The word fast can be used to define a lot about the way we live. Fast food, fast internet and to generally live life in the fast lane are all ideas we can relate to.

Even in fitness we band the word around to increase interest in adopting a healthier lifestyle: lose weight fast or take the fast track to your fitness goals. Today, fast is good and, after all, at a time when products, services and information are available at our fingertips and anything less than instant gratification is simply not good enough, why wait?

This time of year, however, we are encouraged to think about an altogether different interpretation of the word.

Yes, it’s Lent and it is comforting to see that many people still see validity in the choice to fast or abstain. On the spectrum of human behaviour, the two interpretations of the word appear they could not lay any further away from each other. Crave and obtain whatever you desire now, or decide to do without, in honour of some higher purpose, whatever that may be.

I seem to have met a lot more people this year who are giving up something for Lent. Indeed, some Easters in recent memory have come and gone without meeting a single person who has taken such a plunge of sacrifice. Of course, this might just mean I happen to be hanging around a more wholesome crowd of people but nevertheless, it does get me thinking hard about some of the core concepts of healthier living, concepts that may just help more of us take steps in a healthier direction.

Many cultures have very different views of fasting as a spiritual pursuit. Whether it is total deprivation or simply giving up sweets for lent, fasting taps into some of the very same mechanisms associated with getting fitter and healthier.

It is physical activity itself, perhaps the harsher and more extreme variety, that originally caused me to realise why extreme physical deprivation is seen by some as a vehicle for spiritual enlightenment. That might sound a little deep over a Sunday morning coffee and croissant, but overcoming yourself physically certainly gets you thinking that there is a whole lot more going on in this mystery we call the human condition.

Physical exercise targets the body, but in the process of focusing attention entirely on repetitive and challenging physical activity can help spark the realisation that the self is made up of so much more, signalling the existence and significance of mind and soul too. They work in concert with the body, a wonderful combined whole that feels so much bigger than each component in isolation.

Now I am no guru but that sure seems like a spiritual experience in itself if there ever was one, and one in which we can all partake.

Many cultures have very different views of fasting as a spiritual pursuit

Exercise is often compared to meditation, and some even say it actually is a form of meditation. Focusing one’s full attention calms the mind and opens up the possibility of deep awareness and reflection. It is a great time of year to take up this fascinating pastime we call fitness. The tendency towards a sudden rise in gym memberships as spring looms in hot countries like Malta might be due more to wanting to look better on the beach by summer than anything else, but whatever the motive, starting in Lent could eventually prove a wonderful coincidence in the grand scheme of things.

In the meantime, however, should you choose to fast for Lent, it is hard to predict anything other than a truly positive outcome. Giving up sweets and junk food alone can go a long way towards losing weight, and in combination with increased physical activity levels, it is often all we need to improve our body composition and hence our overall appearance.

The physical activity you choose could be anything as simple as walking or formal and informal active leisure pursuits, ranging anywhere from five-a-side football to playing games with the children.

If you are already a convert, sometimes making it to the gym or just getting stuck in to a workout wherever that may take place can be a bit of sacrifice, as there are often so many other things we would rather be doing at that particular moment in time.

When these moments of weakness arise until Easter Sunday, at least do it for Lent if nothing else. Your sacrifice for Lent might also be giving up any activity you enjoy that you feel does not actually give you all that much in return.

A cigarette may be passed up in favour of any of those niggling little tasks you might like to get off your chest. Going out for drinks or a large meal could be passed up in favour of an earlier Sunday morning start, giving you the space for more productive endeavours.

Just last week we paid homage to the ancient Greeks who believed in developing a sound mind in a sound body.

Research now shows they were really onto something. Today we can do even better. By starting faster fitness today, you can add perhaps the most valuable dimension of all to the pursuit of goodness: a sound mind directing a sound body, housing a sound soul.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt