Quieting the Mind and Bailing Out of the Program

Last night I had the best sleep since I arrived. In fact I slept more and more soundly than I usually do. Of course I didn't wake up ready to run around the building, but I certainly felt rested. I sense that I've turned the corner and am over the hump. I feel like the detoxification peaked out over the last day or two and will be milder for the next week. I begin refeeding next Thursday. The pasty gooey feeling in my mouth wasn't as strong this morning either. So we'll see - perhaps its downhill for the remaining days.

As I continue to observe my mind during this period of solitude, I'm increasingly aware of the obsessive chattering and mental clutter that fills up the "mental space." To show my students how frantic their minds are, I do an exercise where they count the number of different "thoughts" that occur during a one minute period. Their in class results range from 10 to 15 per minute or one every four to six seconds.

The clinical results where the subjects have been trained in the protocol range from 15 to 20. That's clear evidence to me that the mind is like a drunken monkey cavorting about in the tree tops. That kind of compulsive mental activity doesn't leave much room for intuitive urgings to break through into conscious awareness. As often as I remember, I'm practicing bringing my mind to a "quiet" state in the present moment. The more skilled I become at this, the better able I will be to communicate the experience to my students.

One of our group broke her fast and began eating today - a two inch wedge of honeydew melon every two hours. She came for her general health and modest weight loss. Fuhrman's view is that a shorter fast doesn't really reap the significant benefits of one of at least two weeks.

She has been running around a lot to the mall and exposing herself to food. In my view, she did herself in by not staying primarily in her room. In our group meetings, she has mentioned frequently how "hungry" she has been. This has to be psychological since true hunger does not show until the very advanced stages of the fast. Her situation illustrates the challenge of staying with the program.