Why I'm Fasting for Ramadan

My name is James Donaldson and I am an aspiring calisthenics athlete that trains seven days a week, having previously played rugby and football as an amateur player, before my body took on too many injuries. I work full-time as an Education Instructor for an *independent school in Paisley for young people with additional support needs, and I also work part-time as a Wellbeing Coach and Personal Trainer with my small sport and fitness business, JCD Coaching. *I'll point out here that all views and opinions expressed in this post and on every subsequent post on this page are my own and not the views of my employer or anyone that I work for/with.

I have no religious affiliation whatsoever, despite being christened by my parents and attending Christian-associated schools throughout my years in primary and secondary education. I am not Muslim, or seeking to convert to Islam, and probably know very little about it to be honest, although I am interested in learning more now that I have decided to engage in fasting for the next month. Anyone that knows me well would probably tell you that I actually take a fairly critical view of all religions (although I really enjoy reading about Greek, Roman and Nordic mythology), but I don't want to get bogged down in my atheist biases - it's fair to say that I am not looking to engage in fasting for any religious reasons.

So what's the point? Why am I doing it? You'd be right to be pondering these questions already.

As part of my role as an Education Instructor I take every opportunity to encourage students to engage in as much physical activity as possible, no matter what problems and challenges they are currently facing. Physical activity is essential to our physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing, and I'm never going to stop beating that drum.

A few weeks ago I had been making good progress with a student (whom I will refer to as 'R' from here on in) who had been wanting to get back in to exercise and his favourite physical activities but was struggling for motivation. R and I worked and agreed on a training plan to support his goals and needs. As part of that process we had discussed the fact that Ramadan was coming up and R informed me of the changes he would need to make to his training plan, specifically training at night after breaking his fast, so that he didn't lose momentum during the month of fasting.

As I often drill in to my clients through my work at JCD Coaching, motivation affects momentum, and momentum affects motivation. It became clear to me that there was an aspect of, or barrier to, physical training which is common to millions of people around the world, but one that I had absolutely no experience of. I could only imagine that the fasting process involved in Ramadan must have a significant impact on the training schedules, intensities, and goals of every Muslim athlete in the world, be they elite or recreational. As an Open University graduate with a BSc in Sport, Fitness and Coaching, this is exactly the sort of research I like to engage in! 

Feeling inspired by R's new found sense of determination to not lose momentum in his training during Ramadan, I told him that I wanted to experience this for myself, so that I could learn about the experience and the impact of fasting from an athletic perspective. Not only that, my job is often about relationship building with these young people, and this is an opportunity for me to build a stronger relationship with R so that I can best support him in his education, and in the future, his career aspirations. 

It's fair to say that R didn't seem to bothered about this, so I can't say that I'm doing this primarily to support him! As quite a shy young person he has found repeated lockdowns and school closures very difficult to deal with and struggles for motivation at school. I'll still hope that sharing experiences with him during Ramadan can further improve our teacher/student relationship and help him keep improving motivation and momentum at school and at home.

Having decided that fasting for Ramadan was something that I really wanted to experience first hand, my attention in recent weeks has mainly been on working out what exactly I'll need to do and when exactly I'll need to do it! For the first time (of numerous times in the next month) I would like to give thanks here to our family friend, the very intelligent and beautiful Zenab, who has been so kind in allowing me to ask as many questions as needed to understand what I should and should not do during fasting hours for the next month. 

For those who do not know already, I should probably list what Ramadan entails from a fasting perspective - but I'll be brief in this post, because I'm anxious not to misuse any terminology, which could be deemed as ignorant or offensive. I will be improving my knowledge and understanding as I reflect on my fast at the end of each day. 

Ramadan starts tonight, in line with the lunar cycle for a new moon. 

As of 3:43AM tomorrow morning I will not be:

- drinking anything

- eating anything

- brushing my teeth

- engaging in sexual acts

- swearing or using foul language 

- telling lies

- showing anger towards others

...until 8:26PM tomorrow evening!

I am sure there are a few more intricacies and specifics that I have not been able to learn about yet, but that's my starting point at least!

Tomorrow is also my 34th birthday, and it feels quite significant to be entering my 35th year by engaging in what I expect to be an enriching and highly valuable experience for me as a person, an athlete and as a professional. I used to run a half marathon on my birthday, or aim for a new 5KM PB, but I think I've set the bar a bit higher this year.

In subsequent posts I will discuss my daily feelings, emotions and experiences with fasting and how it impacts me physically, mentally, emotionally and perhaps, even spiritually. 

If you read this post, or decide you want to keep up with my experiences throughout Ramadan, I would be very happy to receive all forms of feedback be they positive or critical. I'd also be very happy to learn from anyone who can further my understanding of Ramadan and Islam in general. I will definitely make mistakes in what I describe for non-Muslim readers, but I will stress again that my intentions are the most positive and respectful.

Thank you for reading and for any potential advice any of you may want to offer to me throughout Ramadan - I'll certainly welcome all forms of support and encouragement!

Ramadhan Kareem!