What are Ekadashi fasting timings? [Step-by-step guide with Ekadashi fasting food diet recommendation]
Ekadashi fasting timings are something that a lot of people are searching the answer for as the Ekadashi fasting is related to the position of the moon.
To discuss this in a simple way, I would suggest you keep this as simple as possible.
So, start your fast from the moment you wake up on Ekadashi day.
And keep it going till the sun sets on the same day.
Which means, you can break your Ekadashi fast right after the sunset.
But, there is a guideline (a simple one which is easy to follow) which I would like to share with you.
Following this guideline will be easy for you (practical angle) and doing that will help yield the maximum benefits out of your entire fasting regime on this prominent Ekadashi day.
Here is the quick guideline for you in a step-by-step way.
Steps for the effective Ekadashi Fasting:
Perform fasting for the 24 hours by not eating anything in this period, and break the fasting after the sunset (try to ensure the completion of the 24 hours cycle).
Diet to break the Ekadashi fasting: Ideally you must choose the food which is very gentle on your digestive system. Like Fruits, salads, boiled vegetables.
What To Do On The day before Ekadashi:
- Plan having your meal which is quite simple.
- Have your dinner before 8PM (or 7PM is possible) – this will help you complete 24 hours if you have dinner on Ekadashi right after the sunset.
- Please avoid water or any consumption after the dinner (half glass of water 90-mins after dinner, only if you are really thirsty).
- Try to sleep with a calm mind and positive thoughts about Ekadashi day.
- Visualise your Ekadashi day and remind your mind about the change of schedule for the following day.
- Do the preparations like lighter shade clothes, uncluttered surroundings, etc for the Ekadashi day (pre-planned activity on Ekadashi day will help you feel more positive and avoid any end moment hustle).
On the Ekadashi day:
- Try waking up before the sunrise (but do not go hard on yourself if early waking is difficult for you. Too many changes for the day may not be a smooth journey).
- Do the deep breathing and try feeling very positive.
- Remind yourself about what you will be doing for the day.
- Close your eyes and feel the strength of having a strong day without food and water.
- Spent a good time having your shower and other morning activities. Do not rush at anything. Stay calm. Let your mind feel the joy in whatever you do. This will add more positivity along with the oxygen in your mind.
- A happy mind will always help the body
- Do some sadhana, narayana mantra, or simply meditate for as much time as possible (this will boost the energy in your body, and positivity too)
- Go for charity
- Spend a very happy and positive day by doing what gives you a joy
- At the sunset, prepare your meal
- Then, have a glass of water. Very slowly. Enjoying every sip of it and feeling its flow the moment it enters your mouth.
- After 60-90 minutes of having water, have your sattvyk meal
- Avoid having any form of junk food or tamasic food
Across the day, having no water or food is the best way to spend the Ekadashi day.
The understanding of the scientific, spiritual and health significance of Ekadashi would have increased your curiosity of cleansing your body and mind on a single and most prominent day.
However, if you are new to fasting or Ekadashi fasting then for the first couple of times you may choose to have fruits, water and milk across the day, without having excess of any of these.
In case you want to have a diet a little heavier and tastier than this, then have a complete sattvik diet, excluding all forms of grains, pulses and dals.
Have raw food. Salads. Paneer. You may add those to make your meal more delicious.
Goes without saying that you must completely avoid non vegetarian food, including eggs.
And even while breaking your fast, it is more advisable to fill your stomach with simple and sattvik food.
You do not want to add junk, unhealthy and toxic food after cleaning your body for the entire day. What do you think? Will you like doing that?
Worst food and best food during the Ekadashi fasting time
Food To Avoid:
- Meat
- Eggs
- Rice
- Flour
- Wheat
- Pulses
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Carrots
- High quantity spices and masala
- Alcohol
- Smoking
- Junk food
- Bad oil/ fried food
- Breads
- Tea
- Coffee
- Refined sugar (white)
Good to have:
- Fruits
- Papaya
- Ghee (from desi cow’s milk made using bilona method)
- Paneer
- Rajgira
Use the above diet to break the fast.
During the fasting period, try to stay away from food and water even.
3 different types of Ekadashi fasting
- Farali Ekadashi fasting: have fruits, milk and water throughout the day.
- Sajala Ekadashi fasting: have only water and fruit juices throughout the day.
- Nirjala Ekadashi fasting: no food, juice, milk or water. Not having anything for the entire day.
Ranking wise and effectiveness wise, Nirjala is the best and then Sajala.
Depending upon your will power and preparation you may choose to do any of these fastings.
Best practices for your Ekadashi Fasting – Timings, and Guidelines
I must say, it is very important to maintain the Ekadashi fasting timings and diet, so as to perform an effective cleansing routine for your health.
Always remember to eat your first meal (fast-breaker meal) with your hands. When you eat with your hands, the body connects with the food before eating it.
Food is an outside substance, something which is ready to go inside and if it is touched by our body right before eating then the mind and body are more prepared to take it inside.
The whole idea of fasting is to cleanse your body and help yourself get closer to your soul. So when you eat, make sure that you are in silence. When there is silence around you focus on what you are eating. And that helps you become more conscious and aware of what you are doing.
You become more aware of what your body is doing while you are eating. In the high energy alert state, when you eat, you can actually feel what you are eating and how your body is feeling.
A very scientific reason to do fasting is to help the body fight negativities, like cancerous cells.
When our body gets a gap (a definite gap without any munching) before two meals of the day. Any regular day. Then this is the time when the cancerous cells die.
Of-course not every cancerous cell will die because some are left out.
And if your lifestyle or routine doesn’t allow you to really observe a clean gap between the two meals then the majority of these cancerous cells survive.
When you do fasting during Ekadashi for 36-48 hours, you are actually helping your body by making it get rid of the cancerous cells. Because most of them will die in this fasting period.
These cancerous cells are present in everyone’s body. Only when they increase in number after a certain level, they start causing trouble for you.
So, not allowing them to populate will help reduce the chances of cancer.
Special mention: Must inclusion in your Ekadashi fasting diet
Because Ekadashi is considered as the prominent body cleansing and mind cleansing day.
And while break the fast it is really important to decide what to have.
Your body probably dry if it was nirjala (waterless) fast. And most of the times your digestive system was resting for good.
At this crucial hour while breaking the fast if you have something which has a solid ability to cleanse your body, detox it, further reduce the cancerous cells, add positivity to your mind and help break the fat bodies in there.
Then, you must make sure specifically on this hour to have Indian Cow’s Ghee, made using BILONA method.
Why to have Indian cow ghee to break the Ekadashi fast?
Because it contains short chain fatty acids, butyric acids, A2 protein which gives you solid energy.
It helps you get rid of the bad cholesterol.
Helps enhance the memory and also sooth your mind.
Everything about Indian cow (desi breed of cow) is very much about absorbing the positive energy. It’s milk, curd, ghee and other products made of desi cow milk. Everything has a potential to absorb the positive energy.
And ghee being the elixir super food from the India, and regarded as the most important ingredient in every diet (as per the ayurveda and many ancient mentionings), it gives you every reason to pull it as a the first option for your Ekadashi fast breaking routine.
At Hous of Life, we have been managing our own Gir cows and Kankrej cows and making the ghee using the traditional BILONA method.
Including any of these ghees in your diet on the Ekadashi will simply boost the effectiveness of your entire day’s cleansing process.
And if you think why only desi cow ghee and why not buffalo ghee then there are some scientific reasons which you much know.
Ekadashi Fasting Calendar
Reminding ourselves on the Ekadashi and the Ekadashi fasting timings, or the day before to prepare for the fasting, has been a challenge at times.
And we have come across many people who face these challenges.
So at Hous of Life we thought of creating a 1-click Ekadashi reminder which helps you with a reminder so that you never miss out on any Ekadashi.
You can find the Ekadashi calendar on this link.
You only have to click once and add it on your Google calendar. And it will help you stay on top of your Ekadashi fasting timings.
I’m sure it will help.
Stay healthy!
