Fasting for wisdom and appreciation

Happy Ramadan Friends!

This week I joined millions of Muslims, albeit for only 4 days, to fast (no food or drink) from sun up to sun down. While not being a religious person, I knew there were many benefits to reap from detoxing the body.

The human body is a machine that runs on food, rest and upkeep. Sometimes we forget to take care of it and suffer from the buildup of everyday wear and tear. These four days helped me tidy up the body, but also the mind. And all the clear thinking left me with new wisdom and appreciation for the small things that are overlooked or taken for granted.

Here are three small reasons why I’d recommend all of you to fast (not for religious purposes, but for personal ones).

1. Fasting makes you productive.

When you are overwhelmed, bored, stressed or simply wanting to take a break, food looks like a good distraction. Getting up to go to the kitchen, or introducing a new flavor to your life promises to make you happy. In reality, it just pushes the important things aside. When your life revolves around food, it declines in productivity. This week, when I wasn’t distracted by thoughts of food, I executed many tasks and activities I’ve been putting off. In a short time I became the living and breathing motto of Nike: “Just do it!”. This new change suited me well. I felt accomplished and satisfied, and will likely adopt it for good.

2. Rationing helps you appreciate each bite.

If you have something in abundance, you stop seeing it as something ‘special’. Restricting my food intake to the hours of dawn and dusk meant that I had a short time to indulge in good food. And prolonged times of fasting meant my stomach couldn’t accept large volumes of nutrition, so I could eat only the healthy and essential things. I filled my body with protein, vitamins and limited the sugar. The result is that each slow bite was delicious and fully appreciated by me.

3. Detox does wonders to your body.

Restriction is good for you! It means that you have more energy to shift your body’s focus from digestion towards recovery and clean up. Giving your body time to breathe and take care of itself means you can start enjoying clear skin, clear mind and more positivity to open your eyes to the beauty scattered around you! Most importantly working on your willpower makes you more confident and secure in your abilities to accomplish even what seems like the most daunting of tasks.

Fasting is a blessing that should be enjoyed every now and then to realign your body and mind, and to put yourself back on the right track. After this holiday weekend I think I might go back to fasting for at least another week! Want to join?

If you’ve been fasting or tried it in the past, did you experience any of the positive effects listed above?

Happy holiday, friends!
Hokuma