Fasting|Detox Cleansing Retreat
FASTING|YOGA TEMPLE

Holistic Fasting Health Retreat
Moinhos Velhos

Detox Body Mind Spirit
*Juice fasting for purification and detoxification*
* yoga * meditation* *holistic alternative therapies*

Fasting on Prana

 

Fasting can be a great help for many physical problems

Allergies
Arthritis
Cancer

Constipation
Detoxification
Diabetics
Lose Weight
Toxic Blood

Do's & Don't
Some suggestions of what you should do and not to do for a Healthier Lifestyle

Sauna

The wonderful benefits of a Finnish type Sauna

21day Fast
Frank's diary of his experience with The Living on Light Process

Books
Books on Fasting Health & Healing that we recommend

Christian Fasting Retreat
Is Moinhos Velhos a fasting retreat for Christians?

Home Fasting Programs
How to do a fasting program at home with much information on the benefit of juice fasting.

Fasting at Yoga Camp
Fasting Programs at Sivananda Yoga Camp in Canada

Fasting in India
Fasting Programs at the Sivananda Ashram in India

Bookings

Payments

 


Juice fast or Water fast?

There are arguments for both. We find that the juice fast is both gentler on the system and easier on the mind. In a juice fast, the body is not starved of nutrients - on the contrary - the juices are full of life giving energy. Also, because you are still spending time taking in the juices, powders and herbs, and because your taste buds are being satisfied by the juices, a juice fast feels less frugal than a water fast. The juices have an alkalising effect on the blood, which reduces any symptoms of detoxification.

According to the purists, a juice fast is not a real fast. To the purists, fasting  means only water. However the Swedish Dr. Ragnar Berg, long our world's foremost authority on nutrition and biochemistry, stated. " During fasting, the body burns up and excretes huge amounts of accumulated wastes. We can help this process by drinking alkaline juices instead of water. Juice fasting is therefore the very best form of fasting" Furthermore, with the herbs we cleanse the entire gastro-intestinal tract, assure the elimination of toxins and the balancing of the entire system. The sauna cleanses through the skin, and the Yoga and Meditation  facilitates the purification of the mind and the spirit. All of this in a most serene and pure setting.

"I fast for greater physical and mental efficiency" - Plato

For Body: Juice fasting is the oldest, fastest and safest (biochemical) method of removing unwanted weight and increases physical well-being , helps you to stay slim, healthy and vital, and is a huge help in the breaking of addictions.

For Mind: As the physical body detoxifies, rejuvenates and regenerates, the mind begins to function more efficiently. During the fast, the digestive system has a rest, freeing up energy for other things. This energy is used by the mind - bringing mental clarity. Fasting develops mental will power and increased control over the senses and mind.

For Spirit: All the major religions practice fasting in some form or another. Fasting allows the body and mind to become still, and in the stillness, one is more likely to tune into the secrets of Life, and to connect with Spirit.

Why do you need to fast?

Just about everybody benefits from fasting. Even those who live a relatively healthy lifestyle still have toxins. Due to old and often bad nutritional habits, environmental pollutants, stresses and strains of life situations most of us suffer from toxic deposits throughout the body. With the elimination of these toxins, remarkable and sometimes incredible changes can and have occurred.

Here, at Moinhos Velhos, we have experienced and witnessed the complete reversal of so-called  incurable diseases (like Psoriasis), the cessation of chronic migraines, the elimination of allergies and back problems, and dramatic relief from the discomforts and pains of rheumatic and arthritic sufferers etc. Even if you feel you are relatively healthy, a fast is a wonderful preventative measure against aging and possible future ill-health.

Fasting provides a much-needed rest for the internal organs. The functions of restores and normalizes glandular, metabolic and nervous-system functions; speeding up the elimination of morbid accumulations, toxic wastes and dead cells; accelerating new cell and tissue generation and enhancing cell-oxygenation.

Juice fasting can help to lose surplus weight

The benefits of fasting are on so many levels, and different people choose to do our program for various reasons. A number of people inquire as to whether they will lose weight. If you have weight to lose, you will certainly lose some of it - depending on how long you fast for. It is also an excellent first step to losing weight and changing bad eating habits.

Low calorie and other fad "diets" usually fail because they literally starve the body of much-needed nutrients, causing even greater biochemical imbalance. Thus, when one can no longer stand to continue with the diet because of how heavily the body is craving what is denied, one is usually forced to binge to the point of gaining more weight than was lost, further lowering self-esteem.

Programs
All the programs for 2008

Fasting
More information on Fasting and Detoxification.

Articles
Articles about our Fasting Programs

About Us
Information on who, where & what we are Many pictures

Pictures
More pictures from Moinhos Velhos Fasting Retreat

Main
About our Programs

Sayings
Testimonials from some of our guests

Cleansing|Fasting Questions
Answers to FAQ about fasting

Fasting in other languages
German, Portuguese, French, Spanish; Dutch, Chinese, Japanese,
Russian

Colon Cleansing|Colonics
Colon Cleansing using the "Clysmatic", a gravity Colonic unit


 

During scientific juice-fasting however, the body autolyzes - self-digests its own stored substances, resynthesizing nutrients and eliminating toxins. Additionally, fruit and vegetable juices, alkalinizing vegetable broth, and herbal teas all add vitamins, minerals and trace elements to the body, in addition to aiding detoxification.

After the fast, the body is better able to digest food and is better at utilizing nutrients in the food. The organs have a new vitality - any sluggishness will have disappeared. If the body was prone to water-retention, this also disappears.

My own experience - by Frank

Water: I did my first water fast in 1971. It was part of the yoga program in which I was participating.. My yoga teacher, Yanaki from the Delta Yoga Center in Canada would call me every few hours to assure herself that I was OK. I was fine and I found it an interesting 3-day experience - fasting on water only. But then I was more than enthusiastic with anything to do with yoga (yoga had been the salvation for my bad back, which for much of the previous 10 years had been strapped into a steel corset). I do not remember too much from this fast except that the very concept of not having regular meals 3 times a day was a strange one for me. I stayed in bed reading most of the time.

Juice: Four years later I did my first two weeks juice fast at the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas. There were no powders or herbs - this fast was done for spiritual reasons only. Fasting is such an important aspect for the spiritual aspirant. I felt great with a heightened awareness and clarity, and I became a firm advocate of juice fasting. What I particularly remember from this period was the shining faces of two young staff members who had done a three week juice fast. They were radiating such an inner glow.

I remember some years later, when, having just completed a juice fasting session, I joined with Gordon Stokes, the president of the Three in One organization, for one of his workshops.  When I met Gordon he exclaimed, "What has happened Frank? You look simply radiant!" I explained that up until that day I had been fasting on fruit and vegetable juices. Gordon's immediate reaction was, "That I have to do". Unfortunately he never did find the time to do the program while we were still offering it in Norway.

We have had several clients come here with extensive water fasting experience. They have always been amazed at the amount of stool that they have eliminated during the two weeks juice fasting program. They have never experienced anything similar doing a water fast. During our juice fasting program, with all the juices, broth, powders and pills as well as the treatments, yoga and meditation, the energy level for the majority of people remains high during the program. People have treatments, go for long walks, take a sauna and go swimming. During a water fast however, it is often recommended that you rest and do as little as possible.

I did my last water fast a few years ago. An inflammation of my left knee had not responded to any of our regular treatments nor a juice fasting session. Even Mike, our highly skilled and effective acupuncturist, who had cleared up a knee problem for me some years earlier, was unable to eliminate the problem. As I had to be completely inactive anyhow, I did a ten day water fast. At the end of ten days the knee was more or less back to normal (maybe this also had something to do with the fact that because of the swollen knee we had to cancel a planned trip to India. The day after canceling the trip, the knee was almost OK.  Maybe this was not the time for us to go to India?)

Juice fasting valley
Fasting Valley

A few years ago we had the pleasure of having DR Keki Sidhwa as our guest during one of our regular juice fasting programs. DR Sidhwa has supported more than 25000 people in his center with Water Fasting, and recently sent a couple of his long time clients to us to participate in our program. They had done several fasts with Dr. Sidhwa but never before had they experienced elimination of toxic deposits as they did on the Moinhos Velhos Juice Fasting Program

The 21 day process

The 21 day Process involves 7 days of air only, then 7 days on some water and diluted juice and the last seven days on a mixture of packaged juice and water. Although I did eliminate some old toxic deposits, the process was just too hard on my system. For the last ten days I was completely wiped out -I did not have enough strength to walk 30 meters. I lost so much of my muscle power and even two years later had not regained my strength. I also lost my sense of balance. Anne Karine's experience was a little different from mine, but she lost so much weight that she looked as if she had come out of Beltzen. She also lost her sense of balance. The 21-Day Process can be tough. We will stick with our Fresh Organic Juice Fasting ...with selected herbs and powders. Some time ago I fasted for 40 days following our program, and I felt great, full of vitality and energy. My body and mind is very happy when I fast on our program, but my tongue sometimes complains

Here is an exert from Frank's diary of the 21 day fast

Day 5

Woke up at 5.30 after a perfectly normal night sleep, but my mouth was glued together. I had slept uninterrupted through the whole night; I did not even get up to pee, which I normally do at least once. As a matter of fact at no time so far during the process have I being peeing a lot, unlike Jem who peed the whole time. This is also what the book says one could expect. I have been peeing less then normal for me. Except for my mouth feeling as if it was glued together I felt fine and normal and I was therefore  quit surprised when I got out of bed  to see how weak I was.  Had my first nice long hot shower. Among the many things that I enjoy with the shower is the few drops of water which enters the mouth, and I am very careful not to swallow but to spit out again. But here as I am writing this my mouth again feels as if it is glued together so I think I will have to ask for some ice today.

 I am certainly glad that we have Koram and Jem here as care givers. Prior to going into the process I did not really appreciate how important a care giver was. Yes I did see how weak Jem got during his process, but I did not think that this would happen to me.  In my superiority I felt that with my many years of fasting experience, and my recent 40 and 17 days fasting I would go sailing through this process like nothing. How wrong I was. I was partially influenced in my belief by Jasmuheen`s statement in her book, that with her preparations she went flying through the first week with a high level of energy. I was expecting something of the same.  O K. I have not been wiped out like Koram was, who could not even get out of bed. Or Jem who was very week for a few days. But I am very glad that they are here to support us. Because this has nothing to do with fasting, this is a very different process. The fasting and purification before the process is certainly a must to facilitate this transformation. Koram proved that it can be done without, but what hell he must have gone through.

For a day by day diary of Frank's experience with the 21 day process click here

 

 

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Moinhos Velhos
Cotifo 8600-077,
Lagos
, Algarve - Portugal
Tel
: + 351 282 687 147 Fax: + 351 282 687 697

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