Day 4: "But to fast is best for you..."
Today was a busy day!
Unbeknown to me before I expanded my knowledge and basic research of Islam and the Quran, the primary reason for fasting during the month of Ramadan is to remember the poor and the needy people in the world. I suppose that this is a very similar concept to the Christian festival of Lent that I was more familiar with when attending my Church of England primary school. As it is stated in a Youtube video (entitled: Why Do Muslims Fast In Ramadan) presented by Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, the month of Ramadan allows Muslims to take time to reflect on the millions of people around the world who are less fortunate than themselves. This concept was supported further in my chat with Jasim Beg yesterday who stated that for him Ramadan is a time to be with your family, be thankful and appreciate things that you normally take for granted. You can see the full chat recorded live on Instagram, here.
Even after four days, I cannot recommend fasting like this highly enough. Other than tiredness from staying up later to eat and drink, despite 7AM starts daily, I have not suffered a negative physical consequence. Nor have I had to endure suffering mentally or emotionally. I feel comfortable, less anxious and increasingly confident in my ability to adhere to my fasting without any major restriction to my daily life.
I've been enjoying the Easter holidays for the past two weeks, but today I had five sessions to deliver between 830AM and 330PM. Having let my part-time business run a bit quieter as part of a period of rest during Easter, I was looking forward to making myself busier again. However, I won't lie, I was a tad nervous to be working most of the day and fasting.
I definitely managed my efforts and intensity during my first session of the day delivering a HIIT class at Glenboig Park, but the rest of the day was absolutely fine. I had a great time delivering and coaching in the sunshine.
A shout out to too to my new Glenboig family of clients who enjoyed my company for almost three hours in their garden this afternoon! Under normal circumstances I would have loved a cup of tea for my efforts after spending so much time with one household, but I didn't even think about having a drink. I just got on with my work and enjoyed my time with my new enthusiastic clients.
Now that I've been able to sit down, relaxing in the living room whilst my family have dinner in the kitchen, I've been able to take some time to reflect a bit deeper on my experience so far. There is a quote from the Quran which was shared with me on Day 1 of Ramadan by my friend Zenab, which I've been thinking about ever since:
"But to fast is better for you, if you only knew."
Unbeknown to me before I expanded my knowledge and basic research of Islam and the Quran, the primary reason for fasting during the month of Ramadan is to remember the poor and the needy people in the world. I suppose that this is a very similar concept to the Christian festival of Lent that I was more familiar with when attending my Church of England primary school. As it is stated in a Youtube video (entitled: Why Do Muslims Fast In Ramadan) presented by Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, the month of Ramadan allows Muslims to take time to reflect on the millions of people around the world who are less fortunate than themselves. This concept was supported further in my chat with Jasim Beg yesterday who stated that for him Ramadan is a time to be with your family, be thankful and appreciate things that you normally take for granted. You can see the full chat recorded live on Instagram, here.
As you will already know by now, during Ramadan people who are observing fasting refrain from drinking any water or eating any food from Sehri (a few hours before sunrise) to Iftar (at sunset). Prior to experiencing this for myself, I'd often felt that this was so extreme! How could I not drink water all day?! I get anxiety if I forget my water bottle for work! I won't even go out for the day without my bottle filled and extra water in the car just in case. The kids at school actually hide my water bottle from me because they know it freaks me out.
Today was a day where I definitely felt weird carrying out so many sessions without feeling the need to drink water. During HIIT classes I always take a quick drink inbetween sets and I caught myself reaching for a bottle that wasn't there this morning! But after that, I didn't even notice that my bottle wasn't on my person. I didn't feel anxious at all despite my usual tendencies to feel great anxiety over anything that disrupts my routine. This has been a lovely benefit from observing Ramadan that I could not have anticipated. Generally speaking, I have felt less anxious in all daily circumstances.
As Jas also discussed from his perspective during our chat yesterday, this has been a time for me to appreciate how fortunate I am that I normally can eat food and drink water in abundance. The food that I buy can be meat of the highest quality. The water I drink just simply comes out of the tap clean and clear, and I can still easily filter it further myself to make it purer for my body. I definitely feel more fortunate now, than I have ever felt before. This is the purpose of fasting during Ramadan, and I am very glad that I have been observing it.
Even after four days, I cannot recommend fasting like this highly enough. Other than tiredness from staying up later to eat and drink, despite 7AM starts daily, I have not suffered a negative physical consequence. Nor have I had to endure suffering mentally or emotionally. I feel comfortable, less anxious and increasingly confident in my ability to adhere to my fasting without any major restriction to my daily life.
If you could experience it too, I think you would find that fasting would be very good for you, just as the Quran suggests.
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