By Dada Vedaprajinananda

Yoga is more popular now than it has ever been. Famous entertainers and other celebrities practice it and thousands or perhaps millions of other people are also doing yoga exercises in one form or another. Yet, despite this widespread popularity, yoga is still misunderstood. Many people think that yoga is primarily a physical activity, something that they can use to get their body in shape. While it is true that yoga has a great role to play in the physical realm, yoga is much more than this.
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I am fasting today according to the yogic system. I fast on the 11th day after the full moon and 11 days after the new moon. Today is the 11th day after the last new moon.

In this sytem of fasting we take no food and no liquids from the sunrise of the fasting day to the sunrise of the next day, when we break the fast. It can be a little difficult in the summer when the temperature is high. I am in Croatia right now and the temperature has been over 25 degrees C. (I guesss that is close to 80 F).

One of my colleagues wrote a poem where he mentions fasting. The poem (which I have set to music) is entitled “Beatified” and here is an excerpt:

“Should I fast today, I couldn’t decide,
Found some courage felt beatified.”

Actually you shouldn’t make your decision on the morning of fasting! You can always find a thousand reasons why it would be better to eat today and fast some other day. Rather if you want to compete a fasting day successfully it is better to make your decision the night before: say to yourself “Tomorrow is my fasting day, and I am not eating anything, that is that.”

If you do this you will have strength, and you will probably not even feel hungry. Whenever I fast my hunger mechanism just shuts down.

What should you do on the fasting day? It is better to plan a day of light activities, more on the intellectual and spiritual side rather than physical. In fact the Sanskrit term for a fasting day is “Upavasa” meaning “remaining close to God.” The idea is to use the time saved (by not cooking, eating and cleaning) for spiritual pursuits.

OK, my day is nearing an end. Tomorrow I will break the fast with the yogi drink: lemon water and salt. It is a great way of flushing out toxins.

Try a fasting day soon. Who knows, you may even like it!

Smoking is no longer “cool”. Many people are trying to quit the habit, but sometimes it is not easy. If you or someone you know is having difficulty, they should look at my article Six Tips for Quitting Smoking for some starting information. The article offers some ideas on the physical, mental, social and even spiritual level.