When I first got interested in Natural Hygiene in 1992, I was drawn to the idea that a healthy balance of living equaled a healthy life. I became a vegan, enjoyed pure water, fresh air/sunshine, healthy relationships, meditation, and exercise. I had always understood the reasoning behind fasting. But as a single mother of young children, I could not find the time/resources to undertake an extended fast. Over the years, I swayed toward and away from health and my understanding of Natural Hygiene. But when I hit peri-menopause, the biggest problem I had was lack of sleep. I would go days without sleeping through the night, only to catch up here and there when possible. I could feel middle age and my lifestyle, healthy as it was compared to most others, was taking its toll. I give massage therapy for my livelihood, and it is basically "hard, physical labor administered with much love" and takes a great deal of energy when done right. Last February when I got sick, it took an entire month to heal. I started to sleep through the night after 5 years of not getting Energy Enhancers #4: "Adequate Rest & Sleep." But I had gotten myself so tired that no amount of sleep was making me feel better. I had become, in Natural Hygiene terms: "enervated," out of Nerve Energy, with my nervous system so exhausted I could hardly move about without great effort. I knew was ready to fast!

 

  

Our Wilderness Woman told how almost every day, she would stop in a somber moment of counsel and ask the guest if she were appreciating "the wonderful weight loss, one pound at a time!" Our Wilderness Woman told how the guest answered almost every time with a shrug and the same casual comment: "It's expected when you fast to lose weight." Our Wilderness Woman told how she wanted so much to inspire this guest to go beyond casual expectation at Our Homestead into "treasuring and cherishing" so that when she left, she would carry that with her, so that she would "own" the pounds taken off and the more slender body, so that she would get back into exercise and eating right from "the get go," and so that she would not be planning out her next lamb dinner! And she was daily reminded that a casual attitude at Our Homestead is likely to lead to a causal attitude upon leaving and that a deep appreciation built up while at Our Homestead is the best way to keep the same old habits and the same old pounds from coming back when she wasn't looking.  And then, Our Wilderness Woman told how within just 2 months of leaving Our Homestead, the former guest wrote to say that she was gaining steadily and had summarized her situation with: "What a waste."

 

But the ever-optimistic Wilderness Woman had her own summary of this guest's backward movement: "In recent years, those in the emotional health industry have declared that going backwards after progress made at a rehab facility is actually a part of the rehabilitation process. In other words: 'It's expected that someone in recovery will go backward from time to time.' That confirms the old adage: 'You never fail unless you give up!' Many Health Seekers will go to a health retreat, learn a lot, experience getting so much better in such a short time, and then go home to put into practice what they have learned with their new-found healthier body. We can all only hope that just like in "The Mother May I?" game, many more steps are made going forward than the occasional backward steps. We can only hope that the Health Seeker will get up and brush herself off and get back on her horse when she falls off and ride forward -- hopefully at a full gallop and with her hair blowing in the wind and with rosy cheeks from the exhilaration of the ride!"

 

In closing, I wish all of you a great experience in fasting and in eating live-foods and in re-claiming your energy and your health! And when you have a moment, imagine you are at the doorstep entrance of Our Hygiene Homestead in The Woods where you will be greeted by Jeremiah. Squeeze the hand of this bright green, smiling, happy frog. Then dance and sing with him: "Jeremiah was a bullfrog..."

 

Since coming home from the 12-day visit at The BidWell Wilderness Woman's, I am realizing more every day  what a blessing it was to actually do the 10-day fast at her place. IT HAS CHANGED MY ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD. It is important to do this right. THE RE-FEEDING IS ALMOST AS IMPORTANT -- IF NOT MORE IMPORTANT AS THE FAST ITSELF. Just think about what your body is doing for you! By not eating and resting only, you are shutting down the entire digestive system in order to give it a complete rest. You are allowing the body to work through all the nooks and crannies of all 75,000,000,000,000 cells and cleanse out the toxins for you. And then, you are, to use computer terms, re-booting what needs to be re-booted when you start eating again -- with the end result that everything works more efficiently and correctly! What better time than spring to get a re-boot?