Fasting as a spiritual and physical reboot
When this email is sent this morning, I will have been fasting for 12 hours.
A 12-hour fast is what I strive for on a daily basis. Sometimes it feels natural to fast longer, but, as a general rule, 12 hours feels right these days.
Those 12 hours allow my body to be in a parasympathetic state that allows for “rest and digest, a critical antidote to the stresses of daily life. Restricting the “feeding window” to 8-12 hours is an ideal scenario; yet, there are times that for healing reasons, we have to eat more frequently: for a couple years, I couldn’t sleep without eating a small snack before bed. And, yet, when I broke from this pattern and started “intermittent fasting” on a more or less regular basis, I felt so much better.
Fasting for 12 hours, or even 14, rarely interferes with my family’s routine. We eat on the early side, generally around 6, so I’m finished around 7, so by 7 the next morning, I either join my family for breakfast or, more often, eat later in the morning, when I can take my time. On Sundays, when Jeremy makes his delicious over-easy (really over-hard) eggs for me, I’ll break my fast whenever they’re ready.
But what about a day like today, when I’m intending not to fast for 12 hours, but for 25? Today is Tish B’Av, the 9th of Av, the “saddest day” of the Jewish calendar, a prescribed Jewish day of fasting, mourning, and all around self-deprivation.
When I fast today, I will not only be mourning the destruction of the two temples, the conventional reason for this fast, but also: the state of our polarized country; the ongoing racist attacks on Asians and blacks and other people of color; the ongoing antisemitism that Jews around the world face, as well as our broken food system that prioritizes profits and power over nutrition. There is so much work to do in our world, and it’s worth taking time to think about how we can play a small (or big?) role to make things better.
Jeremy and I plan to fast, but it’s not something we’re expecting of our kids, two of whom are home and will expect to eat at their usual times during the day.
As far as I’m concerned, fasting while having to tend to the home front is not exactly a recipe for disaster, but extremely challenging.
In fact, for the first several years after I became a mother, I just assumed that women were absolved from fasting because it was too hard: how is one supposed to fix meals and refrain from partaking? No doubt part of my feelings had to do with the fact that Jeremy works as a chazan, a cantor, on Yom Kippur and is therefore unavailable to help with childcare. And yet, while many people are excused from fasting for a host of medical reasons, being a busy mother who has children to feed is apparently not one of them.
Of course, I could decide not to fast. I didn’t even know about Tish B’Av until I met Jeremy, who comes from a more traditional background. Like millions of other reform and secular Jews, I was familiar with one fast day: Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Little did I know then that Judaism has six fast days scattered throughout the year and, in the past, Jews took “personal” fast days when mourning or facing daunting circumstances.
In recent years, I have come to believe that these other fast days are not only spiritually meaningful, but an opportunity for healing, individually and collectively.
So what have I done to ensure that my fasting is a success?
I have talked to my kids about my intention to fast, and we have determined what they are going to eat, so that they don’t have to involve me. Granted my kids are now 14, 12, and 8.
To further help with this, we have hired a sitter for part of the day. This means we won’t have to be in the kitchen, where food is readily available.
I’ve done “back-it-up work” for the past weeks. I’ve nixed the caffeine and processed food. Ditto for alcohol, which I don’t drink in any case. Eliminating refined sugar and grains is also extremely helpful for me at all times in managing my autoimmune disease, but in particular in the days leading up to a fast. Adding high-quality protein and good fats is a game changer!
I have made a point to stop eating well before sunset every night so my body is already accustomed to the time of the prescribed fast, before sunset last night to darkness tonight.
Getting a good night’s sleep is always a priority for me, but it’s so important before a fast day. When I’m tired, I crave sweets and carbs, not a good way to go into any day, let alone a fast day.
I’m drinking water. This means it’s not a traditional Jewish fast, but I know that staying hydrated for me is the difference between fasting and not fasting. If I had to stand before a rabbinic court and plead my case, I’d say it’s because I have Hashimoto’s and take medication for which I need water.
In this regard, I see fasting on a spectrum, and as a practice. Yes, on a Jewish fast day, my intention is to fast for the entire time period. However, I will also be listening to my body, with the understanding that there is a big difference between feeling hungry and feeling ill.
Exiting the fast is just as important as the fast itself. It’s so easy to undo all the good work of the fast within seconds by eating carbs that spike our blood sugar. Towards this end, I’ve prepared a bone broth, replete with protein and fat, for my break-fast. I will add a poached egg or two, along with some sauerkraut and avocado, depending on how I’m feeling, after I’ve first broken my fast with broth. Taking a few deep breaths, uttering a prayer of gratitude, and eating with Jeremy will slow me down.
I’m going light on the exercise. I’ll practice my morning “moving meditation” and take a short walk, but nothing too strenuous.
While I will not be in synagogue, I have scheduled times throughout the day for learning, prayer, reflection, and, thanks to Zoom, I will at times be in the company of people who are going through a similar experience.
I think back to past experiences of fasting, including times when I fasted on non-religious fast days as a way to jumpstart my healing. Because I found these fasts so helpful, I see the fasting that I do on religious days as a kind of healing. Dr. Michael Ruscio in his Healthy Gut Healthy You advises fasting as the first step in healing one’s gut, and I have also found fasting to be hugely helpful with brain fog, something that Dr. Jason Fung discusses in his The Complete Guide to Fasting. These are not the traditional Jewish reasons for fasting, but they are part of my “why.” After all, if I feel my best, I am better able to serve those around me.
I am trusting that my body is capable of healing. This is one of the biggest blessings, one I try to remember every day, but especially on a day like today.
Are you fasting today? Have you ever fasted exclusively for healing purposes, such as for better digestion or brain health? Would you be interested in my online class “Fasting 2.0: Yom Kippur and Beyond?” Please leave a comment below or email me at loren.edelson@gmail.com