fasting

For the religion of Islam, it is now the holy month of Ramadan, which in its essence is a major fast observed by 1 billion Muslims throughout the world. People typically undergo the purification ritual of fasting as a means to cleanse the spirit, body or both. All major religions throughout the world including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam involve some variation of fasting into their religious code of practice. Native American tribes also practice a fast paired with a guided meditation as part of a spiritual ritual. Plainly stated, fasting is the act of intentional abstinence from food and water during a specified period of time, but when done mindfully or with a spiritual purpose, it becomes much more.

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This is part 2 of a series about changing your relationship with food. Part 1 was Eating to Love: The Challenge to Eat Responsibly.

Feeling overindulgent after a season of weddings, BBQs and backyard parties last summer, I started working on my wife, trying to convince her to join me in cleansing through the month of October. I have cleansed with varying levels of success over the past decade, always learning something new about myself and my relationship with my food. After much cajoling she agreed and we harangued a few more friends into doing it with us – strength in numbers, you know?! Our plan was to eliminate animal products, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, gluten-containing grains, sugar…all the good stuff. The goal was to get really simple and find the “reset” button on our eating habits.