How to eat like a yogi — Complete guide
Yoga is the connection between the body and the mind. It purifies our soul and fuels the body to perform better. Yoga basically lets our senses free to interact with the surroundings & breathe for a while. Fresh & clean interactions with the positive vibes around are something everyone else is missing on.
While having a straight discussion with a yoga instructor, I invented that the best way to have a healthy diet is to follow the preferences according to our practices.
Sattva is basically a philosophy which follows compassionate, harmonious eating & living. Many Yogi’s follow this & it’s considered to be a vegan diet because the animal flesh is believed to spread negative vibrations of lust & anger.
A healthy eating is all about happy eating. Food which gives happiness and satisfaction to our soul brings strength to our muscles as well. The ayurvedic belief says that food is used to balance the doshas of the body & varies according to the body types.
A yogi moves into a direction where the priorities as to a perfect diet are clearly visible.
When our mind is free & strong, we chase the challenges of life in the best possible ways supported by a diet providing extreme concentration and strength for the same.
PLANT-BASED FOODS
Large quantities of meat are hard to digest & can be very dangerous in terms of flexibility. It can create blockages in areas we are trying to open up in yoga. So a lot of veggies must be taken to prevent this situation. A vegan diet is the one spreading positive energies & healthy living. A yogi knows everything required to beautify our body through vitamins & minerals depending on our body capacity & size. A yogi eats everything suitable to provide the desired nutrients so that the muscles feel light & flexible at the same time.
WHOLE GRAINS
Eat brown rice, quinoa, and oats. Whole grains are a must when it comes to happy & healthy lifestyle.
LOW ACID SOOTHING FRUITS
Prefer bananas, peaches, mangos, or berries to feel energetic & active all the time.
HYDRATION
Water intake is a must when it comes to keeping the body fit & healthy. People these days are getting prone to many chronic diseases because of less water intake every day. Caffeine & Alcohol should be limited or avoided to live a healthier life.
FAT
No matter we all are addicted to the junk points of our respective cities, we must set a limit when it comes to our well being. Fat intake according to yogis must be zero or menial. It does not provide any vitamins to our body & all those little proportions of fat go a long way with us.
SPICES
Healing spices like cardamom, ginger, garam masala, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sage, fennel, anise, caraway, mint, basil, cumin, turmeric, parsley, and cilantro have a great deal with our digestive system. They should be added to all our dishes adequately.
NUTS & NUT BUTTERS
Take them according to the weather & in limited proportions. Nuts should be preferred in cold weather conditions like winters.
SAY NO TO PACKAGINGS
Especially simple sugars and processed foods like soda, candy, and sports drinks. Food packages are your biggest enemies when it comes to digestion & fitness.
PORTION SIZE IS A THING
The size of each diet defines a lot about your day & personality. Just for the sake of satisfying your taste buds, don’t eat excessively.
THE PATANJALI DIET
Most of the vegetables, ghee, fruits, legumes & whole grains are considered sattvic in the Ayurvedic tradition. It’s not a compulsion to eat sattvic foods to keep your body light & mind clear always. There are many ways to do achieve the same goal through different paths according to one’s preference.
Your constitution known as vikriti & your current state is known as pravriti, both need to be considered while deciding the food which will support your yogic practice firmly.
Try to avoid tamasic & rajasic foods as they increase dullness & hyperactivity. The overall dependence of the food on the yogic practice is related to both the mental & physical health.
Moreover, it affects the mental peace of an individual which is the most crucial element of a sober life. It’s not always necessary to live a yogic life to find peace but there’s certainly a lot of peace in yoga & yogic diet.
As far as nourishment is considered, it varies according to the demands of your body as everyone has a different health background & current health status. The needs of your body will be very different from the needs of your anyone else’s.
Wisdom was very important in the ancient stages as they never believed to lay down your diet for all to follow.
Yoga is just about following your body & its needs while performing exercises on the mat. The same way one should use intellect & listen to the body on the table.
Today we have just vanished these smart tactics of dealing with the body & diet. It shows us that there should be no constraint or fixed procedure in terms of eating & exercising. These may be two different terms but they go hand in hand.
YOGIC DIET TODAY
Now, this was the talk about basic needs but there are some other suggestions as well. Many modern practitioners of yoga suggest taking into account the values & philosophical teachings of yoga for the yoga diet to improve nourishment. A yogic diet is variable & diverse as yoga.
Various teachers follow different interceptions of the yoga sutras & different styles teach different versions.
The same way yogis experiment a lot with their diet plans. Food choices for them reflect personal ethics according to blossom.
This is prerequisite for the spiritual development. Strange how everything, in the end, relates to happiness & satisfaction. Personal well being is a must before thinking about any diet plan.
Yoga reflects a state wherein everything is directly or indirectly related mental & physical wellness. Now as the co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga, David says that not everyone can do a headstand but everyone surely eats.
The meaning is simply that healthy eating is what matters more than standing on your head as the latter is an outcome of the former. This way everything links up and forms an infinite circle of healthy & stable life.
Keeping this in mind, many well-known teachers & food bloggers were asked as to how they finally decided on their food choices. Now the results were quite convincing as they vary according to their yogic values & everyone had a clear vision about it.
The beliefs varied but they definitely agreed on the fact that their yogic principles influenced their diet to a great extent. This has probably proved the above discussion that the debate on what kind of yogic diet is better is infinite. When different people use their wisdom & conclude something, the results conflict but the purpose is the same.
WHAT ARE VALUE MEALS?
As a part of yogic ahimsa, many people became a vegan & Sianna Sherman was one of them. These people follow an animal-free diet for a long time period. This includes a macrobiotic diet consisting of whole grains, fresh & sea vegetables, nuts, beans, & fermented foods.
They work on raw food diets & also Ayurvedic dietary principles. All this assures increased vitality and prana. This is not just random practices but very crucial aspects of life difficult to implement for long periods. Therefore they need equal yoga practices to be concentrated towards their goal.
But this type of strict diet does not go a long way when you know that you are into a profession which needs a lot of energy & so you have to change this. After devoting quite a long time on this, there’s a basic need to break this strict diet & just listen to the intuitions. Eating what you are feeling is the best way to keep your body active & fresh.
The founder of Forrest Yoga, Ana Forrest also followed the same tradition of ahimsa. She strictly maintained a vegetarian personality & non-violence for a long time but it made her sick.
As she was allergic to grains so when she eats them, her brain shuts down, bowels stop working & yoga practice becomes worse. This ultimately led her to change this and move to a more convenient & flexible diet. Something which clearly goes with her instincts & needs.
Therefore her body ultimately shifted her towards an omnivorous diet which consists of meat & vegetables. She still follows ahimsa by honoring the elk, buffalo or moose & not wasting their life force. She instead uses that force to heal people & to teach and inspire everyone.
This makes evolution very simple and firm. Her personal truth is what forms the basis of ethics for her. A diet which makes you incapable to do anything else is basically immoral according to her. This diet goes with all her physical instincts very well.
FREEDOM FOOD
The upcoming challenge is a diet which feeds the body as well as the spirit. A diet which reflects ethics but also takes into account the physical needs is probably the best diet. It is quite a challenge but not impossible. Before anything, you must know that what are you eating exactly.
Diet awareness is also a big deal & lack of the same can cause a big difference between the body & the mind. While buying those packets of various food items, we never look at the back.
This is clear negligence and can be very dangerous. One must know about all the possible diets and also the origin of all the food items they are taking. Their origin tells a lot about what effects they’ll have on our bodies and do we exactly need it or not.
The properties of your diet help you learn more about hygiene and health in a much effective manner. The diversity you offer yourself in a yogic diet develops you more and more.
Every moment is different and what kind of diets will support us at that particular time will also clearly vary so one should realize the needs & work accordingly.
Knowing your own body and realizing its strengths and weaknesses define health. Don’t get caught in the mainstream, explore as much as you can & live independently.
Now the final step is to form your own yogic diet & that’s just very easy after going through all this. Think about the teachings which best appeal you & bring your static body to resonation.
Next, you’ll have to think about how you can bring these thoughts to physical advantages. Your choices must also be least harmful to the fellow beings, animals & nature as well.
Depending on your diversion towards various types of yoga, you’ll have to make a set of your own moral values. Be it thanks for the food you’ve got or maintaining a diet which does no harm to your surroundings, your food reflects your own ethics.
Yoga is basically a freedom to do whatever your hearts tells you but at the same time, your ethics should never leave your side. When all these factors are in alignment with your personal value system, this is what you call a yogic diet. A yogic diet is not difficult to achieve. It’s just a matter of intellect mixed with some confidence and you are finally there.
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Originally published at www.gettingtoreality.com on December 22, 2017.