What is Advent and how do we prepare?

What is fasting?

Fasting is a favorable period and an opportunity for anyone who wants to be better, modest, humble, good, healthy, pure and spiritually conscious. Following them, one can purify his/her heart from impurities and cultivate spiritually.

If we look at the calendar, the fasts last more than half a year, and it's about 200 days. Fasting and prayer are an indispensable part of the life of all the holy persons who helped for the moral and spiritual growth of society and people in general. Fasting, we consciously deprive ourselves of all sorts of life's comforts in order to purify our body externally and internally, to strengthen our will and spirit power, and to free space for the cultivation of spiritual values. Thus one regains his/her health, mental ballast, awareness, joy and happiness.

When and why we must fast?

There are four main fastings - Advent, Holy, Easter and Petrov, in the Bulgarian Orthodox tradition, and the more strict Christians fast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Every year from November 15th the Advent starts continuing until December 24th, Christmas Eve including. Strict adherence to a full and varied plant diet during this period ensures a significant improvement in our health, good self-esteem and full fitness for work.

Fasting is not limited to abstinence from food or water only. Above all, it is a period in which one must refrain from all sorts of mental and bodily passions, unclean thoughts and words, jealousy, malice, greed, and lust in all its varieties.

How to prepare for fasting?

As people nowadays consume too many adverse and heavy (also poorly prepared / processed and combined) foods such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy products and fats, the body accumulates a lot of toxins, poisons, mucus and waste substances. This results in chronic obesity, and when one starts fasting, the body reacts by starting a detoxification process. It is characterized by symptoms of headache, fatigue, persistent bad thoughts, low self-esteem, bad mood, irritation, and more. Therefore, the preliminary gradual preparation of the organism is of the utmost importance!

Vita Rama Health Center specialists advise you how to prepare for Christmas fasting:

1. Reduce and/or gradually stop smoking;

2. Reduce and/or slowly cut down all types of alcoholic beverages;

3. Reduce and/or gradually stop coffee and all types of intoxicants - coke, energy drinks, etc .;

4. Reduce and/or gradually exclude from your menu all semi-prepared and sweet foods - chocolates, candies, other similar sweets, fried, pasta and oily foods;

5. Reduce and/or gradually eliminate the red meat replacing it with a balanced consumption of dairy products - preferably skimmed cottage cheese and / or small quantities of fish;

6. Consume animal products NO more than once a day, and NO more than two or three times a week;

7. Do not combine red meat, fish, dairy products and eggs with carbohydrates such as rice, legumes, potatoes, bread and more;

8. Eat the animal products in the evening with only low-carbohydrate vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, cucumber, pepper, cabbage and others;

9. Reduce or completely eliminate the extracted fats - oils, crude olive oils, butter, margarine and others;

10. Eat fruit until noon, and if you face difficulties, include oatmeal with dried or fresh fruits;

11. Instead of extracted fats, consume seeds and nuts moderately, up to 40-60 grams a day;

12. Cleanse the intestinal tract. We recommend the yogic technique Shankprakshalana;

13. Drink more water;

14. Clean all the greasy pots and pans from the grease thoroughly, using hot water and wood ash;

15. Start the fast by praying to God for protection from adverse influences and, if necessary, ask one's forgiveness if you offended someone.

Plant nutrition is the most appropriate and natural for the human body. After a period of eating in this way, one becomes more energetic, his mind clears, many of the health problems abate, his weight normalizes, his skin clears and his self-esteem improves.

History shows that these fastings have preserved the spirit of the people during hard times. Today, however, these spiritual customs are increasingly overlooked and we must try to preserve and revive them. That is why Vita Rama Health Center recommends you to participate in the Christmas fast of spiritual and body cleansing and see how it will affect your body, mind and soul.

We wish you success!