A little self-discipline exercise

Today was the last day of my 6-day fast. This was my second time fasting so I really didn't have any doubts that I wouldn't make it. Here's how it went.

I followed a "menu" where I could have 1 dl of juice in the morning, 2 dl of juice and 2,5 dl vegetable stock for lunch and 2,5 dl of veggie stock and 1-2 dl of juice in the evening + herbal tea and water all day long. In the instructions I read, and which I also used the last time, they recommend to use a few products to stabilize the functioning of the stomach during the fast. I still had the leftovers of my last fast, but I have to say that Molkosan (milk serum) and Cynara (artichoke extract) taste so bad that after a little cost-benefit analysis, I decided not to use them.

Some benefits of fasting:

1. Some sources say that fasting can have remarkable health benefits.  Already Hippocrates recommended fasting to treat diseases. 
2. A fast gives the much needed rest to the entire digestive system and its bacteria to repair, renew and heal itself. Toxins are removed (de-toxification) and it also cleanses heavy metal from our body.
3. Fasting can enhance immunity, gives longevity, lowers risk of heart diseases, balances pH and blood sugar level, diminishes pains and allergies, cleanses blood, tissue and organs, restores liver functioning capacity and makes the complexion clean and radiant.
4. During the fast, one gets to observe the mind closely. The fast clears the mind. It also helps to understand of our food habits and cravings. Furthermore, fasting can lower our craving for sugar and other stimulants like coffee.
5. Many religious faiths in the world have encouraged the practice of fasting. Fasting is a time of introspection and emotional cleansing. Enhanced sense of joy and lightness may also appear together with increased energy and vigor.
6. A fast can be an inspiration and a kick-start for healthier eating habits.

(Sources: YogicWayOfLife, JuiceFastForHealth, A.Vogel and AllABoutFasting)

A few days before the fast, I tried to avoid alcohol (easy after 2,5 months without alcohol) and coffee and eat lightly. In addition, I ate dried plums and flax seeds in order to get my stomach working. In connection to the last point, every day during the fast I did colon cleansing that is said to be very good in preventing any side-effects of the fast (less feeling of hunger, no headaches or stomach problems).

Day 1. I started the day with a morning ashtanga yoga. After the exercise I had 1 dl of carrot juice and went to work. My colleagues weren't that surprised about my fasting, they remembered me drinking a vegetable stock for lunch one year earlier. I had a headache in the afternoon, which I normally never have and I was also super tired and had a late afternoon nap for two hours at home. However, I'm not sure if this lack of energy was associated with the fasting or with the previous weekend's active programme. Sauna in the evening was relaxing. 

I watched a documentary film on fasting from medical and health point of view. It really encouraged me as the evidence shows the multiple benefits of fasting even though the mechanism is not yet very clear. The main conclusion I made was: if you have an illness, why not try fasting to lessen its effects on you. I discovered that in Russia and Germany there are fasting clinics or rather fasting spas, where people go even for weeks to fast (in Russia only water is allowed - perhaps a bit too hard core for me) and treat their various illnesses. And it seemed to work!

Day 2. Last year I came to realise that weekend is the hardest time for self-discipline when fasting. Wherever you walk in the city, there are cafés, smell of baked bread, and people eating in the restaurants. This year, it was easier for me as I was attending a shiatsu massage course on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I was still very sleepy and felt really cold all the time, but otherwise I felt fine. On the break, when others were having lunch, I had my 2,5 dl of vegetable stock again. The carrot juice started to taste awful in my mouth and I could only have a sip of it, luckily the veggie stock is enough to keep the hunger away. Went to bed around 21h.

Day 3. I woke up in the morning with nasty stomach pain and I was sweating like hell as if having a fever. I already felt desperate that I couldn't go to my shiatsu course, but after an hour of turning around in the bed, I finally felt ok. At the bus stop I gulped impatiently the rest of my grape juice and started feeling better immediately. The first two or three days are said to be the worst during a fast. Last time I even threw up in the morning of my second fasting day. This time it was much easier. However, the veggie juices start to disgust me... Even the tomato juice that normally tastes so good (well, normally = in the airplanes). 

My flatmate who started fasting two days after me was not feeling so well, she either had a problem with not drinking coffee or she just reacted to the lack of food with an awful headache - I've been much luckier. I gave her a shiatsu mental relaxation massage that relieved the pain at least momentarily.

Day 4. I dared to try morning yoga again. I said to myself that I could do my exercise a bit more easily and even skip the last asanas, but in the yoga shala I felt fantastic. I suddenly felt a lot of energy and vitality within me and the asanas seemed easier than ever. I felt very light. The whole day, I had almost an euphoric feeling.

In the evening, I attended my first ever housing cooperative meeting with my new neighbours that I so far haven't met almost at all. I managed to avoid all cooperative board responsibilities. An excellent day, I should say.

Day 5. Still a great feeling but the taste of all the juices really suck - even the herbal teas bore me. The new juice, beetroot, was just awful, I decided to save it to make a risotto with it after the fast. Instead, I bought some normal organic apple juice to drink - ah, so much better (and cheaper).

In the evening, I did gardening work with my neighbours. Great that I can do gardening while living in an urban apartment. Gardening is a mental holiday, it enhanced the effect of fast on mental clarity; I was fully concentrated in cutting the bushes from the correct spot.

My flatmate still had a headache, poor her. We were thinking that it might be because she didn't do the colon cleansing. Follow the instructions...

Day 6. I woke up even before the alarm rang. I was at work super early and super efficient. Last day of the fast, but I could have even continued if I hadn't planned all  sorts of food activities for the following days. Next time, I will definitely try to make it longer if my calendar allows me. 

In the afternoon, a yoga class again. It felt purely fantastic. I could do some asanas much better than normally. I wonder if it's because I have lost some kilograms and even this little change in weight makes me able to move myself better. Less belly fat on the way to hinder flexibility. Or maybe it's my super focused mind now. Who knows, but this is a good motivation to obey a lighter diet in the future as well. I felt almost sad to break the fast, it has gone so well. But ah, doing grocery shopping at Stockmann was also very nice. 

I could definitely feel the benefits of fasting: a clear mind, lighter body, increased vitality, better focus - and for sure, a greater trust in myself: wherever I set my mind, I can do it with a bit of self-discipline. I also started to think that my usual diet - even though very healthy and vegetarian - might contain too much sugar that reduces my potential energy levels. A lesson learnt, I try to cut down my sugar intake in the future in order to prolonge the feeling of vitality reached during the fast.

As you should start a fast with careful preparations, you should also break it with some precautions. Thus, I had a light meal in the evening to prepare myself for a regular food as of tomorrow. Banana-blueberry smoothie with some flax seeds and bread with avocado. Ah, the taste was so delicious. And the feeling of biting and chewing, very cool sensations. Little simple things really make you happy after a fast :)

And the food-related exercises are not over yet; I was planning to spend a month noting meticulously everything that I eat and check how much I spend on my food. Let's see if I manage to reduce sugar in my diet as well and how to rid myself of sugar cravings. The idea is also to try to eat eco-healthy but with an aim at affordability. I'll try to write some descriptions here on this little study later on.

Burmese Days

Time to write down a few words about my trip to Burma - my amazingly great trip to Burma, or Myanmar as the country is nowadays called.

Ah, these pink shoes are made for traveling - just looking at them makes me wanna go go go!

I wanted to travel to Burma before it's spoilt by other tourists (because I'm a better tourist, of course...). Indeed, the Myanmar government wants to increase the number of tourists to 20 million per year in the near future. I didn't want to see another Thailand (the likely future if 20 million of us go there annually), I wanted to see a country that people had told me to be like Vietnam two decades ago - lush forests and uncrowded sights with authentic atmosphere.

It was also interesting to visit the country just now when it's going through massive changes. The country is opening up in such a fast pace that my Lonely Planet from 2011 was in urgent need for an update. The New Yorker article The Burmese Spring from August 2012 also felt a bit old in some facts, although it gave a good overview of the political situation in the country.

Another obligatory travel reading was obviously George Orwell's critique of colonialism, the novel Burmese Days. The introduction to my edition of the novel was written by Emma Larkin and it had some interesting insights to the book that is partly based on Orwell's own experiences in this British colony in the 1920s. Larkin writes that Orwell's later books also mirrored Burma's recent history and some Burmese intellectuals actually call him "the prophet". Retrospectively, one can argue that Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984 form a trilogy portraying Burmese historical events from colonialism to socialist revolution and finally to dictatorship and dystopia. Luckily, it now seems that another epilog can be written to the story. Luckily, because the country has so many things to offer - let's see if I manage to post some more stories and photos here in the near future.

Great anti-colonialist travel reading. Several people also sell it in Burma, but don't be taken aback by these sellers, it's a great read!

Logistics...

I first wanted to travel to Burma from Bangkok by land, but I came to notice that it was hard to find any reliable information on the border crossings on internet, as the recent changes in the Burmese policies (to my understanding some borders were opened in July 2013) haven't yet found their way to the travelers' fora. With a visa from Berlin embassy (quick and handy, though it's quite easy to get it from Bangkok as well), it was safer to fly into the country. 

Most of the practical information on traveling in Burma was obsolete (and the Lonely Planet accommodation prices one fourth of what they are today!). I had packed a pile of new bills of 100 dollars with me and I was ready to exchange currency in the black market as was described in the guide books, but as soon as I arrived to the small Mandalay airport, I was in a queue to an official money exchange. Gone were the days when one could pay for two weeks trip in Burma with a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey. Less exciting for sure, but definitely easier. And all those stories about no ATM's accepting international credit cards in the whole country, no longer valid. 

It is actually quite easy to travel in Burma. But remember, what looks like 150 km on the map will take around 10 hours in a bus... On a boat trip from Mandalay to Bagan (11 hours), I thought I could actually bike faster to my destination. 

If someone worries about the foreign money going to the government, it is a good point to raise but you don't need an official government-approved guide to take you around, you don't need to bribe or pay for the government, and actually, to my understanding, a lot of the money spent there goes to the local people. Some guides are aware of where the money goes to the government and won't even take you there (some sights close to Mandalay). In Bagan, you must pay an entrance fee around 15 US dollars to the site and this also goes to the government. But then, is it pure hypocrisy to think of your tourist money going to dictator when you don't consider human rights in your every day life back home?