“Everyone has a physician inside… we just have to help it in its work.  The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.  Our food should be our medicine.  Our medicine should be our food.  But to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.”  – Hippocrates

“Instead of using medicine, rather, fast a day.”    – Plutarch

Fasting for spiritual and health purposes is widely practiced all over the world, and is still a part of every major religion in the world. Jesus, Buddha, Muhammed and Baha’u’llah all shared a common belief in the helpful and productive power of fasting.

We at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center know water fasting can be an excellent protocol for rejuvenating body, mind and spirit and want to support you as a destination as you undertake your self-directed water fast with the full support of therapies and practitioners who not only understand the science, but actually fast, themselves.

Benefits of Fasting

Fasting has been shown to help people recover from mild to severe health conditions. Some of the most common ones are high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic headaches, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), irritable bowel syndrome, adult onset diabetes, heart disease, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, eczema, acne, uterine fibroids, benign tumors, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Fasting is a time when the body can devote itself to healing, repairing and strengthening damaged organs eliminating accumulated toxins and waste products. The body is very intelligent. When we fast, the body starts “burning” the trash first…the damaged cells, tumors, waste products, etc.

This is a time when the digestive tract time can completely rest and strengthen its mucosal lining. A healthy mucosal lining is a crucial to the health of the body in general and a preventive or healer of Leaky Gut Syndrome. That is the leakage of incompletely digested proteins into the bloodstream, which are at the root of most autoimmune conditions and food allergies.

Included in the cost of your retreat are the following :

• Consultation with Dr. Hall and Amy, our Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist
• one Bach Flower Remedy consultation (for emotional support) and customized blend prepared
•  one massage (or body work protocol), or Reiki or other energy healing session provided by one of our resident practitioners

Self-Applied Health Enhancement Methods Available For Your Use at Heartwood During Your Retreat

• instruction and 30 minutes daily of meditation w/MUSE bio-feedback system
• daily 45 minutes yoga or qigong (with audio or video instruction) 
• daily 30-45 minute full spectrum infrared treatment 
• daily soft exercise program with bands, light weights, bicycle, walking, elliptical machine, stair master, trampoline
• daily sound and light therapies
• daily Bemer micro-circulatory protocol
• access to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, by Bob Stahl, with exercises to complete
• cd library and online guided meditations – recommendations are based on personal support needed
• Structured Water and Color-Infused Water training

Other Free Offerings

• weekly recovery group meeting
• spiritual counseling

Learn about cancer and water fasting.

Disclaimer: This is not a medical clinic. We do not offer medical advice, a cure or treatment for anything. Our programs are not a substitute for physician care. Our programs and curricula are informative, educational and restorative, designed to help you develop accountability for your own well-being. Along with retreats, workshops and individual consultation by licensed, registered and alternative health professionals in residence, we provide a supportive community, a wealth of complementary therapies, and a peaceful environment for body, mind and spirit. Retreating at Heartwood allows you to break away from your daily habitual patterns, giving you the personal “space” to commit to and practice positive changes in the direction of new, healthier ways of living. All participation is on retreatant or membership basis. We are not open to the walk-in public. In an effort to make our programs available to those who need it most, we have a limited number of partial scholarships available.