Ekadashi or lunar fasting: why fast with the Moon and how to do it

Let me remind you or maybe reveal that lunar fasting is another way to regulate our food intake such as intermittent fasting. or a punctual fasting to detoxify the body. It is a fasting practice that It is performed in tune with the Moon and the lunar cycleand that in the Ayurvedic tradition of traditional Indian medicine is known as ekadashi.

Lunar fasting is for Ayurveda a tool to achieve alignment between mind, body and soul, and is usually accompanied by exercise, meditation and contemplation. But before explaining in more detail what this form of lunar fasting is and what it consists of, I want to tell you something about myself.

I am quite a lunatic being, which only means that I strongly feel the influence of the Moon on my emotions, my vital state and my physical and spiritual body. For years, I have contemplated the outer sky and my own inner universe as part of my process of self-discoveryor I could call it “recognition” of who I truly am.

This path has led me to multiple explorations in different fields, and at the time one of the tools that I discovered is precisely the valuable intermittent fasting, which fascinates me and which I have been practicing for almost 10 years.

Why fast: lunar or other

Today, it is rare who does not know or has not heard of fasting, or even intermittent fasting, although the reasons for practicing it are as varied as there are souls on this planet. You may have approached him with a physical improvement goalfor eliminate toxinsfor feel greater lightness in the body, for pay moreto get increased mental clarity and concentrationto achieve a spiritual connection higher education, to broaden awareness, or even, as someone once told me: “because I save when buying and, in this way, consuming organic food for a student does not become an economic challenge”.

Whatever the reason for total fasting, during specific days or intermittent fasting on a daily basis, there are many of us who We have been able to verify how beneficial it is. This is not something new, although it may seem so at the moment: nature itself has prompted us from the beginning of time to carry it out. There are times in the stationary cycle when, in certain parts of our planet, food is scarce or even non-existent, and fasting arises naturally.

However, the “progress” of our species has disconnected us of natural processes. Nowadays we can find everything we want even without having to move from home, and this disconnects us from what our body really needs to live in tune with the cycle of nature.

Even if this happens, inner Nature always finds a way to communicate with us through the noise created and thus allows us to reconnect with ourselves. our inner wisdomthat asks us to rest, feed, meditate and everything we need to be able to live in a more balanced and happy way in life. For this reason, more and more we hear about fasting as a way to rid the body of toxins –that all of us who live on this planet have– and also to favor the regeneration of our organs.

Ayurvedic lunar fasting

From the Vedic point of view, fasting it has nothing to do with prohibition, sacrifice, suffering or punishment to the body. Fasting is experienced from a loving and respectful place with the body in order to achieve that alignment between the mind, body and soul that we talked about at the beginning of this article. Furthermore, this practice must be accompanied by increased self-awarenessa will of service to those around us, exercise, meditation and contemplation.

Currently, many people –with overweight problems or not– use this precious experience with the sole objective of losing weight and reducing their body volume. In very many cases, this ends up causing them a lot of disappointmentbecause they fail to lose the desired kilos or even maintain the loss.

Fasting practiced in an unconscious way can be felt as a punishment and sacrifice that does not make it easy for us to reach a state of fullness and satisfaction, as, on the contrary, it happens when we practice it from love and awareness.

For Ayurvedic medicinea fabulous way to cleanse the body in order to harmonize the “body-mind” and achieve greater awareness is by reducing food intake.

Among the many ways to carry out this process, two of them are closely connected with the phases of the Moon.

Chandrayan Vrat or intermittent lunar fasting

This form of lunar fasting is based on the fact that food has more energy in the crescent and full moon phaseso it is during these phases when we have to eat and gradually reduce our intake during the waning Moon, until reaching a total fast during the new Moon.

This practice has two ways to do it. The most common is to gradually reduce the amount of food as the lunar cycle progresses, starting when there is a full moon:

Make a full plate of food on full moon.Then reduce 1/15 of a bite each day Until the new moon.On a new moon we fast: you don’t eat anything, you only drink liquids. They must be non-exciting drinks, or juice. The next day after the new Moon, begin to gradually increase the amount of food, by 1/15 of a bite roughly as it was done by going down. Thus, day by day, the plate is filled again until it reaches the next full moon.

Ekadashi or fasting to the rhythm of the full moon and the new moon

This other practice is perhaps the best known. It is an ancient tool whose name in Sanskrit clearly defines it: ekadashi means “the eleventh” and invites to practice fasting on the eleventh day after the full moon and the new moon.

Unlike the previous way of fasting, this encourages a complete fast of 24 to 36 hours on two specific days of the lunar cycle. It is also characterized by these two rules:

During the day before It is suggested make a sattvic vegetarian meal without cereals, garlic, onion, eggs or legumes. Just the day after fastingit is recommended eat a small amount of cereal.

I suggest you, if you have never practiced a total fast of 24 hours and you are a person who usually eats abundantly, it is not necessary that you jump into it. Can train yourself in the sensation of feeling hungry and not eatingand above all choose the days of the waning moon.

The waning Moon facilitates these processes, because the body already feels that we are going to reduce and eliminate, compared to the days of the waxing Moon, in which we tend towards expansion and abundance.

Prepare your mind for the lunar fast

emotional state in which you are it is also very important when restricting food. Allow yourself to connect with your inner wisdom:

Breathe deeply as many times as necessary to calm your body and also your thoughts.Contemplate where you want to fast from. Why do I want to do this? What am I looking for with it? Do I really want to do it? Could I feel good if I choose not to? Breathe again, and whatever question and answer have arisen, give them space to express themselves clearly in you so that you can see where they have arisen from.whatever you decidealways remember that Alright.

How to do the ekadashi lunar fast step by step

If you decide to fast exactly the 11 days after the full moon and the new moon, you can do so by following these guidelines:

The day before make your sattvik vegetarian meal without cereals, garlic, onion, eggs or legumes.the day of fasting Eliminate those foods and take only water and theine-free infusions.The next day introduce a small amount of cereals, such as a cream of rice or an oatmeal porridgeTo break the fast, have breakfast and then eat a light meal.

Alternatives to the total lunar fast

An alternativeif you do not have practice or even do not feel like fasting all day, that day is to reduce meals to one, two or even do all three in this way:

Breakfast: you can take fruit (cooked if the temperature is low or if your digestive system is not very powerful) and add cinnamon. If you need something to replace coffee, you can take a mild infusion, such as an infusion of verbena.Meal:buckwheat (if it is winter) or quinoa cooked with steamed vegetables or lightly pan-fried with a little oil, salt and pepper. You can accompany it with an organic goat or vegan yogurt room with a squeeze of lemon. Remember not to use cereals, legumes, garlic, onion, eggs, meat or fish.Dinner: a light carrot cream or vegetable broth. You can use ghee to toast spice seeds and add some seasonal vegetables in the form of broth or in the form of a cream. Of course, without using non-sattvik food.

Another option will be to take only a smoothie or juice of vegetables and fruits. If you are a person used to eating, avoid fasting with green juices, because it may make you want to binge on carbohydrates or feel a great inner emptiness, which is not what you are looking for.

What lunar fast will be best for me?

The most important thing when deciding what type of fast you are going to do, for how long and with what foods, is to feel that what you really want and need at this precise moment.

The Ekadashi is one of the thousands of options for fasting, and within Vedism itself you have other options.

There are yoga practitioners, for example, who decide to do one day a week a 24 hour fast; people who decide do not eat foods of animal origin one day a week and even people who start by not eating bread one day a week or a month. Whichever option you practice or are going to practice, it will be fabulous if you decide do it from a place of full awareness and understanding.

And, as a great ally in any process of transformation and connection with our real being, the moon is there to make our way easier. You just have to feel its changing strength and decide what is the best moment for you according to the energy with which the Moon connects you.

trust your intuition and allow yourself to contemplate what truly drives you in life. Living in balance consists of connecting with your inner wisdom and taking the information that is really valuable to you in this precious moment and discarding everything else.