“Every fool can fast, but only the wise man knows how to break a fast.” – George Bernard Shaw

“More caution and perhaps more restraint are necessary in breaking a fast than in keeping it.” – Mahatma Ghandi

Welcome to Day 3 of our Guided Juice Fast!

Hello Fellow Fasters!

Congratulations! You have made it to the last day of the fast and this is probably going to be a “cruise” day for you! Day 3 is the day when you feel like you could easily keep fasting. And if you feel like continuing, your cleanse will only go deeper with every day you continue. If it feels easy, you might want to take advantage of that and continue one day at a time or for another set of days. Don’t feel like you are confined to 3 days if you are on a roll and want to keep “working it.” Just make sure your system keeps eliminating. The longer you fast, the more you’ll get to tap and release that really deep, post-putrefactive waste responsible for your worst symptoms and/or undesirable body shape. This is why we do this work, to remove those deep blockages and experience what life can be like when they are gone! When I fast, I generally like to have an idea of approximately how long I plan to fast for but that can change based on a lot of factors. If you choose to continue, the protocol remains the same, however, you might want to add in more citrus juices and apples, pears or pineapple to your vegetable juices. If you feel like you are a giant ball of electricity (this usually doesn’t happen until the 7-8th day), it’s your nervous system signaling that it is getting agitated by a lack of fat in the diet. You could take a tablespoon of Udo’s or cold-pressed flax oil at that point (once or twice a day) or you could take that as your signal to break the fast. As long as the waste you awaken is leaving your system, you should feel better and better each day. The rush of energy may be unsettling to you. Before you run from it, try to anchor it in your body so it makes you feel really well, really alive, rather than flighty. You have the power to do this and if you do, this energy can serve you and act as a big deposit in your life force bank account. I suggest grounding exercises like walking in grass, soil, a dirt trail or sand barefoot. Hiking and swimming can help a lot. In terms of elements, the energy has a lot of air and ether so bringing earth and water in to balance that is a simple way to solve the temporary imbalance. Baths, particularly in salt or with clay will also help as will any kind of deep sweating like using an infrared sauna. Breath deeply and image-in your connection with the earth; see roots coming down into the earth from your feet, like a tree. This energy is a great sign you’ve opened up pathways and removed blockages. You’re probably going to break your fast soon, so take a moment to enjoy this experience. It isn’t as apparent when we are eating so it may be a while before you feel it so intensely again.

If you do plan to break the fast after 3 days…

Tomorrow you will break your fast so enjoy the intestinal peace and unique flow of energy today. You’ve earned it! Your next challenge will be taking the perspective you’ve gained into a world where you eat solid food. As the two quotes above indicate, it is sometimes far easier to abstain from food than to eat food in a balanced way. Breaking the fast requires you be fully conscious and vigilant with each bite tomorrow. Many people overeat after a fast because they are unprepared for this inclination. Any time the pendulum swings dramatically in one direction, it will naturally be drawn to the equal and opposite direction. If you know this ahead of time you can avoid the swing toward overeating. It does not have to happen and it is very easy to prevent. You’ll have to set a few rules for yourself: 1) What time you will break your fast (lunch time, late afternoon or dinner) 2) what you will break your fast on (for most of you that will be a small, raw, green salad with avocado and steamed vegetables; 3) how much you will eat; 4) where you will eat (sitting down somewhere serene); 5) the conditions under which you will not eat or stop eating (if any kind of stress enters your space that takes you out of the sacred “break-fast” ceremony); and 6) what you plan to do after you break your fast (moving on to another thing will prevent a trail of eating that will undermine your graceful break-fast).

Overcoming the temptation to eat for three days cannot help but build up a great deal of self-appreciation and appreciation for how hard your body works to keep it’s balance (and how much it takes to clean up imbalanced assaults against it). Hold on to that respect for self and body, and bring it to every diet-lifestyle choice you make going forward. You will be more likely to step outside the box and do what serves you rather than collude with norms that don’t serve you (even if that means taking some raw veggies in your bag or briefcase to a restaurant or having juice or herbal tea when your office mates are eating bagels and donuts). You might surprise yourself by what you decide you will start doing. I’ll remind you, you’re in good company – we all do things “normal” people find quirky and idiosyncratic but you have to live in your body, you are the one that is going to feel good or poorly if you do or don’t do the things that work for you. Besides, rest assured, the trend is moving in favor of people breaking the mold and doing things their way. Armed with this feeling of self and body respect, it is the best time to set these new standards for yourself. And keeping yourself attuned to this perspective protects you from dipping into self abusive patterns.

Whether or not you made it to this day without eating you should be proud of yourself because you have been able to garner some very valuable insights into yourself. If you were not able to make it to this day without eating, do not fret! The fact that you committed to joining the fast with us was a huge first step. The culprit of breaking the fast prematurely may have been a little fearful voice that told you, you couldn’t do it. Or maybe you feared the commitment (committing is central to succeeding in a fast, ask yourself if your commitment was weak and what you could do to enforce a strong commitment next time. Are there other areas in your life that require a stronger commitment for you to succeed as well)? Usually our hang-ups effect several areas in our life, not just one. Or maybe it was a case of classic self -sabotage.

Whatever the case, don’t be too hard on yourself – but don’t be too soft on yourself either! Self-punishment is just another distraction from dealing with what needs to be dealt with. Feeling bad about it isn’t going to make you any more sovereign in the present or future. Look at what occurred honestly and deal with it honestly. Instead of using this as another example of what you can’t do, which will only feed self-defeating patterns, victimhood and disrespect for yourself, use the experience as a magnifying glass into your subconscious mind. If you have that kind of self-sabotaging voice in your head it’s time to slay it. Figure out where it comes from and don’t stop until you’ve recapitulated everything that could be a part of its root system. Once you have, undertake the fast again – this time you will see it through!

It is a very good idea to put a solid plan in place for the new life you will be starting tomorrow. In order to realize lasting benefits from this fast it is important to think about your new approach to food so do you don’t “detox to retox!” Do your best to create a new daily regimen for yourself because remember, cleansing our bodies is not a temporary activity – it’s an ongoing process. You don’t brush your teeth or shower on a temporary basis. The internal upkeep is exactly the same as the external! After so many years of toxic consumption, most of us have A LOT of work to do in order to undo the accumulation that is within us. Use the momentum you have gained from the fast to put a new plan in place going forward. Maybe you want to start juicing until lunch or until dinner on a regular or semi-regular basis? Maybe you recognize it’s time now to eliminate the cooked component at lunch and just enjoy a big raw salad? Maybe you weren’t juicing or doing colonics on a consistent basis and you want to incorporate daily juicing and periodic colonics into your long-term routine? Now is the time to set your new standards. Make sure they sit well in your heart. If there’s resistance, figure out where that resistance comes from. Is it your authentic resistance? If so, don’t push – we never resist our authentic voice. Is it sub-conscious fear or outside influence that is creating the resistance? If so, it’s time to dissolve those imposing voices and move forward with your heart’s desires instead. Can you tune into what you truly want? Take a moment and do so. See what comes up and see how much power you tap into when you check in with your heart.

No matter what you decide in terms of specifics, today is a day of reassessing and committing to making choices that are more empowering. The simple choice to choose consciousness rather than remaining on auto-pilot patterns is a huge accomplishment in and of itself! Take the time to reflect and write down any new changes you would like to implement going forward.

In addition, you will find great empowerment in the realization that you do not need half as much food as you thought to function and feel good in your body. We are a society that believes that we must “put fuel into the gas tank” of our bodies on a constant basis in order to keep going. In reality, it is this overconsumption, done on a daily basis, that causes obstruction in the body and leads to sluggishness and impairment of our natural functioning. Constant consumption undermines our motor, not the other way around! True vitality comes from a clear and clean system – NOT from the consumption of outside substances. Hopefully this fast was a very clear illustrator of this point for you!

Logistics of Breaking the Fast…

First, decide whether you want to break the fast at lunch or dinner or sometime in between.

Next, decide what you will break your fast on. The safest thing to break the fast with for people who have been living the Rose Program lifestyle for a short time or who are completely new to it, is a small green salad with lemon juice, either olive oil or avocado (stevia optional), followed by 2 cups of steamed, mostly green vegetables (the fewer the number of vegetables in the assortment the better. Ex: a simple mix of steamed spinach, broccoli and carrots would be perfect). Feel free to add a touch of organic butter and a pinch of sea salt or a splash of vegetable broth. 
Simple, clean and easy to digest is what we are looking for in this “break-fast” meal. It’s the first food your body is receiving after being emptied. We want to honor this “virginal” intestine and coat it with organic mulch. The meal needs to be very gentle because by eating you are awakening the “sleeping giant” of your intestine and if the meal is too heavy or you overeat, you will rudely awaken him (N.B.: he doesn’t like to be rudely awakened).

Remember that the biggest challenge about breaking a fast for most people is the temptation to overeat when you eat your first meal. Know this up front and establish some boundaries before you begin eating. For example, you could decide to have a set amount of greens (2-3 ounces), chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, touch of olive oil, and a head of steamed broccoli and carrots with butter and salt. After you eat this first meal, anticipate that you will want to keep eating and PLAN TO STEP AWAY! Plan on a distracting activity right after you eat to keep you from giving in to the temptation to overeat.

You can plan to eat more later if you’re breaking your fast in the afternoon or very early evening. Another salad, more vegetables and a baked sweet potato or other winter squash or even millet or quinoa could be enjoyed a few hours later. But introducing this first meal carefully is essential. I recommend waiting at least one day before reintroducing any animal products, including goat cheese, organic eggs and wild fish.

Chew slowly…be deep and present with your food. You will notice that these simple foods taste AMAZING! When you fast, your palette changes and you will now appreciate the simpler foods that nature has to offer! You will think a cooked carrot or raw tomato is the nectar of the gods! Make a mental note that a cleansed palate is fully satisfying and more than adequately stimulated by simple, unadulterated natural foods. Think about this in relation to how much added flavoring you required on your food pre-fast. Packaged and prepared foods are so tampered with and salted – that is not our natural desire but a conditioned desire. Think about the difference in light of all that you think you enjoy – from entertainment to experiences and relationships. Do your likes and leanings originate with you or are they all conditioned by a society that’s gotten your hooked on their over-flavored life-offerings? As long as you don’t reintroduce those adulterated foods after the fast you won’t desire them. You’ve done such an admirable job getting them out of your blood stream these last few days. Think twice before you introduce them and run the risk of hooking into them again.

I always schedule a colonic (enema as an alternative) on the last day of my fast or the day of my break-fast (before I break the fast – I do not recommend colon hydrotherapy after eating). I want to make sure to clear everything I’ve dredged up. If anything remains that will leave easily, however, that should be pushed out with the break fast meal. The break-fast acts like a broom for the easy to remove residue that may remain. In fact, it’s a very good sign if you have a bowel movement within the first few hours of your break-fast meal – you definitely want to see one the next day. It is also a very good sign of bowel fortitude if you are moving solid matter during the fasting days. Many people move their bowels when they stimulate them with food – but to move without that stimulation is a sign of great peristalsis activity and a good bacterial balance. If you are having excellent colonic treatments you may not see any movements other than that because they are sweeping everything that is ready to go.

Those of you getting excellent colonics will also be amazed by how much waste is in the lower intestine in the absence of eating food!

And finally…

Congratulations on a great accomplishment! Some of you questioned whether you could do this at all just a few days ago. Hopefully you are enjoying the benefits so much that you will not only do this again, but perhaps even join us in the future for another guided fast – maybe even one that lasts 7 or 10 days!

Remember that this fast has helped you recalibrate yourself both physically and mentally. Take advantage of this opportunity to view your diet and yourself with a clean slate! The momentum you have built and the health benefits you have realized are just the beginning. They will increase with consistency over the long term!

Most likely, some of your destructive, long-held perspectives and belief patterns have been shattered and with this, your behavior will most likely change permanently. Life is inviting you to flow with its magical regenerating power more than ever now. Just like with the fast, all you have to do is say “Yes!”

Thank you for taking the leap with us. You have made the group stronger. We hope you take a moment to fully appreciate the great gift you have given yourself. We believe whole-heartedly that with every positive change we as individuals make the rest of humanity and all living-kind benefit. Thank you for your dedication to yourself and to making this world a better place!

With Love & Gratitude, 
Natalia & the NRI Team