10 Effective Ways to Overcome Sleepiness during Fasting

During Ramadan, sleep hours are usually disrupted, making them vulnerable to sleepiness during the day. Learn how to deal with sleepiness while fasting so that your activities and worship go well. (Photo: istockphoto / Neustockimages)

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia – The most common challenge felt during Ramadan fasting besides being hungry and thirsty during the day is intense sleepiness. In order to remain a productive Muslim , make sure sleepiness does not prevent you from working, worshiping, or doing your usual activities.

Knowing how to overcome sleepiness during fasting is expected to help maintain a healthy routine and not be lazy.

Drowsiness and weakness that appear during the day, especially when fasting, is common. This is because the middle body ‘works’ with less energy than usual and is coupled with disturbed sleep patterns. During the month of Ramadan, sleep time is usually cut because they have to wake up at the third hour of the last night, especially if it is not compensated by additional hours of sleep. So no wonder when Ramadan fasting will increase drowsiness due to stress and sleep too little. Another explanation also revealed that blood sugar levels will decrease when fasting so it makes sleepiness especially at certain hours during the day. Referring to Medical News Today ,

 symptoms of lowering blood sugar levels are also usually accompanied by feelings of weakness, trembling, and difficulty concentrating.

If on non-fasting days you can get rid of sleepiness by drinking coffee or eating snacks to stay awake, it is necessary to find other ways to deal with drowsiness when fasting.

Here is an effective way to overcome sleepiness during fasting in order to remain productive and worship continues smoothly.

1. Set hours of sleep

During fasting, there will be changes in sleep patterns because you have to wake up before dawn to eat dawn. This is the reason people often feel sleepy because they don’t get enough sleep. But do not also spend all the time fasting to sleep.

Too little or too much sleep can cause the body to experience fatigue, dizziness, lack of energy, and trigger sleepiness during the day. Research shows that in addition to hours of sleep, maintaining sleep quality is equally important.

If there is no urgent need, avoid sleeping late. Go to sleep sooner than usual, or go to sleep after Tarawih prayers so that the body gets enough rest and can wake up without feeling lazy and avoid sleepiness during the day.

2. Take a cold shower

Bathing with cold water can make your body instantly refreshed if you start feeling sleepy. Cold water temperatures can expedite blood circulation and energize the body, especially if you have problems getting up early.

Cold water can also brighten the skin and reduce inflammation, so it is very good for treating swelling that may appear on the face. Before starting the shower, try to flush your face with cold water several times to increase the fresh feeling.

3. Ablution

If conditions do not allow for bathing, try ablutions with cold water. Besides being part of the ritual of self-cleansing before the prayer, wudu also makes the body become fresh and relaxed.

Wiping water to the face through wudu signals the temperature changes in the body to be more awake so that you can concentrate on work again.

In addition, washing water in other parts such as arms and legs can improve blood circulation, so that it can send oxygen and nutrients to all body cells.

4. Do a simple stretch

People tend to be sleepy if they don’t move or just sit still for long periods. Fatigue and sleepiness are not only caused by too much movement, but precisely because there is little or no movement at all.

When there are signs of drowsiness, try to rest and do simple stretches to relax your muscles so they don’t stiffen.

You can also make your body move like walking for several minutes while breathing in fresh air. This method expedites blood flow and increases oxygen intake to the brain thereby driving out drowsiness.

5. Breathing exercises

In addition to stretching the body, another way that can be done to expel sleepiness during fasting is to apply good breathing.

There are 3 basic practices that are most important and can be used to overcome drowsiness, including starting from breathing in through the nose, breathing deeply using a diaphragm, then breathing slowly.

Applying this breathing technique is actually good if often done to improve the quality and capacity of oxygen entering the body.

Launch Healthline, if you breathe perfunctory without interspersed with deep and slow breathing, then the less oxygen reaches the cells, brain and heart. This limited oxygen causes these organs to have difficulty carrying out their functions.

Not only that, practicing breathing can stabilize blood pressure and heart rate, and reduce stress. These benefits are useful in keeping you focused and energized.

Apply this breathing technique when dhikr, pray, prepare food to break the fast, or do routine work.

6. Change the atmosphere of the work table

If you are an office worker, you will usually spend time sitting behind a desk and staring at a computer screen all day. This certainly can make the eyes tired, triggering drowsiness. In addition, monotonous activity and atmosphere also triggers boredom and drowsiness.

Try changing the atmosphere of your desk a little so that the mind stays sharp and focused. Able to arrange work equipment to be neater, add vacation photos with loved ones, or just change the desktop display with a theme of scenery or green trees so that the eyes are more relaxed and protected from stress.

7. Chatting

Restoring energy and alertness can start with simple things like chatting for a moment. Start a chat with an interesting topic such as a newly released film, a favorite activity carried out, or something that is mentally stimulating like politics or a matter of work.

But avoid talking about things that lead to ghibah because of course it will reduce the reward of your fasting.

Diverting attention by chatting can help reduce sleepiness and refocus the concentration that was lost.

8. Turn on the bright lights

Our body responds quickly to signals from the environment such as light rays and darkness. That’s the reason being in a place with less lighting – whether it comes from lights or sunlight – makes sleepy faster.

Because a dim atmosphere provides a calming effect, while light can make our bodies more aware and alert, refer to Sleep Advisor .

Try adding a light source, you can open all the curtains or add a light to increase morale and trigger your alertness. Bright light can signal to the body that this is not the time to relax or just ‘lie down’ during fasting.

9. Try light exercise

Exercising while fasting can cause low blood sugar levels, so that it can trigger dizziness and weakness symptoms that lead to the potential for injury. Therefore choose the type of exercise with low intensity and risk such as walking or yoga.

The yoga movement is quite simple namely by bowing and prostrating. This posture even resembles the movement of salat which can compress blood vessels thereby increasing circulation, as well as being a therapy for back pain and increasing joint elasticity.

If this light exercise is done properly, instead of making it limp, it will provide an energy boost and avoid drowsiness. From now on, try to schedule exercise into your Ramadan routine, it can be done after dawn or just before breaking the fast.

And do not leave prayers because every movement turned out to be beneficial for health.

10. Take a nap

Since you don’t need to use your time off for lunch, you can take advantage of this opportunity to have a good nap.

But do not be too far, just a short nap for 20 minutes after the Duhur prayer can restore the spirit, a fresher mind, and more productive in carrying out your activities during Ramadan fasting.

That’s 10 ways to overcome sleepiness when fasting. During Ramadan the body tends to feel easily tired and sleepy. But do not make it as an excuse to be unproductive and just lie down all day.

Control the feeling of weakness and sleepiness in the ways above so that worship conducted in this holy month always gets blessings and the rewards multiply.