A meditation to support a water fast.
Settle yourself now.
Be here fully.
The room receives your breath and the ground receives your body.
Allow this space to become your sanctuary.
Allow your eyes to gently close as if they are listening rather than seeing.
Take a slow breath in through the nose and release it gently through the mouth.
Again,
Take a slow breath in through the nose and out through your mouth and with every breath you give the body permission to rest its weight exactly where it is.
There is nowhere else to go,
Nothing else to become.
Imagine now or simply sense that you are standing at the edge of a body of water.
It's perfectly welcoming.
This water has been waiting for you for a very long time.
Water that has travelled through cloud and glacier,
Through ancient rivers and through the breadth of forests and the memory of rain.
Water that remembers its creation,
Hydrogen the most abundant element in the universe,
Born at the beginning of time,
Oxygen shaped in ancient stars.
And as you get ready to step into this water you notice something surprising,
That each cell listens,
Each cell opens and you begin to feel filled by it.
Because the human body as you may know is mostly water,
You are not entering something foreign,
You are returning and let that knowing soften you.
Now imagine yourself slowly lowering into this water,
It reaches your ankles,
The calves,
The knees and with every inch your nervous system settles and the mind may whisper,
Am I ok?
Is it safe?
And the body answers in a language older than thought,
Yes.
Water has always been your first nourishment,
Long before food,
Before words,
Before memory you floated.
And today during this fast your body remembers how to live simply,
How to live wisely.
Because within a day of fasting the body begins to rest from constant digestion,
Insulin levels become balanced,
Stored energy becomes available and the system shifts from taking in to tending to.
This is not deprivation,
This is reorganization,
Let that truth settle as the water rises to your hips,
The belly,
The heart.
Feel now or imagine that with every sip of water you take today it does not merely pass through you,
It speaks to you.
Water carries minerals,
Electrolytes,
Subtle electrical charges.
Water responds to vibration,
To sound,
To intention.
Your breath is vibration,
Your voice is vibration,
Your presence is vibration.
So now silently or aloud you may offer the water a message.
Thank you for filling me,
Thank you for satisfying me,
Thank you for knowing exactly where to go.
The water listens,
It moves into the bloodstream,
Into the brain.
It brings clarity,
Coolness,
Space between thoughts.
You feel a quieting of mental noise,
A steadiness,
A gentle alertness.
If that is true for you today welcome it,
If it comes later trust it will come.
Water is always on time.
If hunger appears at any moment notice how it behaves.
Hunger is not an enemy,
It is a wave and waves rise and fall.
And as you drink water you may notice the stomach soften,
The signal change,
The body understands.
I am held,
I am safe,
I am not being abandoned or starved.
The body becomes more efficient,
It learns again how to access stored fuel.
The liver releases glycogen,
Fat metabolism begins to whisper awake and at the same time something quieter happens.
The constant asking stops.
And in that stillness you may experience a sense of cleanliness of the physical,
The emotional.
Whatever moves through you today allow it to pass through,
You do not have to follow it.
Water knows how to carry things away.
Water has always been revered as sacred.
Through baptism,
Rivers of crossing,
Tears of release.
Because water teaches without speaking,
Flow,
Heal,
Persist.
Your fast today is not a test of willpower,
It is a conversation with the wisdom of water.
A reminder that you are not only a consumer but a living system capable of restoration.
It may bring you inward attention,
Subtle awareness,
Quiet reverence.
No insights are required or expected,
Only presence is invited.
And now imagine or sense that the water around you and the water within you are no longer separate.
That each cell swells slightly,
Becoming hydrated,
Becoming content.
The body understands now that this fast has a beginning and it has an end.
There is no sense of emergency and because of that the body feels safe.
And it allows healing in small quiet ways.
Adjusting hormones,
Adjusting insulin levels,
Resting digestion and clearing space.
And you may notice a calm energy or a sense to rest deeply or simply neutrality.
All of it is correct,
Water does not force outcomes,
It allows them.
And in a moment you will begin to return to ordinary awareness.
But something will remain with you,
A trust,
A softness,
A knowing that you are already filled.
So begin to sense the edges of your body again.
The ground upon which you are seated.
The room that you are in.
The sounds that you may hear beyond this voice.
And take one more slow nourishing breath.
And as you do imagine sealing this experience like water held in a beautiful vessel available to you throughout this fast.
That each time you drink water today your body will remember this feeling of fullness and trust.
Gently now,
When you are ready you may open your eyes,
Returning feeling refreshed,
Grounded,
Steady and sustained.
