. Details what to expect during your fast physically, emotionally and spiritually . Provides step-by-step guidelines on preparing for the fast, how long you should fast, what you can and can't do during the fast and how to end your fast . Explains how fasting can help or heal many chronic conditions, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, psoriasis and insomnia For millennia, humans have fasted for spiritual, emotional and physical reasons - as a way to heal their bodies, reconnect to the sacred, regain a sense of life's purpose and allow their souls to detoxify. We are evolutionarily designed to fast and the body knows how to do it very well. Fasting allows the body and all its systems to rest, purify and heal. During a fast, the body enters the same cleansing and healing cycle it normally enters during sleep. As a fast progresses, the body consumes everything that is not essential to bodily functioning - including bacteria, viruses, fibroid tumours, waste products in the blood, buildup around the joints and stored fat - and the mind and heart release their toxic buildup as well. As Stephen Harrod Buhner reveals, in order to be truly transformed, you must first empty yourself. He, also, explains how to plan the length of your fast and how to choose between a water fast, a juice fast or a mono-diet fast. Revealing how fasting can help or heal many chronic conditions, Buhner shows fasting as a way to truly inhabit the body, to experience its sacredness and to activate its deep capabilities for self-healing.