Tag: Fasting

You make me feel brand new!

The Ex Result of Muslce Car Restoration
Restoration
: the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc.
: the act of bringing back something that existed before
: the act of returning something that was stolen or taken

We are in a state of renewal. Fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose (sugar), fats, and it also breaks down white blood cells. This decrease in white blood cells causes changes that trigger stem cell based regeneration of new immune system cells (UCS News 2014).

What does this mean for us?
It means when we fasted, we effectively set our bodies to begin rebuilding our entire system! Beauty inside out!
With this restoration process in mind, it occurred to me that this is a great time to re-evaluate my diet and lifestyle.

What are your health objectives this year?
Lose weight?
Correct High Blood Pressure, Cholesterol or other imbalance?
Stop smoking?

What about mental health objectives?
Do you enjoy your current social circle?
Are the people in your network positive or negative?
What would you like to change?

chrysalis_peru_steve
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Joel 2:25-26

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. Saint Augustine

Warm-bath-6746456_l
Purification in process!

There are so many benefits to fasting; however, I feel I should mention some of the unexpected responses in our body. Some may notice a tendency to emotional sensitivity, like crying over a McDonald’s commercial, or being uncharacteristically short-tempered. Our bodies are removing toxins, which can unleash emotions that were previously masked due to medication or other vices that tend to cover our true feelings. This is why many fasting aficionados suggest being very careful with yourself during a fast. Take it easy. Spend time journaling, or music and meditation are helpful activities as your body renews itself.

What about the effect of fasting on the outside?

Fasting tends to weight loss, pretty quickly. It is a smart idea to care for your skin during this time, to avoid slack or sagging skin. However, be sure to avoid over the counter lotions and creams. As cosmetics tend to have chemicals, you do not want to defeat the purpose of cleansing by adding junk through your skin. The skin is the largest organ in our body. It is best to use coconut or olive oil to moisturize. It is also a great way to add healthy fats to our body. Fats = plump skin=smooth and wrinkle free.

A fantastic DIY recipe to assist with the sensitive emotions and moisturization is a Honey and Vanilla Bubble Soak!
This is a fantastic treat for Beauty inside and out!
Olive and Almond Oils have anti-aging benefits. These oils help firm and strengthen skin.
Honey is an anti-bacterial and will help you avoid breakouts as you cleanse your body from the inside via fasting.
Vanilla has anti-aging and healing properties.
Most of all, it makes you feel pretty!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of Sweet Almond Oil or Olive Oil
1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract & 1 tbsp. Honey
1 cup of Mr. Bubble*Dye and Fragrance Free
Mix ingredients in a ceramic or glass bowl until you have a smooth paste.
Pour desired amount into running bathwater (1/4 cup)
Save remaining in glass jar or plastic container and refrigerate the rest!

Come Holy Spirit!

holy-spirit-power
Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. Esther 2:12 NIV

This particular scripture has come to mind often during this fast time. Not until today, did I realize the significance of it.
We are at the start of 12 months in 2016. Oil of myrrh, among other things is used for purification and that is basically what fasting is about!
So what is the Holy Spirit saying? What plans or dreams do you have for this year?
I know I have quite a few and I use this fasting time annually to help me prepare or develop my plan for the goals I have. Many churches have a fasting time or Corporate Fast at this time, so many of you may be in some form of fasting or cleansing also. It is a time to listen to the voice inside as we set aside our pleasurable foods and treats or television, etc., so we can hear her.
Yes, I said her. It is Woman Crush Wednesday after all!
Now, don’t go calling me a heretic yet! Take a little word study with me 1st.

Pneumatology is a theological term, which is the doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit.
The Hebrew word רוח (ruach; “wind; spirit”) is one of the few words that is sometimes used as masculine, although it is mostly used as feminine.

In Aramaic also, the language generally considered to have been spoken by Jesus, the word is feminine. However, in Greek the word (pneuma) is neuter. There are biblical translations where the pronoun used for the Holy Spirit is masculine, in contradiction to the gender of the noun used for spirit in Hebrew and Aramaic.

Why did the Church Fathers decide to override and refer to the Holy Spirit as male? That is for another discussion.

I only provide this as a foundation for my particular view. So relax and keep reading! I am referring to the Holy Spirit as she because of her actions in us. The Holy Spirit comes alongside, comforts us. The knowledge brought forth by the Holy Spirit is intuitive and in that respect feminine. So I am not saying the Holy Spirit is gender female specifically, but that the energy or vibe, if I may, is female.

I believe, very strongly in my heart that The Lord wants women to honor and value their femininity. It is clear there is much confusion in this area in our society and amongst ourselves. Even the metaphysicians speak of this time as the age of the feminine. I digress.
Moreover, I believe this is in part, why I have been given this “ministry” of Beauty to share.

As to the scripture above, we are at the crown of the year. How will you use the information that you have received during this time?
Is this a time to review and continue what you started last year, culminating in the manifestation of that thing?

Or is it a time to let go of all the stuff you came up with on your own and truly hear what The Lord would have you do?

This purification time is to set you up for success in the entirety of the year!
What you will get out of this time of purification, however you designate to do it, is power for living out your dreams in 2016!

I realize I have kind of put myself out here but Thank God, I’m just a messenger.

Interesting Reading/Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_of_the_Holy_Spirit
http://www.hezekiyahhaas.com/uploads/3/0/0/1/3001861/who_is_the_holy_spirit.pdf

“And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting”.

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What happened to the 90 Day Challenge that started December 1? Christmas happened! LOL!

I do not know what made me think I would be able to avoid pies, Champagne and every other Holiday treat in December! My clients have been successful, surprisingly. That is even worse, because I was leading the charge!
No worries, I am saved. Every year starts out with some type of cleansing or fast. This year with so much going on as a writer and entrepreneur, I need to get my strategy in order. I have found the best way for me to do this is a Juice Fast. Juice Fasts provide energy and a baseline of nutrition so that your body can get the inner work done while you are still going to work and living life normally.
Why 21 days? Well, it is said that 21 days of any activity allows for it to become a habit, as well as break bad habits by abstaining during that time.

Why prayer and fasting?
Our bodies use a lot of energy to assimilate the foods we eat, so when we are not eating the body will then consume what is present. This is how much of the toxic build up from food additives and bad habits are removed. Our bodies also consume and discard wastes during this period, providing for new cells. Kind of out with the bad… It’s our job to bring in the new. We do that through prayer.

It is a time to reflect and assess where we want to go in life this year, reassess our dreams and pick up from where we left off in 2015. Clarity is at a high when we fast. Probably because we are not obsessing over what’s for dinner but also due to the body being in rest from not having to digest solid food. Our brains are fired up as the new cells replicate and maybe, just maybe we can hear our body and our spirit speaking.

As to how to start, I like to start the 1st 7 days as what I call my “weaning time”. I begin by slowly taking the coffee, away. I did say slowly because caffeine is really a drug and you will not be the happiest camper if you stop cold turkey. I eat fruits and vegetables, drinking lots of water and shrinking my meal portions so that by the 6th day, I will have broths and smoothies to help my body know it is about that time!

Check out a few helpful links below. I hope you will join me!

https://juicerecipes.com/blog/how-to-juice-fast/

http://downloads.celebration.org/public/awakening/2010/misc/Marilyn_Hickey_-_The_Power_of_Prayer_and_Fasting.pdf

“Fasting is the greatest remedy– the physician within” Philippus Paracelsus

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:3

Beauty Inside Out

Originally, my endeavors in fasting were out of the need to go before The Lord in prayer as I had been taught as a child, growing up in the Catholic faith. I came upon the “Beauty” benefits of fasting by accident. As I began to study on the Book of Esther, I felt compelled to fast and pray for understanding. Having studied various types of fasting methods, I knew that the traditional Water fast would not work for me initially. Like most people in western society, my diet was full of junk food, caffeine, and prepared foods, aka “T.V. dinners”. Juice Fasting was the best alternative to jumpstart the process and still have the benefits of detoxifying the body.
Fasting with natural fruit and vegetable juices provides vitamins and energy while your digestive enzymes work to rid the body of waste and congestion.
The Natural Health Techniques website is a useful resource.
http://naturalhealthtechniques.com/healingtechniquesjuice_fasting.htm

“Make up can only make you pretty on the outside, but it doesn’t help if you are ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the makeup”. Audrey Hepburn

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Walking as the Bride in the Kingdom of God

Beauty Inside Out

As the United States of America and expatriates everywhere prepare for the Thanksgiving Feast, it seems an opportune time to discuss a very important Beauty secret for the Walk of the Bride; fasting.
Fasting has many spiritual and physical benefits. When used in conjunction with prayer it is a powerful combination with equally powerful results. Our Heroine, Queen Esther and her maidens found the power of fasting to be useful. This is demonstrated by her decision to fast and pray before approaching King Xerxes without an invitation.

….. do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” EST: 4; 16 NIV

Why fast? Fasting redirects our attention. Fasting gives us the opportunity to put our flesh under subjection, to take our focus off of self-centered desires and pleasing our appetites. However this aspect of fasting is not what this post is about. According to the latest medical research:
Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable”. Although fasting diets have been criticized by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.
Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy. It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases. The researchers say fasting “flips a regenerative switch” which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.
Knapton, S. (2014 June), Fasting for three days can regenerate entire immune system The Telegraph UK,
Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10878625/Fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system-study-finds.html

With the New Year on the horizon, a Better You is usually one of the many resolutions we aspire to achieve. In the coming weeks, Beauty inside out will be our focus.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.