Fasting For a Spiritual and Mental Restart
Happy New Year!
I took a badly needed two-week break from The Possible Path. I felt depleted emotionally, physically, and mentally. 2024 was a year of sickness that took a toll on me. I’m back and feeling stronger.
In January 2020, I did my first 21-day Daniel fast, which consisted of only plant-based products. The idea for the fast comes from Daniel in the Old Testament (Daniel 1:12). Daniel and his friends refused to eat meat dedicated to idols, so they ate only vegetables. Like most Christians doing a Daniel fast, I adapt it to include foods like fruit and beans.
I started this year’s Daniel fast on Monday. I need breakthroughs in my life. I want to stop reaching for my old coping mechanisms. They existed to help me survive childhood trauma and its aftereffects. I am now in a place where I don’t experience severe anxiety, and when I am anxious, I can do a few minutes of deep breathing, and I feel better. I also don’t experience the immense sadness that took up residence in me and required tremendous emotional numbing to hide from people. I don’t need to try and numb my emotions. I have the tools to regulate them.
January is the month when people set New Year’s resolutions. My only resolution is to do whatever it takes to overcome and be closer to God. Three weeks of eating only vegan will help me reach that goal. The website, A Couple Cooks defines the Daniel fast as “a short-term partial fast with the goal of improving spiritual health.” If I improve my spiritual health, my mental health will also improve.
My aim for this Daniel fast is to delve deeper into contemplative prayer. Each of the 21 days, I will practice centering prayer, which Contemplative Outreach defines as a “method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.” I combined centering prayer with breath prayer. I silently say the word Jesus and sync it to my breath.
Last night, while doing centering prayer, my heart started racing, and I felt anxious. After the timer on my phone sounded, marking the end of my prayer time, I realized my body and mind were unfamiliar with being still in silence. That’s another reason why I need this fast. I am used to noise, even during my prayer time. My mind is comfortable being busy, as monkey minds like to do.
I feel like the blind man named Bartimaeus in the New Testament who cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” I know that I need divine help to let go of my coping mechanisms, namely food. By drastically changing my eating habits for 21 days, I am shifting my focus to the spiritual practices that have helped me heal from childhood trauma.
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Hopefully your batteries are recharged❤️