So I’m staring at a golden ceiling, the birds are chirping, the river below is travelling through, Arvid the Indian bodyworks healer has my head in his hands and is lengthening my neck with commitment, and Jeff Buckley is singing Halleluyah on the stereo.

That. Just. Happened.

This man is the magic of the retreat, and the magic is in his hands. One hour a day on his table and five sessions in, I can feel myself uncurling, lengthening, standing taller. My neck isn’t tight and my shoulders are back in the right place. Apparently the right place for my shoulders is a lot further away from my ears than they’ve been living for the last few years.

The Australian couple sharing this experience with us are experiencing miracles. Mick’s chest was a block of concrete; Shirley’s left foot was slowly turning inwards which turned walking without shoes into a hobble. After four sessions, she was triumphantly padding around the place in her socks. The concrete in Mick’s chest is slowly being broken into rubble.

It’s day five and I have been running at 40 percent til just now when Arvid gave me back the other 60.  I’ve learned that for the first day or two of a fast, your body uses up the food remaining in your digestive tract from previous meals. For the next couple of days, your body uses stored food reserves from your liver. This means that a fast doesn’t really begin until about the fifth day.

I’m not calling it day one though; it could take me to the brink.

Today’s also the day the liver releases  its toxins apparently. Greedy bitch holding onto it all for that long.

I feel great. I have broken the back of the fast now. Stuff’s happening. I like it.

Release.      Release.     Release.