Fasting Journal : Fasting Center International

FASTING AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOTERAPIST ENTERS STATES 'FAR BEYOND ORDINARY MENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS' ON HER 74-DAY PROGRAM!

   [NOTE: Avril Carruthers, a Sydney, Australia, psychotherapist, 47, began FCI's most popular Total Detoxification Program (74 days, at her age, including 64 days of actual juice-fasting) by stating: "My goal is the clarity, serenity, energy, emptiness, etc., that I have experienced before in fasting. In addition, I'd like some of the health benefits from doing it more intelligently, as you so appealingly put it, and to lose weight permanently, too, would be an amazing bonus! Thank you for this opportunity!" Here, then, is her post-fast assessment.]

    "I can scarcely believe that it is now six weeks since I began transitioning out of my fast. I'm still feeling fantastic, and even though there was a marked feeling of heaviness apparent when I began to eat solid food again, that has long since settled down (or I have got used to it). All in all, I lost just over 20 kilograms (over 2 stone) and came down from a size 16 to a size 8. Even my shoe size was reduced! At the moment, I've stabilised at a size 10. At 5' 2", I'm the weight I should be. Though my hair is starting to go greyer again, during the fast, it almost returned to its original chestnut; my skin glowed; my eyes were bright and clear, and my energy was super-light.

    "Interestingly, just as in the first fasting days, I experienced the astral body (thoughts, emotions, and desires) discarnating or detaching from the physical vehicle, allowing desires, in general, to be reduced to the absolute minimum during the fast. . .so I experienced its re-engagement on the second day of the T-out. Wham! I suddenly had to handle desires once more. Specifically, I craved tamari, miso and pickled cucumbers! Since I understood that salt and the astringent effect of vinegar help the astral body to incarnate, I waited till the end of the T-out before gradually introducing this part of the process. I have had no other cravings--not for sugar, caffeine, bread nor for junk, at all--and this has continued, to date. I do love my miso soup, though, especially since it is pretty much Winter now, and miso is so warming.

    "Due to continued exercise throughout the fast, my body is once again leaner and muscular, and weight-training is a joy, now that I'm so strong! It's almost back to how it was 20 or so years ago, when I was training 24 hours a week in three Japanese martial arts--judo, karate and jui-jutsu. The compliments are still coming on how well I look: 'My God, you're tiny! You just look fantastic! How did you DO it?!'. . .from friends, family, clients and colleagues. Three weeks ago, in fact, I gave a testimonial and 'fasting report' to the Clairvision community and meditation class (at their request), and so I suspect quite a few will be contacting FCI, Dennis, either now or closer to the Spring! Last night, at my Master's Alumni Group meeting, I did the same, giving FCI's website address and a brief report to open-mouthed and frankly-admiring colleagues. People can still not BELIEVE the change in three short months, all due to the marvellous opportunity you've afforded me and so many like me, my friend! [FCI note: a half-dozen of her Aussie colleagues were already doing FCI Programs when this testimonial arrived.]

    "During the fast, one of the obvious physical benefits was the apparent elimination of my normal menopausal symptoms. I believe it was due to the cleansing of the liver, but there were no hot flushes, and my insomnia disappeared. My circulation was definitely improving, and I did not experience the extreme cold I had experienced on previous (unsupervised, water-) fasts; perhaps because one's body temperature is raised during hot flushes, this cancelled out the drop in temperature caused by having no solid food. Whatever the reason, it was wonderful having a break from the wild swings in body temperature, plus sleeping normally once more.

    "I also loved the emptiness of the daily enemas, and experienced some pretty extraordinary, kundalini-type energy flows and shifts of consciousness during that particular practice! Another benefit I only noticed at the end, was that a line of moles on my torso succumbed to the autolytic process, and disappeared. Aches and pains reduced (after the initial detoxification), and my daily yoga asanas attained levels of flexibility never before achieved. This has been pretty much retained. Being without sexual desire has been VERY interesting for my relationship, and I learned the true giving of making love from the higher energy of the loving will, instead of from desire. . .an entirely different experience, which took us both to new heights of ecstasy and connectedness.

    "My partner now loves my new body, even though he loved the old one, too, commenting on how remarkable it was to feel it change 'under his hands,' and that he loves that now, he can almost put his arms around me twice! The effect on my daughter has been marked, as well. She no longer looks at me as a woeful indicator of what she is genetically destined to become, but as an example of what is possible for her, too, even given that weight problems plague all the women in our family.

    "Meditation was, and has remained, the most marked area of benefit, apart from all the physical changes. I reached a profound level of stillness, and maintained long periods without thought, at will, while at the times when I needed to think, my problem-solving was frictionless and limpid. And, the stillness and emotional detachment continue to be available at will, as well. In the spiritual practices in which I take part, theurgy (the art of invoking and connecting with high spiritual beings) is a large part. This, particularly, has become, and continues to be, cosmic!

    "High, deep and far reaches of space have opened up to me in a way that is truly mind-blowing; it fact, it's so far beyond ordinary mental consciousness that it's impossible to describe in mere words! It is, at the very least, the place of utter beingness. . .where consciousness, itself, is an action. . .where being is doing-without-acting. It's the core of creation, archetypal and sublime. My meditation friends have joked that now, I know how it feels to be an angel, since angels have no intestines, and no sexual organs, and no fallen astral body, pulling and grasping with physical desires! We-ell. . .yes, maybe, like thousands of fasters before me, I have gone a little way into that experience!

    "So, Dennis, thank you a thousand times for this utterly marvellous experience, for your time and expertise, boundless knowledge, and good humour. All the very best to you, my true friend. Love and light, Avril Carruthers."

Please come back soon for new additions to FCI's online, archived FASTING JOURNAL!

Any questions, email or phone FCI. Email: FastMaster@fasting.com; phone: 818-590-2536 (know that the best time to catch Founder/Director Dennis Paulson, himself, with the least interruption, is between 10-4, California time). For the Fasting Center International home page, click here: www.fasting.com