Ramadan Mubarak! The blessed Holy Month of Ramadan is upon us and there are so many opportunities to take advantage of during this time. With our current situation we are all forced to apply some sort of self-quarantine. I’ve been seeing and hearing of people who are taking advantage of the quarantine to kickstart their new healthy lifestyle, there are some that have improved their lifestyle even more and then you have those who either fell off track or are just getting worse with their lifestyle in general. Now that Ramadan has arrived, it’s a double whammy opportunity; we can seriously take advantage of this quarantine and combine it with some of the basic principles of Ramadan to help improve our health.
Let’s talk about Ramadan… Besides the religious component, health is a huge part of the blessed month. Both mental and physical health are tested and treated during this time and it is perfect for starting, restarting or further developing your health and overall lifestyle. Ramadan is about spiritual reflection, self-reflection, increased devotion and worship, self-improvement and more importantly, self-discipline. Muslims are to basically put more effort into their religion and simultaneously develop themselves and their health further. For this article’s purpose, self-discipline is the ability to control your own behaviour. For example, fasting is significantly helpful when it comes to your health and there are numerous benefits, especially when you are able to successfully maintain self-control for an entire month. This form of intermittent fasting does wonders for you health as fasting in itself is an accomplishment.
The secret for a person to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle, he or she has to be able to train their mind and in turn, their body. The basics to achieving a healthy and balanced lifestyle are 1- eating right, 2- being physically active and 3- following a balanced routine that encompasses one’s holistic life. That is why Ramadan is the perfect time to restart or refresh you physical and mental health and to even get onto the right path. We as humans have to source the perfect opportunities for self-improvement and take advantage of them and this is the time. Why not find your balance and create your healthy lifestyle while quarantined during Ramadan? Learning to self discipline is challenging, as we all probably know, but overcoming that challenge is when everything starts to gets clearer, easier. The moment we are able to practice self control, is the moment we start to have some kind of control over our own lives and I’m sure many of you out there are in dire need of some sort of feeling of control, so yalla, take control! Ramadan is one of the best times to practice, Muslim or not. Studies show that it takes minimum of 21 days to start or form a new habit. So why not start to maintain a healthy routine of self control in diet, activity and general mindfulness? Stop making the same mistakes and take the occasion to introduce new behaviours or habits such as intermittent fasting, closely watching what you eat, balancing your meals and portions and simply watching your water intake. Try to understand your weaknesses and strengthen yourself.
As I have said several times before, you are self-quarantining, it might be a challenge but there are definitely some pros to it. You are home, in your own space, somewhat comfortable and have more time than you are probably used to, therefore, this is the prime time to create and develop a routine, eat better, create your own meals, sleep better, be physically active, self-reflect and think of others. If you have family at home, consider this the perfect chance to be a role-model and show them how it’s done. Always remember that the real secret to your health is self-discipline and once you understand that, only then will you see the benefits and open the doors for so much more.
* The author is a wellness advocate and influencer @keys2balance.
Reem Abdulrahman Jassim al-Muftah
