fasting during fever

Starve the Cold and the Fever
by Swami Vicharananda Saraswati (of the Bihar School - link below)

Most people who follow a yogic lifestyle soon arrive at a relatively disease-free state, where they are no longer troubled by chronic physical complaints. Nevertheless, there are times in everyone's life when extra demands are made on one's physical, emotional or mental resources. Often these periods of high stress precipitate a sudden disruption of physical health. These acute episodes of sickness are often referred to as healing crises. They should not be considered as disease states; in fact they are an expression of the body's healthy response to stress and overwork. The most important thing to remember at these times is to heed the message of the body, which is frantically signalling the need for a complete rest.

Most natural healers agree that these states of physical reaction can be traced to a high level of toxicity in the body. This occurs when the tissues are overloading the body with more waste materials than can be handled by the standard processes of elimination. Toxins can build up after long periods of overeating, eating the wrong foods, living in polluted environments, or as a result of mental or physical overwork. They affect the mucus membranes of the hollow organs of the body, such as the lining of the throat, nose and sinuses, the gastrointestinal tract and the urogenital tract. These mucus membranes become inflamed and provide excellent sites for infection.

The exact location of an illness depends on many factors. Each individual has a unique pattern of illness which will determine which organs or systems will be primarily affected by systemic toxemia. Genetic predisposition, residual pranic weakness from previous illnesses, environmental factors such as pollution and climate, and psychological factors all help determine the exact form a healing crisis may take. Nevertheless, it should always be kept in mind that no disease can be isolated to just one specific part of the body. All states of physical unrest reflect a generalized imbalance in the body-mind complex as a whole, and must be treated in as holistic a manner as possible.

Symptoms of the healing crisis typically include physical tiredness, loss of appetite, and a general loss of motivation and interest in life. When the respiratory system is the focus of the reaction, the commonplace infections of the nose, throat, sinuses and lungs occur as responses to the overall physical toxemia. The organs of the gastrointestinal tract are also highly susceptible, and when they are affected cramps, gastritis, diarrhoea and other digestive problems result. When the urogenital system is at risk, non-specific infections of the bladder, urethra and vagina may develop. Boils, eruptions and skin disorders are yet another way in which the body responds to high levels of toxicity. Any of these symptoms may be accompanied by fever, which reflects that the heart and the immune system are working overtime to rid the body of its excess of poisons.

The proper functioning of the body is based on a complex system of interaction and feedback which is controlled by the central actions of the nervous system and hormones. Therefore, when one system of the body is malfunctioning, it usually has multiple, harmful repercussions on other systems as well. Any of the primary symptoms mentioned above can generate many secondary symptoms. For example, a problem with the digestive system may affect the circulation, and lead to disorders of the teeth and gums, joints and connective tissues, and the skin. Infections which initially take hold in localized areas are spread by the lymphatic fluid and blood to all areas of the body. And various forms of physical discomfort, even if they do not originate in the mind, can act as powerful triggers which bring up all kinds of negativity to the surface of the mind, thus effecting a mental, as well as physical purification.

For this reason, fasting, in conjunction with other forms of yogic therapy, is an ideal method of dealing with the acute infectious disease. It has a dual action, benefiting the mind, which must be seen as the underlying cause of all disease, as well as the body. Seen in this light, short periods of sickness can become extremely useful and even welcome opportunities for self-exploration. If, at the first sign of physical breakdown, we relieve our minds of the pressures of the external world by retreating into solitude and quiet, and we relieve our bodies of the pressures of digestion and assimilation, we can learn to really appreciate being sick. By following these recommendations, it is possible to develop an increased sensitivity and understanding of the physical and mental factors contributing to the illness, and a clear insight into the lifestyle changes which must be made in order to avoid recurrence of symptoms.

On the physical level, a fast of three or four days, accompanied by plenty of fresh water, rest, and peace and quiet, allows the body to proceed with its self-healing with maximum efficiency. The elimination of toxins can take place without the extra burden imposed by poorly digested food which ferments in the digestive system and adds even more toxic wastes into the blood. The extra energy which is freed during a fast can be redirected in catabolizing, or breaking down, old, diseased or useless tissues, so that their usable components can be recycled and the rubbish thrown out. The blood and lymphatic fluid are purified, the affected organs are restored to normal functioning, and the entire body is rested and relieved of heavy work.

We have all been conditioned to believe that it is best to eat three square meals a day, in sickness or in health. This habit has robbed us of the intuitive awareness of our own bodies. It must be broken if we want to become more receptive to our actual physical requirements. When fasting is undertaken during acute physical disease, the demands of the body become especially strong and clear, and it is possible to achieve a much greater level of awareness. It is surely worth the effort of breaking a few old patterns in order to attain this new, expanded level of integration and harmony between mind and body.

http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1981/emay81/starve.shtml

And Because Love Battles - a Poem

(please, read until the end. love, sally)

And because Love battles
by Pablo Neruda.

And because love battles
not only in its burning agricultures
but also in the mouth of men and women,
I will finish off by taking the path away
to those who between my chest and your fragrance
want to interpose their obscure plant.

About me, nothing worse
they will tell you, my love,
than what I told you.

I lived in the prairies
before I got to know you
and I did not wait love but I was
laying in wait for and I jumped on the rose.

What more can they tell you?
I am neither good nor bad but a man,
and they will then associate the danger
of my life, which you know
and which with your passion you shared.

And good, this danger
is danger of love, of complete love
for all life,
for all lives,
and if this love brings us
the death and the prisons,
I am sure that your big eyes,
as when I kiss them,
will then close with pride,
into double pride, love,
with your pride and my pride.

But to my ears they will come before
to wear down the tour
of the sweet and hard love which binds us,
and they will say: “The one
you love,
is not a woman for you,
Why do you love her? I think
you could find one more beautiful,
more serious, more deep,
more other, you understand me, look how she’s light,
and what a head she has,
and look at how she dresses,
and etcetera and etcetera”.

And I in these lines say:
Like this I want you, love,
love, Like this I love you,
as you dress
and how your hair lifts up
and how your mouth smiles,
light as the water
of the spring upon the pure stones,
Like this I love you, beloved.

To bread I do not ask to teach me
but only not to lack during every day of life.
I don’t know anything about light, from where
it comes nor where it goes,
I only want the light to light up,
I do not ask to the night
explanations,
I wait for it and it envelops me,
And so you, bread and light
And shadow are.

You came to my life
with what you were bringing,
made
of light and bread and shadow I expected you,
and Like this I need you,
Like this I love you,
and to those who want to hear tomorrow
that which I will not tell them, let them read it here,
and let them back off today because it is early
for these arguments.

Tomorrow we will only give them
a leaf of the tree of our love, a leaf
which will fall on the earth
like if it had been made by our lips
like a kiss which falls
from our invincible heights
to show the fire and the tenderness
of a true love.

Pablo Neruda