I’m fasting tomorrow for Yom Kippur.  Although I’m writing this before the fast gets underway, I can project what it will feel like, having done this many times 🙂  It’s hard at the end!

 

But there is something about the fasting that is designed to help us focus and get really present.   I remember in college someone saying to me that the way they got through Yom Kippur every year was by sleeping all day.   If they weren’t conscious, then basically they wouldn’t feel the hunger pains and they wouldn’t suffer as much. 

 

You might guess, correctly, that I think this misses the point.  If the point of life is to sleep through our challenges, then that’s pretty pointless!   Yoga helps us wake up!   Wake up and go through the challenges with our eyes wide open, learning the whole way.

 

I think a spiritual fast can do something similar – help us be present with difficulties, not to shut them out or shut ourselves down.   And for sure it helps us wake up from the mundane act of eating by withholding food for a day.  

 

So, tomorrow, at long last, when I break the fast, I hope the act of eating feels more conscious and sacred, and I hope I am filled with gratitude for how amazing the simple joy of eating can be.   In all things, we can eventually become awakened to and appreciative of the world around us.  

 

If you’re fasting tomorrow, I hope you don’t sleep through it – napping is different 🙂  Of course, we might grumble a bit when the going gets tough, but see if you can use your yoga breath in those moments.  And for those of you not fasting, I hope you can make each meal a conscious and sacred joy.