Why I Started Following Ekadashi Fasting

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On a lame lock down March evening when I was talking to my grandmother on phone, she mentioned that she has an Ekadashi fast to be followed the next day. Had it been the other normal working day I would have easily missed this word “Ekadashi” and “fasting” but being stuck at home due to Covid Crisis and having a lot of time in hand this thing stuck me. My grandmother mentioned that Ekadashi fasting has a lot of benefits and its good for your health and your spiritual journey.

Having interest in both these things and Just to try it out and to reduce my work load of cooking 2 full meals + breakfast, I jumped at this thought of following Ekadashi fast myself the very next day.

And the very first Ekadashi made a huge difference to my mood 🙂

I felt light, less sluggish, and didn’t have hunger pangs as I thought I would. This made me learn and study about this fasting in detail and in detail and in detail and that’s how this blog came to life 🙂

So why to do Ekadasi fasting? Is it for religious purpose, what benefits one can get? Who all can do it? This and many more questions got me and I studied them in detail step by step, practically implementing on me by following every Ekadasi fasting that comes twice in a month ( every 15 days)

And now after 7 months of following roughly 14 Ekadashi fasts till now, it has done wonders to my body and Mind.

So according to me It has Scientific, Spiritual, and Astrological effects on us, let’s discuss about it one by one.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS DAY ACCORDING TO HINDU CALENDAR:

Ekadashi is a Sanskrit word which means ‘number 11’.

In Hindu mythology, the ‘Tithi’ (a particular day or the observance periods) is based on solar and lunar system and has importance in it’s own ways. The days from full moon (Poornima) and no moon (Amavasya) has significant effects on our body and mind. That’s why all the Hindu festivals are based on a particular tithi surrounded by these moon position days.

For example : “Akshay Tritiya”, “Ram Navmi”, “Vijaya Dashmi”, “Guru Poornima” etc.

“Ekadashi” being the the 11th day after every full moon and new moon day is the day where all the magic happens.

SCIENTIFIC IMPORTANCE OF EKADASI FASTING:(A LONGER EXPLANATION FOR CURIOUS SOULS)

In everyone’s body and in our DNA, there is a particular piece or fragment of DNA which does not have or carry any information about us. Such pieces of DNA are called junk DNAs. These Junk DNAs even if not carrying information act as safety nets for the active DNA fragments where all the important genetic information is stored.

It is proved that the more the Junk DNA in a person, more the chance that he /she will live a healthy and long life thus making these junk DNAs very important for ones life and longitivity.

But when body activities happen on a normal basis, there involves a process of cell duplication. Every time a cell duplicates the DNA duplicates too but in this process each and every time a piece of Junk DNA is lost. Cell duplication being an ongoing and continuous process, It loses a part of junk DNA every-time.

Now we cannot stop cell duplication as its a process necessary for our living and functioning of the body but what one can do is try to see that less amount/ piece/ fragment of junk DNA is lost in every cell duplication process.

Now do we have control over this?

Scientists and medical experts researched on this and found out that the more satvic a person ( not consuming meat, not consuming alcohol, and the one who is in sync with his biological clock and is mindful) the more Junk DNA he can preserve but the the most most-important thing that affects the losing of junk DNA is the calorie intake of a person.

Surprised??

yes even I was when I read this research paper and it said that if one wants to have a healthy and long life he should control his calorie intake which in turn will help him preserve his Junk DNA. So an experiment was performed on a bunch of people and they were given very less calories and it was observed that they were successful in controlling their Junk DNA but the side effect of less calorie intake was they felt too weak and life less.

This made the scientists search for an alternative way where calorie intake is less and the person is not feeling the fatigue, the answer to this what they found was… fasting !!

They could prove it that if one follows 36 hours of fasting ,twice a month , it does protect the Junk DNAs from getting lost.

To this problem Ekadashi fasting was the best solution as it is 36 hours of fasting and it comes after every 15 days which means twice in a month.

(How 36 hours – the fasting starts from Dashmi’s (10th day) post dinner to Dwadashi’s (12th day) breakfast which becomes 12 + 24 hours = 36 hours)

ASTRONOMICAL/ASTROPHYSICAL IMPORTANCE OF EKADASI FASTING

Moon has a lot of control on the earth as its revolving around it continuously. The magnetic fields and powers of the moon has a ‘pull’ and ‘push’ effect on Earth. This magnetic forces are so powerful that it causes high and low tides in the water bodies on Earth on some particular days of the month.

On Ekadashi (11th day) the Pull effect of the moon is very very high.

On this day if one consumes a lot of food like grains and beans, it retains a lot of water inside the body. The more the water inside the body, the more is the Pull effect of the moon on it. Imagine, If the pull effect can cause high tides in the oceans it can definitely cause a lot of pressure on our bodies too if the water inside is more.

If one is fasting on this day the body is continuously cleansing itself and all the organs especially the digestive system is at ease thus these pull effects cannot cause any damage to the body.

SPIRITUAL IMPORTANCE OF EKADASI FASTING:

The story that goes in our puranas is that, once lord Vishnu came to visit the Yama’s palace. Yamaraja is also known as god of death and while talking to him he heard very sad, helpless, painful cries of people who were suffering. When asked he came to know that these people were the ones who had done some sins on earth and now they were been punished for the bad deeds and hence the cries and sadness in their voices.

Lord Vishnu being very compassionate felt tremendous “karuna” (a feeling of love and compassion) for them and started thinking of some way by which they can get rid of their sins and thus their sufferings . When he was thinking of this the compassion in his heart took a feminine form and came out of his body.

That feminine form said that on this day whoever will worship my lord Vishnu and will do spiritual activities will get rid of all their sins. That day was Ekadashi.

Lord Vishnu asked that lady “who are you and who sent you here” to which she replied “I am your servant and I have born from the compassion that rose in your heart. I am your ek dasi and my name is Eka dasi (means one -servant)”.

Thus this day is very important for seeking blessings of the lord. On this day when we are fasting, we have empty stomach so we get to focus more on our mind. That’s why on this day with all our 11 Indriyas we can be one with the Lord.

Another spiritual importance of Ekadashi is that it was the day of Ekadashi only when lord Krishna explained and recited “Bhagwat Gita” to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

MENTAL/MEDITATIVE AND MINDFUL SIGNIFICANCE OF EKADASI FASTING.

We all are aware that we have 7 energy chakras in our body and the chakras have a lot of influence on the mental state of a person. The mind uses these chakras as a medium to move from one place to another.

Out of the 7 chakras, The mind is at peace when it is present at Ajna chakra (chakra between 2 eyebrows) and Anahata chakra( near our heart). The mind to travel to these 2 chakras takes a fortnight and on the day of Ekadashi they are present in these chakras alternatively. Thus on Ekadashi the mind is in its best position and if meditation, positive self talks, motivation is given to it it helps to increase mental strength of a person.

Seekers that’s why never waste these 2 Ekadashi’s and make most use of those ones to acquire spiritual knowledge and be one with the mind and learn to control it.

After reading and researching about all this I came to know why all our fore fathers and all had such nice health and they were mentally so strong. They all followed Ekadashi fasting

I have experienced all its benefits and I am thoroughly enjoying my journey of fasting on Ekadashi till now.

WHAT BENEFITS I EXPERIENCED AFTER DOING IT FOR ALMOST 6 MONTHS:

1. Weight loss
2. Cleansing and detoxification of the body
3. No slumber afternoons
4. Great Mood throughout the day
5. No hunger pangs
6. More free and relaxed time
7. I get a lot of time to do spiritual practices like chanting/ meditation
8. More mindfulness
9. A sense of accomplishment (as now I have a routine and I look forward to next Ekadashi)
10. I feel more in control of my Body and mind
11. I feel light and more enthusiastic and energetic

IN EKADASI FASTING, THESE THINGS ARE NOT CONSUMED AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

1. no grains (no rice / roti / bhakri / paratha)
2. no pulses (no sprouts / dals / beans)
3. no vegetables (majority of the vegetables should not be consumed on this day)
4. no eggs / no meat (being a vegetarian, its out of scope for me as it is for other days too)
5. no synthetic and packaged foods (this is something I personally follow on this day so I try not to drink packaged juices/shakes as far as possible.

WHAT I EAT ON THIS THIS DAY

1. Milk and milk products including curd, ghee, buttermilk
2. Loads of root vegetables like sweet potatoes, yam (suran), potatoes and peanuts
3. Nuts (almonds, walnuts)
4. Coconut with its water
5. Vari tandool ( which is also know as bhagar, or sama ke chawal)
6. Fresh fruits
7. I Sip on hot lemon water as much as I can through out the day which helps in cleansing the toxins out
8. Vegetables like cucumber, red pumpkin (I make salads with them)
9. I try and make less cooked dishes and more steamed / roasted / boiled ones and if I have to cook something I cook in pure cow’s ghee (clarified butter) as it helps in cleansing the system.

As of now I am eating all the fating foods but to seek the ultimate benefits I plan to go ahead. My next step will be to be on fruits and Milk and the very next step will be to be only on water (only water and juices) but as of now I am eating the fasting meals and enjoying them.

Hindu festivals and scriptures are all based on scientific and astrological studies. The seasons and the cultures are beautifully woven together with science. If one just tries to go back to basics and learn about them his life can be transformed inside out like it did to me.

so if you have liked my thoughts on Ekadashi, try it once and give yourselves the opportunity to,

Reflect → Reconnect → and Rejuvenate your own selves 🙂