5 Guidelines for Food

(relaxing waves) Often when we begin a yoga practice we can be nervous about what it means, about what we're gonna have to give up. There's stories out there of yogis having very limited light diets and so it can be an intimidation point to endeavoring into the practice. The next five guidelines are designed to help you know that don't worry you're in charge. Step one, listen to your own body. The practices will develop a more intimate, integrated relationship between the mind, and the body, and the heart.

As we start to be able to really hear what the body wants, and then be brave enough to follow her instructions, she will accurately and consistently guide us on the right path. Two, we have found that it is easier and more comfortable to practice the Asana when on an emptier stomach. This is not to imply that an erratic eating schedule, which is so common within our busy lives, should be a deterrent to practicing. It's just that see if you can schedule your practice before a meal, it will be easier. Three, eyeballs and highballs are okay.

So, many yogis are vegetarians or even vegans. Many are not. Many people practicing yoga don't drink. Many do. Again, when we pay attention to our own bodies, and our own experiences, and we follow our own inner wisdom, we're guided towards the right choices for us.

The advice again is just simply begin and you'll know what to do. Four, how we eat. So, way more impactful than even what we're eating is how we are, when we're eating. So, it makes a much deeper impression in us if when we eat, we're enjoying our food. We love the company we're with.

Perhaps we're in silence or we're engaged in deep, profound conversation. We digest these qualities much more deeply, than the content. Okay, so we can be eating a kale salad, but if we're angry, pissed off, irritated, and talking badly about somebody while we eat, that's what we're digesting. So, pay close attention to these things. Enjoy yourself, enjoy your food, and this will be what you feed yourself.

Five, when we eat. So, our sister science of Ayurveda, which is the science of health, which sit right next to yoga, suggests that if we mimic our eating patterns with the cycle of the sun, our digestion will be a lot easier. One of the primary suggestions is to eat our larger meal in more the middle of day and to eat more light at the end of the day. Again, these suggestions are only useful if they actually work for us. We have a lot wonderful Ayruvedic practitioners here on the site, Doctor Robert Svoboda, Scotty Blossom, Melina Meza and others.

So, if you're interested in some of these ideas on how to support your eating more intimately with the cycles of nature, you might check them out. Cheers.