me.

WOW! the more i find out about fasting the more interesting it gets...thanks for the info!