Fasting

Fasting is not starvation or bringing heartache and weakness to your body and day. It is a spiritual discipline of the soul, body and mind. It is a practice that is done with heart and devotion. Fasting is, in my opinion, one way to one: approach God, Two: achieve mental clarity, and three: allow renewal of body and spirit and feelings.

So many stereotypes think of fasting as a way to get thinner or to just starve one’s body, but it is absolutely not true. You would be amazed how good fasting could do to your body, spirit, and brain. Fasting is an ideal way to activate the process of demolition and construction. The hunger that the body goes through pushes the inner organs to use lots of the weak cells and renew them, which allow your body to refurbish its energy and vitality. Fasting has also lots of dermatological benefits, while fasting causes lowering of water percentage in the blood, thus in the skin too ; it helps to decrease the vulnerability of the skin and resist microbes and microbial diseases. Also it lessens intestinal secretions of poisons and decreasing the proportion of fermentation, which causes acne and dimples. These are brief health facts about fasting. There are too many to write in this blog. I would like to emphasize about more than its physical health benefits.
Aside of those health benefits, there are mental ones. Through fasting, you could rise to a new level of mediation, spirituality and clarity. It is more of a deep spiritual experience then it is physically. Personally, when I fast, I actually find myself not thinking about food at all! I even got to the level where during fasting, I got rid of all the self impulses and negative feelings, such as sadness, grudge, jealousy, and anger. Moreover, it actually has made me go through many days where I have had too much stress and problems flowing around. It simply clears my mind. It gives me peace. Now, it is not easy to experience all this at once or right from the first time you try to fast. It took me a lot of devotions and heart to achieve a high level of clarity and peace. It actually took me quite A while to truly experience what fasting is really about. The greatest experience of fasting ever was last year. I was in a total different culture and in a whole different atmosphere, for the first time, where it was very difficult to actually fast and be able to maintain clarity of mind throughout all the craziness of the day. However, I took all those difficulties and looked at them as a tool for me to learn more about myself and to prove to myself that I could really deal with this and I could be strong and overcome it. No matter what bad could happen, during fasting, I simply try my very best to look at it as a thing that is just there to teach me something or as I thing that God is testing me through. While I was fasting, I was simply in a place where lots of stress and anxiety didn’t seem to get me. I was shocked about myself in many ways. I literally experienced fasting in a whole new level, like I never did before. It was hard to be away from home during time like that, but I was blessed by it. That is one of the many great things I have experienced so far by living here. Focusing on school and positive approaches and powers (hope, tomorrow will be better, faith) and letting go of the temptations and negative energy truly made me feel great, Ofcourse that is besides the prayers and the one-on-one contact that I have made throughout the day, with God. It was such bless and I thank God for it.
It is also important to know the limits of fasting. God was merciful and only had one month where he asked us, Muslims, to fast ( which is ABSOLUTELY possible and very manageable. It is NOT a lot). It is recommended not to fast more than 3 days month besides that, for those, like me, who practices it even aside from Ramadan.
Fasting is a pure spiritual experience for those who starve for clarity and inner peace. And Ofcourse the good deeds that counts behind it. And more purity within praying and contact with God.
I hope that this piece of writing has giving you a better perspective on fasting.

Salam