That Dopamine Tip
If fasting is about connecting with yourself on a deeper level by removing earthly attachments then why do we limit ourselves to removing only food, water and sex?
Ramadan is believed to be the most holy month of the year for Muslims. Islam offers a simple prescription: remove food, water and sex during the daylight hours. SO. For those of us living in the great city of Toronto, this means we are fasting from about 3:45 AM until 9:03 PM. Ramadan comes around every year for Muslims. It used to be about the food, tasty samosas, sharing food between neighbours and getting myself to enjoy those wrinkly little dates but as I get older and develop into an independent thinker, it is a more conscious practice. Buzzfeed did a pretty awesome job at putting together this little primer.
But what is fasting really about? I want to believe that it’s more about a spiritual cleansing of sorts. Yes, it is a time to remove our basic needs but in an age where our attachments are no longer just physical but exist in another dimension — the digital fabric of our human experience — we must consider that there is another area to explore, reflect upon and release during this month.
Most people have said to me that fasting is crazy but then I thought about the fact that it really isn’t tough to remove these things but if you asked me to put down my phone or disconnect from the internet for a day, well then that seems overwhelming. I mean really the digital world is great. It’s endless. It’s informative. It’s entertaining. You depend on it to send you little notifications. Those little notifications appear on your little black screen and each time you check it you get a little rush. A rush that is basically validating that you are important. There is this endlessness about that behaviour that is so interesting and yet so worrisome. Have we really lost control and given it all to that little black screen?
In this Simon Sinek talk he tells us that we are developing an increasing addiction to dopamine. Dopamine is a natural chemical in our brain that is released every time we accomplish a task. Each time we hear our phone buzz or bing it sends off a little dopamine rush, then we go right for it and the addiction is fed. This motivates the cycle to become an addiction. This is analogous to the behaviour we see in those addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, or gambling.
So what does all this have to do with fasting? If we are already removing the base needs then why not consider the ones that exist in the digital dimension? I removed Facebook, put my phone on airplane mode for a couple hours of each day and learned not to keep my phone in my hand at all times. But let’s be real, I definitely experienced the shakes and you probably will too. I had to work through my own withdrawal but it is freeing. I am free and able to more consciously decide when to tap into the digital world rather than being a slave to that dopamine tip.
Written by Rubina Shaikh, Executive Member of the Project Ramadan team. You can find her here: Twitter or Instagram.
