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Fasting Is Complicated

5/17/2018

5 Comments

 
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I recently added fasting to my yoga practice. For one day each week I don't eat. It's not for losing weight, to look different or even for health purposes of any sort. I am fasting to clarify my relationship between my body and mind and to understand how what I eat affects both.

In yogic teachings, the practice of fasting can be associated with pranayama (energy control) and pratyahara (sensory control). Pranayama is most often connected with breathing since it is such an elemental part of our existence. (I wouldn't live long if I stopped breathing.) Eating too is a deeply-rooted part of my physical existence, so its pull on my consciousness is strong. As pranayama practice develops, it naturally evolves from the breath toward eating and other "essential" life-functions. 

Fasting is also part of pratyahara, the practice of looking at my sensory input and how it affects the way I perceive the world (and myself). My sense of taste is obviously related to food, and our culture has increasingly turned toward foods that stimulate my taste receptors, so much that I often consume food for the way it stimulates my mouth (and brain). When I control my food intake, I quickly come face to face with the powerful connections between my senses (in this case, taste) and my reality.

Controlling the energy and senses is hard, so fasting is hard. Quite literally it challenges my constructed perceptions of who I am. This is why dieting and food control is often a lost cause. The yogis consider fasting a relatively advanced form of control, so it makes sense when so many people struggle with it.
5 Comments
Ann Christin Teigen
5/5/2020 01:36:52 pm

I read in a Yoga book that it can be good to fast for 28 days to let the body start over. I understood it as being a kind of restart. How long do you think it could be good to fast?

Reply
Scott (Ghosh Yoga)
5/6/2020 08:52:30 am

It is impossible to make a general statement about how long it will be 'good' to fast. If you want to fast to improve your health, you should consult a doctor or nutritionist. We are addressing fasting from a yogic perspective, which is specifically NOT about making the body healthier. Rather it is about recognizing and controlling the impulses of the body and mind.

Reply
Alexandra Cuervo
5/6/2020 07:04:15 pm

This post is 2 years old and I wonder how it’s been going. Also can you tell us what you do on those days you do fast? It surely is a struggles

Reply
Aniket gupta link
1/11/2023 09:58:14 am

Thank you "
Ghoshyoga" for this article I was looking for it for past few weeks and it helped me a lot. Thanks again.

Reply
Darood Sharif Ka Wazifa link
2/6/2024 09:53:48 pm

Darood Sharif Ka Wazifa is a spiritual practice in Islamic tradition that involves reciting various Darood Sharif (blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad) verses and prayers for seeking blessings, protection, and guidance.https://www.kalailm.in//Darood-Sharif-Ka-Wazifa

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    Scott & Ida are Yoga Acharyas (Masters of Yoga). They are scholars as well as practitioners of yogic postures, breath control and meditation. They are the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga.

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