minds-bodies

[minds-bodies]

As I moved through this experience, I recognized many of the changes I faced were common among other people who have fasted. 

I found that fasting put more stress on my body. As I do not often fast, it took time for my body to adjust to it - and as I was only doing it once a week, I didn’t develop much of an adjustment to the change. This can lead to more negative emotional outcomes when fasting. The baseline emotional state before fasting is also important when considering the emotional state during the fast, as these things are interconnected (Wang 2022). For myself, I felt when I was already feeling more negative, the lack of food further enhanced my negative emotions. A few studies and books also found that those fasting for religious reasons and motivations experienced more positive emotions when fasting. I imagine the feeling of accomplishment for completing the fast has more weight with the belief in a higher power who is looking well upon you for fasting. 

I believe one of the reasons I did not have the best experience with fasting as a mind body practice is because most studies who report high levels of positive emotions from fasting focus on religious fasting. 

In Serpell and Watkins “The Psychological Effects of Short-Term Fasting in Healthy Women,” they report that biological symptoms of depression were common among women who fasted during their study. I found myself feeling far more irritated than I normally am. My thoughts felt fuzzy and scattered and I felt very out of control of my emotional state. One of the main signifiers of depression biologically is sleeping too much or sleeplessness - I had a difficult time going to sleep without eating. At a certain point during my participation, I decided to fast from after dinner to the next dinner just so that I could get sleep at night. As it requires a lot of cognitive effort, it can be difficult to fast with a busy schedule (Dai et. al., 2021). 

Highly mentioned is the feeling of pride granted to people who are using fasting to achieve a particular goal such as weight loss or spiritual closeness to their religion (Ammar et. al., 2024). I did feel a sense of accomplishment when completing the fast. Because my goal was not immediately gratified in ways such as stepping on the scale or feeling lighter, the positive feeling did not “stick.” However, if I were fasting more consistently, I could see it bringing me a feeling of stability and discipline that would be helpful.

Some activities I made a point to do during this mini-participant research study was to practice deep breathing to regulate my nervous system. I still consistently practiced my yoga and meditation practice in order to alleviate my stress and stay present. I enjoyed doing yoga while fasting. Typically I walk for my meditations and I got to focus a lot on the feeling of hunger and how it was affecting my body and mind during that time. Although many of the effects were unpleasant during this experience, it gave me a much better understanding of how to live well and manage nourishing my body. I enjoyed learning more about myself.

Works Cited

Hosseini E, Ammar A, Josephson JK, Gibson DL, Askari G, Bragazzi NL, Trabelsi K, Schöllhorn WI and Mokhtari Z (2024) Fasting diets: what are the impacts on eating behaviors, sleep, mood, and well-being? Front. Nutr. 10:1256101. 

            doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1256101

Ma Q, Yang C, Wu R, Wu M, Liu W, Dai Z and Li Y (2021) How Experiences Affect Psychological Responses During Supervised Fasting: A Preliminary Study. Front. Psychol. 12:651760. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.651760

Wang, Yiren, Wu, Ruilin, The Effect of Fasting on Human Metabolism and Psychological Health, Disease Markers, 2022, 5653739, 7 pages, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5653739

Watkins E and Serpell L (2016) The Psychological Effects of Short-Term Fasting in Healthy Women. Front. Nutr. 3:27. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2016.00027

[minds-bodies]

The impact of fasting

Overall, I would say that fasting once a week impacted me more negatively than positively. While it made me more mindful, I could tell my body was not accustomed and did not enjoy being without food for some time. My strength training workouts were much more difficult. I found myself terribly irritable with other people even if I felt fine when I was alone. I felt much more centered into myself and even more selfish when I was hungry. I will say, it has helped me better identify my body’s needs and made me more in tune with it’s processes. I know better now how the feeling of hunger shows up in my body - a tense headache, dizziness, a concave feeling in my stomach. I know how it changes my thought patterns - I tend to feel confused, irritated, my thoughts become drawn out. I feel like I know myself better now. Health wise, eating six out of seven days a week is not suited for me. I noticed no obvious benefits to my body’s ability to function. Rather, I function best with routine and structure, including the foods that I eat. Food for me is fuel - it’s difficult to run on empty. Because I adjusted it so that I would have dinner every night, my sleep did not drastically suffer after the first week or so. That is because I absolutely cannot sleep when I am hungry. Not only do I struggle falling asleep, but I will wake up during the night, and my quality of rest will suffer drastically. 

As predicted, I did feel some positive effects when I successfully completed a 24 hour fast. It made me feel confident in my abilities as well as increased my level of perceived discipline. I enjoyed setting a goal and accomplishing it. As stated in my previous blog, I feel that my other mind/body practices benefited from fasting such as yoga and meditation. It was interesting to meditate on the sensation of hunger. Hunger itself is primal. Its often at the center of our lives subconsciously. These aspects of fasting made it somewhat enjoyable and worth doing. 

[minds-bodies]

The nature of fasting

Who I am when I participate in fasting feels much different than my non-fasted consciousness. I tend to feel quite dizzy, clumsy with my thoughts, and often irritable even with my loved ones. It brings me to the center - it is difficult to be anywhere other than the very present moment with a gaping hole in your abdomen. Sometimes the feeling can be pleasant as I am much lighter on my feet. I feel that when I am alone, it can be peaceful. When I meditate or do yoga, I feel grounded and very much in my body. However, as I interact with others, it becomes difficult to maintain these positive feelings. I also find myself much more forgetful when I fast. I feel much more mindful about my day. It is a pain to have to plan activities around it, like when I want to spend time with my friends or have dinner with my grandmother. It is honestly easier to do at work than I thought it would be, but it makes me sick when I don’t eat before lifting weights so it has interfered with my hobbies. Overall I have found it pretty difficult to stick to. It interfered with my emotions so much that I cut it down to once a week instead of twice which is much more manageable. 

I understand why people choose to fast for religious and spiritual reasons. I understand that it affects people and their thinking very much. I believe that if I had a space where I could fast securely and did not have many other responsibilities (like maybe living in a monastery) I would enjoy it much more. I find myself deeply embedded into this material world between working, doing school, and taking care of my grandmother. While there are times that I feel highly spiritually connected, it is unreasonable to attempt to put myself in that headspace through fasting as a frequent practice. It draws me very deeply into my body, removing my usual feelings of not being able to identify the boundary between my consciousness, body, and external environment. It makes me feel very human when I fast.

[minds-bodies]

why I chose fasting!

Fasting is an ancient practice deeply rooted in spiritual tradition. It is defined as an abstinence of food and drink. There are many different ways to practice fasting with periods of fasting different in length of time, intensity, and frequency. Nearly all religions have periods of fasting as a part of their practices, such as Lent, Yom Kippur, Upavasa/Anasana, and Ramadan. This is because fasting has consistently been used for its psychological effects and ability to keep one in the present moment. Non-religious people practice fasting as well for the psychological benefits, increased discipline, and biological effects.

Fasting appealed to me for this project because of its intensity. I felt that in comparison to other options for mind body practices, this one would give me mental and bodily effects that could be easily observed and recorded. In addition, there is a lot of research performed on the biological and psychological effects of the practice. It is diverse with many different ways to practice. In all honesty, I love things that really challenge me, and I am certain that abstaining from eating for an extended period of time will be difficult. 

Vipin Sobti, researcher and professor at Panjab University, identifies some of the psychological and spiritual benefits of practicing fasting in her article Belief in Religiosity, Spiritual Well Being, and Fasting. It reduces fear of the future, presumably by allowing the individual to maintain a sense of control over their daily life. It strengthens a spiritual connection with others and a higher power, shows an increased ability to cope with life circumstances, and increases existential/spiritual wellbeing. What most appealed to me about fasting was the effect it had on self efficacy, which is defined as the belief in one's own ability to accomplish tasks with the aim of achieving a specific goal (Sobti 2010) .I believe this is a result of the discipline required to fast. It works the part of the brain associated with delaying gratification and positive reinforcement. Other examples of positive effects include self transcendence, enhanced meditation and prayer practice, increased ability to stay in the present moment, and an expanded state of consciousness (Nash 2006). 

For the sake of this project, I will be participating in a 24 hour long fast twice a week for the remainder of the semester. The fast will be a liquid fast - no solid foods. I will continue my routine practices such as yoga, daily journaling, academic work and working at my job. I will not be practicing intense strength training exercises on days that I fast, and I will not be doing the fast 2 days in a row. As a result of this practice, I expect to feel more emotionally aware, more present, more in tune with my body, more disciplined, and have a higher sense of self efficacy and satisfaction. In addition to my daily journaling practice, I will keep track of my moods and be sure to take note of any differences between my state of mind on days I do and do not fast.

[minds-bodies]