My one-day dopamine+electronics detox and water fast

Hey guys. So I thought I would talk a little bit about a recent dopamine detox and water fast I had. I went into it with the mind of resetting my body mostly and giving myself the chance to properly relax. However, I was expecting there to be some kind of challenge too, especially with the fast, but it turned out to be more challenging than I thought. Even though I now know I was definitely not ready for it and very ill-prepared, it taught me a lot about my body and has given me a better perspective on how to approach it next time. It's important to note, too, that I really didn't sleep very well the night before; a common problem for me anyway. I had hoped that I would sleep more in preparation but I was able to rest a little during the whole activity.

I turned off all of my devices at maybe about 1am just before going to bed, with the intention of not turning them on again until about 30 hours later. I spent most of the day scribbling in my journal at random times, and I'll type them all out here. I used a pocket watch to keep the time, with no electronic devices used at all.

11th July 2020
Today, I am practicing a dopamine detox and water fast. I'll journal in here throughout the day.

11:06am: Woke up maybe half an hour ago. Quite happy about rising earlier than usual, and without an alarm. Going to stat slow, drink some warm lemon water, shower and meditate. Maybe later I'll take a big walk. Excited for the day!

12:04pm: Showered, meditated ad performed morning and noon Resh*. Started reading (Kybalion) and feeling quite weary. I can feel my body protesting especially against its lack of morning tea. But I know that a water detox will help me immensely today. I'm just taking it slow.

3:54pm: Fell asleep for about 3 hours.

4:36pm: Just went for a brief walk across the meadows. I'm I got to go outside, but I felt rather removed from my surroundings, as if in a dream. So far I am learning how much reliance my body has on sugar and caffeine. No bathroom break yet. I am sure I will be feeling hungrr eventually, but actually my body has been fine so far. Think I will reads and meditate more.

7:57pm: The afternoon went by fast. I finished a book and perofmred the Star Ruby** for the first time. Then I read and meditated a little more. There isn't much for me to do right now, so maybe I will read further. Have had pangs of hunger but nothing terrible.

8:30pm: Feel cold and tired. Probably because of lack of food and not a good night's sleep. I'm glad to be doing this experiment, but I am looking forward to breaking the fast and returning a little to "normalcy", whatever that constitutes. I think I'm excited to return to work and wok a lot. Right now I just want night to come so I can sleep.

8:46pm: I'm just sitting around now waiting for time to pass. I've had a bit of a headache behind my eyes basically all day. It's made me feel quite sluggish. I expeted it

9:11pm: Decided to get a nice hot shower to warm my body, or t least convince my mind it isn't cold. Got a nice hot cup of water and now writing in candlelight mixed with the ool evening twilight. Will probably read until I fall asleep.​

And that is where I stopped writing. I fell asleep for maybe 40 minutes and then woke up against at about 11:30pm, unable to sleep from hunger, and then decided at midnight to break the fast and the detox. I slowly introduced some food and had a weak cup of tea as well as some orange juice to help restore my nutrients and sugars. I was awake actually for the rest of the night and only napped a few times during the day that followed. But last night, I slept extremely well and now I'm here, feeling quite rested and back to normal.

I will definitely try this again, but next time I will do both experiments separately. I will eat and drink as normal whilst doing a dopamine detox, and will water fast with other things available to me. I found the experience to be somewhat harrowing at times, and I recall one of my earlier descriptions I gave to be a friend that it "felt as if the 30 Aethyrs were all caving in on me all at once". Perhaps it was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it was quite a horrid feeling. Next time, I will prepare my body for a fast more with a suitable diet the week before.

However, I found that the experiences of detoxing to such an extreme level for a while gave me the chance to really appreciate the normalcy and equilibrium that followed. That, perhaps, was the greatest thing I got from the whole experiment. I found that it has changed my relationship with social media, too, and I am even more removed from it than I had become already.

One last thing to note, as an extra edited-in note, is as I was deep within this experience and at my worst feeling, I found myself being head-to-head directly with my NoFap reboot. I found myself feeling that, during this experience when I felt so bad, only masturbation would make me feel better. I, of course, recognised this immediately and accepted and then disregarded the feeling, not allowing it to control me.

I'm looking forward to trying these experiments again and to different degrees, but maybe not for a while, haha.

Thanks for reading.


*'Resh' refers to the Thelemic ritual book Liber Resh, wherein a Thelemite prays to the sun four times a day.
**'The Star Ruby' is a pentagram-based banishing and cleansing ritual that is central to my practice as a Thelemite.