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Food & Water
Please have all your food items with you when you arrive. If necessary, a short stop can be made at a local store for perishables. Also, please plan on sharing food at the Base Camp.
Plan simple and nutritious snacks for your quest (six days worth), or you may choose to fast for three or four of the six solo days. In addition, cook-able food may be prepared at the base camp before and after your solo period.
Cleansing & Dietary Guidelines
Deciding to give yourself the Sacred Passage Awareness Training™ and the Passage’s alone time in Nature should be one of the finest gifts you’ll ever experience. In order to insure the optimum results, we suggest you begin the following preparations three to four months (or more, if possible) in advance to help your body, energy, emotions, mind and spirit clear for what they are about to experience.
Stimulants tend to act as a barrier to the interconnecting of inner and outer nature, so abstain from non-prescription drugs, coffee, black teas and cigarettes. This is a good way to help clear your system and develop sensitivity. While slowly entering into this cleansing, this is also an excellent time to partake in sweats, saunas and natural hot spring paths to further the process. Highly processed and “fast foods” should be eliminated from the diet. Drugs of any nature (including alcohol and tobacco) should be avoided, unless specifically prescribed by a doctor. If this is the case, check with your doctor to be sure doing an Awareness Training Intensive and Sacred Passage wilderness solo is wise at this time.
The dietary intake recommended for Sacred Passage is of a sattvic nature. Sattvic foods are those that purify the body and calm the mind. They are fresh, organic, vegetarian foods. Recommended foods which are more balanced and appropriate for daily consumption include whole grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, nuts and fruits. This will enable your body to cope with spiritual process during your
Sacred Passage
Start introducing yourself to Nature by spending time each day walking, sitting or exploring within natural environments. This is an excellent time to practice spiritual disciplines outdoors, such as outdoor ceremony, sacred drumming, heartfelt prayer, Tai Chi, the various yogas, Zazen, TM, or any personal meditation. If you use affirmations, use them in natural settings, and start your attunement with Nature prior to the Sacred Passage. If possible, spend one day a week alone in Nature, establishing deeper inner and outer connectedness.
These guidelines, if followed, will bring a richer experience to your process in Nature…all of it is a gift to be treasured and bestowed upon yourself, so enjoy!
Recommended Items for Solo
Dried fruits/ Whole grain bread/ Cheese/ Clif bars/ Nuts/ Spiru-Tein Soy or Spirulina powder/ Rice/oat cakes/ Tabouleh/ Herbal teas (for sun tea)/ Instant miso soup/ Hummus/ Unprocessed nut butters/ Organic fruit and vegetable juices / Trail mix/ Whole grain breakfast cereals/ Dried whole/soy/rice milk/ Canned sardines / Salmon and/or “dolphin friendly” tuna/ Vitamins & Herbs (A/ B-complex /Bio-Oxy /C/ Liquid chlorophyll—for high altitude sites in Colorado and Nepal/ E (100 IU)/ Echinacea and golden seal tinctures/ E-mergen-C packets/ Fo-ti/ Ginseng - Siberian or American/ Gotu kola/ Multi-mineral tablets/ Reishi mushrooms/ Suma
Further Suggestions
Many persons mix granola and dried milk together, creating a ready mixed meal that can be easily prepared simply by adding water. Another favorite is pre-cooked brown rice rolled in kelp. For those who like herbal teas, bring a glass jar and teas of your choice to make sun tea.
There are no fires while on a Sacred Passage wilderness solo, so all food should be selected with this in mind.
During most Sacred Passages, we suggest, but do not insist, that you fast during the middle three days of the solo period. If you opt to fast, your diet on the days prior to and after the solo should be light and easy to assimilate. If you do not fast, we suggest that you keep on a light and simple diet, with only two meals a day, and that you progressively reduce the amount of food eaten (particularly heavier foods) the longer you are out on solo.
Be sure to drink at least a half a gallon of water each day, even if fasting. Participants doing a Passage in a dry, desert area will be asked to bring five full gallons of plastic water jugs with them.
Bring sufficient food, cooking gear, and equipment, for meals, etc., for those nights spent at base camp. Remember, each person is responsible for their own meals. Food and cooking resources can be pooled to share at these times, unless the Passage is being catered.
The Master Cleanser Fast
John P. Milton
2 Tblsp fresh lemon or lime juice—about 1/2 lemon (organic, ideally)
2 Tblsp real maple syrup
1/10 Tsp red cayenne pepper—or as much as you want
Medium hot to cool water—spring or purified
Combine fresh juice, syrup and pepper in a 10 oz. glass, and fill with pure water. Grade A, B or C maple syrup is fine—pick among these grades according to taste and availability (from A to C the syrup has increasing mineral content, and is less sweet and stronger tasting). If you cannot obtain maple syrup, use molasses or sugar cane juice—avoid honey or refined sugar. Sorghum may be used, though it is less desirable. Take with spring water 5-7 times a day.
During Sacred Passage/Way of Nature wilderness solos, this fast is often done for three to five days during the middle of the solo. It may also be taken for the entire solo, and parts of the Awareness Training, for those interested in a deeper fast. For persons of normal health, no other food or supplements should be taken for the duration of the fast. The only recommended additional components of this fast are:
a) taking a laxative herb tea—available in health food stores—to help the body eliminate wastes released by the fast. Take upon arising in the morning, and before evening rest (it is also helpful to take the laxative tea the evening before you begin to fast);
b) taking mint or green tea occasionally to help purify the body and reduce body odors released during detoxification.
To break the fast: for the first day or two (two days if you’ve done a longer fast) take several glasses of fresh orange juice—fresh watermelon juice works well too—during the day, drinking them slowly. On the following day, eat miso soup with rye crackers, sparingly. The next day continue with juice in the morning, miso soup and rye crackers for lunch, and a light vegetarian meal for dinner. After that, normal eating practices may be resumed, but continue to eat lightly for at least a week. Begin the morning with fresh lemonade or fruit juice, and avoid dairy, meat, and eggs for awhile. Should stomach cramps or gas occur, go back to fruit juice until your system has adjusted, then continue as outlined above.
Ten day fasts are common with this fasting system, and fasts for up to forty days are occasionally undertaken. For preparation to do Sacred Passage/Way of Nature Fellowship programs, or for general maintenance of health, fasting for three to ten days, three or four times a year - once each season, ideally - is recommended.
For many, the first exposure to this fasting system will be during the twelve day Sacred Passage Awareness Training and wilderness solo. In order for the fast to unfold smoothly, it is helpful to eliminate cigarettes, coffee and all “recreational” and non-required medical drug use at least two weeks before beginning the Passage. It is also helpful to “lighten up” one’s diet, and lower food intake during this time, while emphasizing a balance of organic proteins, carbohydrates and oils.
We ask that you please consult with your physician prior to embarking on any fast, particularly if you are dealing with any major health issues. If fasting on a Passage is not something you feel called to do at this time, we recommend instead eating simply, lightly and organically.
Fasting with the Master Cleanser Fast is said to aid in the cleansing of the digestive tract, kidneys and other organs, as well as the removal of toxins and waste from the muscles, joints, and circulatory system, and purifying the glandular system. Relieved of excess toxins and wastes, the body’s cells, tissues and organs are revitalized, enhancing meditation, Qi Gong, GaiaFlow™, yoga, and other spiritual cultivation practices. |
