Fasting requires the power of mind over body

Fasting requires the power of mind over body

In this holy month of Ramadhan, like my Indonesian Muslim
friends, I ventured to observe the fast during daylight hours.
Apart from the need to count my calories and drop a few pounds,
my aim in observing the fast this year was to experience hunger.

The poor cannot afford to have two square meals a day. The
rest of us, on the other hand, never need to crave for food. We
can afford to eat whatever and whenever we want, and our basic
needs are usually taken for granted.

I commenced my fasting in earnest on Oct. 5, the first day of
Ramadhan. Last year during Ramadhan I also fasted, except during
the weekend. My son did not take too kindly to my fasting at home
during the weekend. But now that he has moved to the U.S. to
study, I resolved to observe the fast seven days a week this
year.

I may add that my sahur (presunrise meal) is just a cup of
coffee, as it would be impossible for me to eat anything that
early in the day.

My wife, of course, objected that I was "needlessly" putting
myself through this fasting ordeal. "After all," she said, "it is
not ordained in our Hindu religion to fast in this fashion."
"Well, dear", I said, "this is a matter of choice. I'd like to
challenge myself to live on one meal a day during this month.
Please let me exercise my ability to make a choice at least
occasionally."

After many years of married life, I knew when to put my foot
down and just do what I wanted. Between you and me, such
occasions are very rare, though!

On the matter of making choices in our day-to-day lives, it is
like working through a mental flowchart of a standard operating
system, asking ourselves "yes" or "no" on different occasions.

There is another angle to this. We may also choose to do
nothing --like the late prime minister of India, Narasimha Rao,
who was famous for not making decisions even on crucial matters
of state. According to him, not making a decision was also a
decision.

By the way, he was fluent in many languages; a scribe wrote in
a newspaper that Rao could think in nine different languages,
ultimately to say nothing!

Another chief minister (from my home province in India) was
well known for his non-committal replies. "We will see" (neither
"yes" nor "no") became a hallmark of his nine-year
administration.

Back to the fasting -- I usually have lunch in the office
around noon. During the first few days of the fast, I found it
extremely difficult to manage without even a sip of water. But
soon enough this didn't bother me much, and I got over the first
phase, skipping lunch.

The second phase, late afternoon, was even more difficult.
This is the time when one tends to wear out, with energy levels
dropping. The metabolism slows and productivity slumps.
Therefore, we keenly look forward to breaking the fast in the
evening and grabbing that first drink of the day.

Soon I was into the third week of the fast. Feeling more
confident, it became immaterial to me whether I broke my fast in
the evening or not. It was like I could extend my fast for a few
more hours.

There was no perceptible discomfort or unusual weakness. In
fact, there was a sense of "liberation" from my eating patterns,
and I even started enjoying this newfound freedom from hunger,
albeit temporarily. But it was apparent that we have the power
within ourselves to rise above our eating habits.

However, the challenge is not just fasting from dawn to dusk,
but in avoiding the temptation to overeat after the fast is over.

My Muslim colleagues, when asked how they could, year after
year, observe the month-long ritual of fasting from sunlight to
sunset, simply say "wajib", meaning that they are obliged to do
so by their religion. I presume that from childhood they are
trained to follow the fast every year. For them, fasting is
nothing extraordinary. It seems like a marathon for the rest of
us, though.

Ultimately, fasting is not an end in itself. It is a process
-- a journey one goes through, with a positive outlook, to test
the power of mind over body.

Changing our habits basically comes from a transformation of
our attitude. If we think "we can", we can. If we say to
ourselves "we can't", that is what we tend to bring out. Our
thoughts, visualizing a happy outcome, do have a powerful effect
on our emotional and physical well-beings. -- D. Chandramouli