By Shazad
The Muslim holy month of fasting, called Ramadhan, is approaching in early March this year. It’s a time of complete abstinence from food, water, and bad habits during the daylight hours. Eating is allowed at sunset until a few hours before dawn the next day. Many healthy Muslim adults from around the world will participate and seek the numerous benefits of this holy month. I will suggest some methods I’ve discovered to make the best use of time, energy, and health during this challenging period.
Foundation
Why are you fasting at all? What do you hope to achieve during your Ramadan or other extended fasting periods? Take note of the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits you seek. Although the primary focus of Islamic fasting is spiritual, there are many additional benefits as well. Assess your current state in all aspects of your life to identify your baseline. Where do you want to be by the end of Ramadan? How do you want to feel, think, and even present yourself in terms of appearance? Done right, Ramadhan can make you look and feel different for the rest of the year so you can lock in some lasting changes.
Preparation Steps
Start following your ideal Ramadan fasting schedule a few days early by going to bed slightly earlier and waking up two hours before sunrise to help facilitate the transition. Aim to have your dinner around sunset and make it as nutritious as possible. Good sources of protein, healthy fats, and vegetables should be included in every meal you consume, especially if it’s not already your habit to eat this way. To heal your gut, you should research collagen supplementation as well as drinking bone broth when you break fast. This can help a lot of people reset their gut for good and keep it healthy in the remaining 11 months of the year as well!
You can also consider drinking a little less water during daytime hours and hydrating more before sunrise and after sunset each day. Maybe you want to load up on extra glasses of water with electrolytes after sunset and during early morning breakfast before dawn. If you love coffee or tea like me, consider cutting down now to just one cup a day so you have less of a caffeine withdrawal issue during the fasting period.
Fasting for 12 or more hours encourages your body to go into a clean-up phase called Autophagy. This is when the weak and old cells in our body get recycled instead of just sticking around and creating inflammation. You may not be able to say autophagy (ott-off-a-gee) but you will get all the great benefits of it when you observe a fasting practice.
Media Diet
I have found that the best way to truly gain from the spiritual benefits of Ramadhan or any mode of intense focus is to cut some things out. No entertainment such as movies or music for me during Ramadhan. I’ll also reduce the time I spend at the office and work from home as much as possible. I also find it helpful to avoid social media because it’s so easy to get stuck in a doom-scrolling loop and be distracted. By reducing my engagement with the world to the bare minimum, I can better focus on my well-being and worship. It’s challenging but not impossible because it’s temporary, just like the abstinence from all food and drink during daylight hours.
I am preparing early for the holy month of Ramadan. The more I study it, the more I realize that this is more than just a time of religious devotion for Muslims. It's a time for a lot of personal, physical, mental, and spiritual growth. The main goal is to stop consuming food and drink from sunrise to sunset and engage in worship. I’m not going to lie, I think this will be the biggest hurdle for me. I enjoy food and there will be times I’ll be tempted to have something to eat or a warm cup of tea. I guess that is how I build discipline when I could just cheat or not fast at all. This Ramadhan I will, once again, put my faith to the test along with 100’s of Millions of other Muslims around the world.
This month of Ramadhan is going to be a challenge on many fronts, but I think I will have a lot of personal growth, too. God Willing! I’m determined to succeed. If I can do this, then I’ll be very proud at successfully completing another year of spiritual discipline to earn God’s pleasure.
Lessons Learned
When the holy month of Ramadhan is ending, you will miss it and appreciate the healthy changes you have been making. It’s possible to experience the physical and mental changes in just 2-3 weeks of fasting. No doubt, you will be gaining spiritual benefits along the way, and the physical transformation will be that unexpected BONUS you didn’t realize was possible. I have a lot better mental clarity and a feeling of purpose in life during Ramadhan. For me, a proper Ramadhan is one where I come out different. A better believer and human being who also happens to be fitter, more resilient, and more spiritual after having come closer to God than at any other time of the year.
The lessons about how to eat better, when to eat, what to focus on, and how to think about your life can stay with you forever. Each Ramadhan offers Muslims a chance to reflect, practice good habits, and refine our entire being to become truly Awesome!
To learn more about some benefits of Fasting from a non-Muslim Medical Doctor, see this great video link: Ramadhan Fasting - Benefits, Insights, & Best Strategies by American MD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti5Whov6xdw
Please share your best Ramadhan tips for a successful month of discipline, spirituality, and health.
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