It's not quite winter anymore, but it's not quite spring either - and it's Ash Wednesday. Sometimes it was so super sunny that I almost wanted to buy myself an ice cream. But after a walk in a wind that still felt quite wintry, I've been opting for chocolate and coffee in the last few days. I also have coffee today, but the chocolate is missing. The chocolate is not missing here in the house, there is still some there. But I don't eat them. Chocolate is now missing from my menu. Just like the occasional sip of Baileys in cocoa or red wine in the evening. Painted. Until Easter. It's Lent.
The Fassenachters can also fast!
I haven't lived in Rheinhessen for that long, but Carnival Night is raging here! Celebrations start here on Old Women's Thursday, there are parties in town every day and you don't need to call practically anywhere in Mainz these days. There are no schools, there are 5 or 6 types of Kreppel at every bakery and you can see people dressed up on the streets everywhere... A carnival parade parades through the streets of every self-respecting town. Everything that can be thrown with a full hand flies off the cart and the children come home very happy with bags full of sweets and useless nonsense. And then suddenly the fun is over.
And suddenly, on Ash Wednesday, it's over. Lent. Pretty much everyone here is fasting now. No alcohol, no sugar, no Facebook, no coffee, no cigarettes, no meat, no more rushing, no more complaining, giving up consumption, giving up cars... everything is possible. A lot of people here have a fasting project going on until Easter. Why do they do that? Why am I doing this? Everyone has something to say about the many direct (and also indirect) positive effects of fasting on all possible areas of their own existence. I supplement this with small side stories from the areas of pedagogy, yoga and, if necessary, Christian ideas. Because fasting is often a religious story, but it doesn't have to be.
Fasting is psychologically very useful.
There is actually this connection that someone who can delay gratification is very advanced in civilization terms. This is simply called “deferred gratification.” This ability means that the distance between an emerging need and the subsequent action is quite long, that one does not immediately do what one would like to do, and that humans have developed beyond pure “satisfaction of instincts”. If you don't eat the marshmallow because it's clear that a second one will come later, you've got it. Children who behaved in this way had, on average, better grades later in school, were less susceptible to stress and were also more resistant to fluctuating moods and performance during puberty. But small children don't fast on purpose. They usually associate it with a reward and an improvement. There'll be more afterwards! That's usually true for them too. And for adults who do yoga? Clearly: Shavasana at the end of the yoga class!!!
You fast more often than you think.
Adults usually fast intentionally. Adults actually fast quite often too. They do this by, for example, not buying the shoes or saving a vacation because it's not possible - but then next season. “ First work, then pleasure” is also a classic way of delaying gratification. And then some consciously fast again before Easter for 40 days. For many, this is actually a time when they don't eat at all for a few days or a week. From an Ayurvedic perspective, this only makes limited sense; from a yogic perspective, this can be wonderfully supported through appropriate asana practice. In the end, most people are fine and no one punishes themselves to the point of being in a bad mood and losing their health or joy of life!
Fasting does not mean giving up.
Then you reward yourself. Because that's exactly the goal: saving something for later that you could actually have right away. Do something good for yourself. Getting rid of something, slowly or quickly letting go of a need, perhaps even permanently giving up a vice. Detoxify - physically, mentally, spiritually. Empty your head and give yourself space for something new because you simply save yourself the ingrained thoughts and usual patterns.
This means that every time we free ourselves from something or do something differently than usual, space is made for something new. Each time we are given the opportunity to withdraw the mind from things, to hold on less, to become more permeable, to let emotions pass by -- this is Aparigraha at its finest. Opportunities arise to feed ourselves spiritually. We manage to relieve ourselves of unnecessary things and fill the resulting space with new and good things.
The more I read and write about it, the more I am a fan of fasting. I'm looking forward to giving my civilizational and spiritual development real space again. From a spiritual point of view, this time is something special: Easter is the biggest festival for Christians and it is so big that you can hardly understand it. Someone has conquered death? The guy crawled out of the cave? First dead, then alive? Strange. Or maybe it's not so strange after all?
Let's just understand it in relation to ourselves (because I can't understand it any other way): We are full of things, thoughts, emotions. We take everything that drags us down, that makes us languish heavy and immobile in our own cave, with us into Lent. And then it starts: we relieve ourselves, let go, and secretly let go of everything we no longer need. Breathe out, clear out, separate, detoxify. And then we crawl out of the cave. Maybe we are 3 kilos lighter, maybe we are just richer in experience, maybe we have become closer to ourselves, maybe we feel like we have been reborn. And sometimes we feel like we have risen from the dead.
Why do we fast?
Anticipation is the most beautiful joy, that's why we fast. It's good in the psychological sense, it's good in the educational sense. As a yogi, you know (a little) about non-attachment anyway, and every religion has its fasting period in which the focus is on turning away from one's own needs and towards spiritual growth.
You can actually do this at any time, but it works so well in the spring. During this time the cosmic influences help us and we are not alone! The body can really use it - and you're in good company if you constantly say "No, thank you!" And then, at Easter, we'll have delicious chocolate again.
Fasting and yoga - how do they go together?
Yoga can wonderfully support this intention of the mind. If you want to make the most of your yoga practice during this time when a lot of heaviness ( kapha ) in your body wants to be released, keep the following in mind, always practice responsibly and lovingly with yourself - and remember to thank yourself for it at the end consciously reward! Practice fluidly and powerfully. Use your arm strength intensively. Support your practice with Kapalabhati, for example in Phalakasana. Consciously open your sides, your heart space and your lungs. Do deep backbends. Incorporate twists into flows or as longer poses. Make sure you work up a sweat while doing yoga! Listen to upbeat music! And maybe practice in the fresh air...
I wish you lots of joy in fasting and yoga! Namaste Barbara.
Barbara Ohler teaches Hatha-Vinyasa classes with a lot of power and spirit in the Sukhada yogasalon near Mainz in Stadecken-Elsheim. The teachers are particularly important to her, and to strengthen them she has developed a special type of yogic-Ayurvedic-based coaching. Barbara is hosting the first Joy of Life Retreat at the end of May 2019! To register for the retreat, click here . For more information visit her website Sukhada yogasalon.
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