WEEKLY WATER FASTING - HEALING CHRONIC DISEASES

Fasting is a powerful tool that provides a period of concentrated physiological rest during which the body switches to repairing and strengthening its damaged organs. It allows the body to cleanse cells of accumulated toxins and waste products.

Fasting gives the digestive tract time to completely rest and strengthen its mucosal lining. A healthy intestinal mucosal lining is necessary for preventing the leakage of incompletely digested proteins and toxins into the bloodstream, thereby offering protection against autoimmune conditions.

Fasting for six-days a month can indefinitely postpone onset of type-2 diabetes in obese individuals! Water fasting releases natural chemicals and hormones to keep chronic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, hypothyroidism, colitis, IBS, fibroids and benign tumours and many more in control.

Obesity
Weekly water fasting is a safe and sure shot solution for resistant obesity. The aim is to create a food shortage (while water is allowed), to awaken the sleeping enzymes and chemicals that increase metabolism and burn fat. When the food supply is cut off, a switching action occurs in the body where the stored fat becomes the target of burning.

But this fat burning does not occur immediately due to the scarcity and disuse of certain enzymes needed to release free fatty acid from the stored fat, known as the hormone-sensitive-lipase (HSL).

In order to maintain adequate HSL levels, the body must know that this enzyme is needed which will happen only when a scarcity of food is produced for the body. When one does weekly water fasting, the HSL levels keep getting triggered and then increase the sleeping metabolism. Then one can actually eat the food of seven days in six days time without putting on weight!

Chronic diseases
There are other attributes to a weekly fast. On the day of fast, our daily secretion of glucocorticoid (natural steroids made by body) is doubled. This serves as a weekly pulse but without its usual adverse effects! This pulse mobilises the stored carbohydrates and also prevents hypoglycemia or lowering of the sugar.

Such pulse can prove effective in a large numbers of autoimmune disorders like thyroid disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and a number of skin problems. These patients are given steroids externally but with all the side effects of long term use. The glucocorticoids or bodily steroids are free of side effects!

Diabetes
Fasting gives a rest to the otherwise overworked pancreas which have to keep secreting insulin to push the sugar in the blood inside the cells, as we keep eating frequently throughout the day. It is found that in an obese person, the saturated fat cells release leptin which leads to spontaneous death of the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas, leading to Diabetes. On the day of a fast, the same fat cells have been found to secrete adiponectin which has growth-promoting and proliferative effect on these beta cells to thus produce more Insulin.

Even in established type-2 diabetes, a graded weekly fast can be observed provided adequate care is taken to avoid drug-induced hypoglycemia. This is possible under a supervised protocol.

Making your fast a pleasant and rewarding experience!
Most people get discouraged by the first experience of headache, acidity and irritability and resolve not to fast any more. Yes there are going to be problems at the first occasion. However, by the next week, some changes would have already occurred in the body so that the trouble is reduced to only 50 per cent, and by the third week to 25 per cent. After the fifth week, there is hardly any problem in fasting for the whole day. To make the experience of fasting a pleasant one, the following regime is suggested:

• Fix up one day in a week according to your religious belief. While the conviction gets you agreed, the belief makes you observe it regularly, religiously. Remember, you have to stick to the chosen day even in face of the greatest temptations. This is to maintain a regular rhythm with bodily functions.

• Resolve. If for example you have selected Monday, the previous night, sleep with a resolve and an awareness that you have to fast the next day. Tell yourself that apart from eating, all other activities are going to take place exactly as any other day.

Graded fasting
• The first Monday: just avoid the morning tea and the breakfast. Take lemon-water instead. Those having a tendency to get 'acid formation' may be helped by taking a solution of Amla juice or simple water instead.

• The second Monday: your body will be in a better position to tolerate the avoidance of breakfast, and you can safely postpone the lunch for at least an hour.

• The third Monday: you can skip both the breakfast and the lunch, and take lemon-water or amla juice-water or cucumber instead. This way, gradually over a period of about four to five weeks, a 24 hours fasting will be a rewarding experience and you will wait for the day to get that 'positive kick' from fasting.

Yogic Vatasara to help!
Vatasara is a forgotten technique which means drinking air. Vatasara suppresses the hunger pangs and balances the acidity too. Yoga describes drinking air through Kaki-Mudra and the Bhujagi mudra, but they are difficult to practice by many. Dr P Malshe has invented a very easy and acceptable method of drinking air, using a punctured (pierced) straw. With one-two small punctures in the top one inch of a straw, you will suck in lot of air along with the half glass of water.

Drinking air on the day of fast fills up the stomach and immediately brings about a kind of satiety for several hours. After drinking water mixed with air, doing inverted postures like Adhomukha svanasana, Shashankasana and Uttanasana for a minute, maneuvers the air to the intestines. Let us take charge of ourselves. In order to be truly transformed, you must first empty yourself — fasting can transform!

Weekly fasting leads to -
• More energy
• Healthier skin
• Better quality sleep
• Dramatic reduction or complete elimination of headaches, aches and pains in muscles and joints
• Stabilisation of blood pressure
• Stronger and more efficient digestion and bowel movements.
• Loss of excess weight

WATCH THAT WEIGHT - Figures can change on scale!

Obesity is a lifestyle disorder that is influenced by genetic factors, hormonal patterns, individual will power, and food addictions. It is now recognised as a disease by the World Health Organisation. Yoga has helped many people shed extra pounds, even some who have spent years trying to slim down in other ways without much success.


Loose out

Vinita Gupta, a 36-year-old home-maker, hearing of the far-reaching benefits of Yoga, thought of giving it a try. Little did she know that she will come out slimmer and healthier, with a sense of control. As a large part of yoga is personal transformation, both on and off the mat — weight loss is just the beginning!

Vinita started with breathing yoga practices to build awareness and kick start her sluggish metabolism. A planned protocol of sustained stretches made her ‘squeeze out’ the toxins and mobilise the fat cells to get burnt up with the alternating aerobic practice of surya namaskaars.

While maintaining the poses like Naukasana, Vrukshasana, Trikonasana, Chaturanga, Parivrutta Parshvakonasana, her own body weight provided the necessary resistance to different muscle groups giving her all the advantages of a balanced weight training programme too.

She was then introduced to deep vinyasa power yoga, where movement and breath link poses together, to build heat and potentially result in greater metabolic boost and calorie burn. ‘Yoga is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me’ is what she says now!

How yoga can change the number on the scale

Yoga works on many fronts and naturally creates balance. The key to achieving weight loss goals is not merely sweating out with asanas, but in developing mindfulness. The focus on breath, meditation and the ability to be in the present moment, translate off the mat as well.

Pepped up metabolism: Yogasanas increases core strength, flexibility, and lean muscle. They don’t just burn fat and calories but by placing healthy demands on the body, they sparks the sluggish metabolism, since more muscle burns more calories. Once the metabolism gets pepped up with the deep isometric asana holding and breathing techniques, the effects are sustained to the maximum. This helps burn fat cells in a more sustained way and not only when you exercise.

Digestive strengthening: If you are not digesting properly, your body will trick you into cravings that can affect your weight loss. Yoga improves digestion and so eliminates constipation, water retention, and bloating.

Hormone balancing: Yoga stimulates and improves blood circulation to the lethargic endocrine glands (such as the thyroid and pancreas) that control our appetite, metabolism, moods and sleep patterns, as well as improved self-image.

Detoxification: The deep breathing in Yoga expels toxins and increases the oxygen intake to the cells, further increasing metabolism. Pranayama also translates into daily life, reducing stress and maintaining focus, just as it does in each asana.

Mindful Eating: Mindfulness during asana and pranayama practices eventually spills into the lifestyle! One learns to feel when you are full, and you don’t like the feeling of overeating. You also recognise anxiety and stress for what they are instead of trying to mask them with food.

Positive Self Image: Weight gain often brings with it a great deal of harsh self-judgment. Through yoga, we can counteract this by creating a safe, positive environment to reconnect with our bodies and quiet the counterproductive messages that often arise in our minds. One learns to accept oneself (and the bodies) just the way they are.

Destressing also increase metabolism: By combating stress, yoga helps normalise cortisol levels. In response to stress, levels of the hormone cortisol rise which stimulates eating and ensures that any additional calories are efficiently converted to fat, which tends to get deposited in the abdomen. Big bellies are linked to insulin resistance-a precursor to diabetes and heart disease.

Why Yoga

Yoga has the potential to be very transformative on many levels, with the physical body being a doorway to the more profound gifts of the practices. Yoga is really a process of learning about your body, being comfortable in your own skin, and knowing it is a process that you can be in for a whole lifetime.