Can I fast and pray as hard as a monk if I am a layman?

One of the main things that you can see with St. Paisios's life is that he was incredibly ascetical. But one of the things that he said about asceticism was, he said if you are going to be very ascetical, you must be a monk, because you cannot afford to risk your health and to kind of go overboard if you are a layman. But if you are a monk, you can live like this with extreme asceticism. But do not try to do it if you are a layman. That is one of the highlights again of his moderation and temperance and his wisdom.