Fasting Methods to Deepen your Meditation Practice
- Eric Bennewitz
- Mar 26
- 5 min read
Part 1 Food Fasting
When you think of ‘fasting’, the first type that probably comes to many people’s minds is food fasting. This is actually only one method of fasting. Over the next 3 blog articles, I will cover food, speech and sensory fasting beginning here with FOOD FASTING. If you read my Blog article on 'preparation for meditation practices', I mentioned that ‘fasting’ is a very helpful tool for enhancing people’s meditation practice. I have had experiences over the years with these three methods of fasting and hope that these articles give you a new perspective or tool for deepening your meditation practices. After reading this, maybe you’ll find food fasting is the method that works for YOU.
What is Fasting?
Simply put, fasting is a voluntary abstaining from something for a shorter or longer period of time. For example, certain foods, drinks, speaking, social media or sex to name a few can be things that we choose to be less stimulated by. Recognize that your body and mind are deeply connected, so when you quiet your mind, you also calm your body and vise versa. Fasting can accelerate this in many helpful ways.
Why Fasting benefits meditation.
In regards to meditation practices, we deliberately fast from something to change our physical and mental state in order to deepen our meditational effort. It’s a powerful tool to enhance mental clarity, deepen concentration and accelerate personal discipline, but don’t see it as punishment. Instead, see it as a strategy to quiet the ‘noise’ of the mind and body, so that the subtler frequencies of consciousness can be experienced. During the meditation practice itself, we are actually fasting from thoughts and eventually from breathing when entering the state of deep meditation (Samadhi). Thinking, especially overthinking, drains a lot of energy from us, so by practicing a fasting method like food fasting, we learn to conserve our energy and redirect it inwards to fuel a calmer and more energetically balanced (sattvic) meditation practice. For the more visual people out there, fasting is like farming. It prepares the body and mind as a farmer prepares a field before planting. He clears away the weeds, rocks and garbage (foods, talking, sensory stimulation), enriches the soil, so the seeds (your meditation practice) can take root and grow easier.
Benefits of Fasting that support a meditation practice.
Mental clarity – depending on what we eat, digestion for many people is a high-energy consuming process. When we fast from foods, our digestive systems gets a break and our bodies can redirect this digestive energy towards our brains and minds helping us to reduce mental fog, increase alertness and make it easier to concentrate during meditation practice. In a yogic way, fasting will conserve ‘prana’ (life force energy), which can lead to deeper states of concentration and a higher reserve of ‘Ojas’ stored at the intersection of your physical and energetic body.
Less physical discomfort – Have you ever tried to practice meditation after eating? Your body may feel bloated, gassy, heavy or generally uncomfortable. These kinds of physical discomforts can be avoided by practicing on an empty stomach. By practicing meditation before eating in mornings or at least 4 hours after eating in evenings are good options. After fasting for awhile, our bodies will feel lighter and less distracting, allowing us to sit longer in meditation practice. I learned this the hard way when I began meditating.
Emotional & Psychological Balance -We all have habits that bring us temporary satisfaction (pleasure), so when food fasting for example, we are developing the ability to ‘observe’ our hunger instead of immediately ‘react’ to it. This one is a tough one for me at times, but it can build an incredible amount of mental discipline and willpower. This fasting then translates into being able to more easily detach from our thoughts and emotions during meditation practice. It may even bring some buried emotions up, giving us the chance to process them and let them go in a more observable and detached meditative setting thanks to fasting.
Deeper Spiritual Connection – If you practice meditation using a Deity, then the act of fasting can be used as an offering of devotion (Bhakti) or intention to the Deity. Since I currently practice meditation with Tantric Deities, I have found short or longer fasts helpful in strengthening the connection to something greater than myself.
Getting started with a Food Fast to support your meditation practice.
If food fasting is something you want to undertake, then I always recommend to students that they consult with they’re doctor first, especially if you have specific conditions like diabetes, anemia or a digestive tract issue.
Secondly, always listen to your body during a food fast. If your feeling dizzy, weak or just not good, then stop the fast. Remember, its not a punishment. Take your time and be patient in building up from meal fasting to daily fasting to perhaps longer fasts.
Suggestions for your Food Fasting.
Start small - There is no need to immediately jump into a longer (multi-day or weeks long) food fast.
Breakfast or Dinner Fast - An option is to meditate first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. If you don’t have time in the mornings, then maybe at sunset or evenings at least 4-hours after eating a meal.
Full-Day Fast – Perhaps you choose to fast on specific foods in small amounts (examples: soft cooked vegetables, unsweetened yogurt, avocados, eggs, broth soups and water-rich foods like watermelon or cucumbers) or you do a full one-day fast where you only drink water or water with some honey or lemon in it. What has worked for my body in the past is drinking hot water with turmeric, black pepper and some sliced ginger. This may be an option for you. Try it first and see how it feels.
Multi-Day or Multi-Week Fast – Eating fasting foods that are fresh each day whether you choose to eat one particular food for awhile (calming to digestive system) or a group of easily digestible foods.
Longer Fasts – I have not experienced food fasts longer than a few weeks, so I won’t comment on fasting for months, but I can say that it is even more crucial to listen to your body and not be egocentric about the food fast.
Fasting on Specific Days – If you are interested in Vedic or Tantric Numerology & Astrology, then it may be interesting to plan any food or any fasting for that matter, according to your date of birth (month/date/year). Knowing this, you can determine your Psychic and Destiny planets (Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Rahu, Mercury, Venus, Ketu, Saturn and Mars) and food fast on a specific day of the week and/or at a particular phases in the cycle of the Moon.
Conclusions
Lots to ‘digest’ here so to speak. Take it slow and let your body adapt to any food fasts. When you have found your rhythm, you will start to notice how it can positively affect your meditation practice as it did for many Yogis of the past who understood the power and intelligence of food fasting.
What Next?
Speech fasting. As a dad and husband, this one can be challenging for me at times, but if you communicate your fasting intention clearly and with boundaries, it can work. For the people that live alone out there, this may be the fasting choice for you that deepens your meditation practice.
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