Post-Fast Lessons: The Sacred Pause, the Real Return
From Quiet Comes Clarity, What I’m Carrying Forward After My Fast
If you’ve been following along, you know I stepped away for a bit to do something that felt a little radical, extremely intuitive, and 100% necessary: a 17-day water fast.
I did it because something deep within me said: you need to stop and listen.
And the only way I could truly hear was to step out of my life as I knew it—stop the work, stop the busy—and get quiet enough that even digestion had to take a back seat.
During my 17-day prolonged water fast, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so connected to my own energy, so in tune with my ancestors, or so grounded in what actually matters to me. It wasn’t easy. It stripped away every distraction, every crutch, every bit of noise.
And when you remove everything, what’s left is just you.
Here’s what I let go of (and intend to keep out)—and what I’m bringing with me now that I’ve stepped back into “regular” life:
Letting Go Of:
Workaholism: No more working 7 days a week and every evening.
Facebook and email on my phone: No doom scrolling at night before bed.
Being accessible 24/7: I will stop rushing to respond to texts and emails. It’s okay to wait a day or two. I don’t need to be available all the time.
Drinking unfiltered tap water
Watching high-drama, nervous-system-disrupting TV
Integrating:
A slower way of life
Gardening (keeping a vegetable garden)
Making my meals slowly and intentionally: less processed food, less white flour, less sugar, less alcohol (but let’s be real—I live to eat, I LOVE food, and I won’t penalize myself for loving sugar or a good glass of wine)
Way less social media
Making energy work a priority: getting Reiki and other healing modalities regularly, and integrating more Reiki for my clients
Not starting work until 9 a.m.
Coffee and connection time with my partner at least four mornings a week
Daily meditation
Daily walking
Daily rebounding
Yoga just for me (not only for my clients)
Building my schedule much more intentionally to prioritize work during the workday and leaving evenings and weekends free
Meals at the table without screens (instead of in front of my computer)
Cooking for friends and family
Drinking structured water using my my Berkey Filtration System, Analema Wand, and Echo Flask.
Just for giggles, here’s what came back (or what I ran back to!) after the fast:
Bowel movements 😂 Seriously—you miss these when you don’t have them.
Brushing my teeth with something other than baking soda
Washing with soap (and especially getting to wash my hair with soap!)
Drinking coffee ☕️
I’ll be honest: reintegrating after the fast has been harder than the fast itself.
Eating again meant returning to the world of distractions, decisions, and noise.
This week, I tried to resume scheduling appointments and meetups with people—but I completely dropped the ball on a few things. I missed an appointment. I stood up a friend (by accident, but still—not fun to own either of those things).
I’m realizing how slowly and intentionally I really need to go—and it’s slower than you think.
Every day, I ask myself:
What do I actually need? What is most healing right now?
Sometimes the answer is a nap.
Sometimes it’s a walk.
Sometimes it’s paint and silence.
But whatever the answer is—I’m listening now.
And maybe that’s what I most want to share with you this week:
You don’t have to earn your worth through busyness.
Healing doesn’t have to be seen to be valid.
Your body has wisdom.
And sometimes the most radical thing you can do is unplug, stop, and listen.
For more updates about the prolonged water fast I just completed you can watch this two part update I just posted. Part One and Part Two