Anyone who has practiced, even a little bit, the physical postures and stretches known as hatha yoga, has felt the vibrancy, calmness and increased well being that it can bring. In order to get the most benefit from your hatha yoga practice, you can support your efforts with proper eating. Learn to eat like a yogi.
The body affects the mind. The mind affects the body. The composition of the body's cells is derived from the cells of the foods we eat. It couldn't be otherwise. So, the food we eat affects the body, the body affects the mind and the mind in turn influences the body, all working together in a synergistic reciprocity. In order to have a healthy body, healthy thoughts and a healthy mind, it's imperative that we give our bodies healthy foods. These fundamental facts have been well know in India for millennia and those ancient yogis developed dietary guidelines to assist the students of yoga in their study and practice.
Yoga philosophy teaches that all creation is influenced by three qualities: tamas (negativity, sloth, inertia), rajas (activating energy), and sattva (purity, goodness, calmness, peace, nobility). The feeling that makes you want to sit and stare mindlessly at the TV or take a nap, instead of getting up and practicing yoga, is tamas at work. The thought that comes and says, "I want to practice yoga now because I understand how beneficial it is for me, and it makes me feel great" is sattva at work. The thrust of will power that gets you up off the couch and onto your yoga mat is the activating influence of rajas.
All food falls into one of these three categories also. Negative (tamasic) foods are: beef and pork, alcoholic drinks, rotten or decaying food, denatured/processed foods. Activating (rajasic) foods are: hot, spicy, bitter, sour, pungent, salty foods, eggs, poultry, fish, lamb. Purifying, calming (sattvic) foods are: fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably raw), natural sweeteners like honey and dates, whole grains, legumes, nuts, dairy products, small amounts of fats from vegetable or dairy sources.
If you stay away from the negative foods, eat primarily from the purifying foods, and partake sparingly of the activating foods, you will reap the rewards of calmness, peacefulness, happiness, vibrancy and health in your body, your thoughts and your mind. Your spirit will express more easily through those instruments because you have raised their vibrational frequency by eating the right types of food. Your practice of hatha yoga asanas will become easier and more satisfying. Your body will gain flexibility and strength. Your mood will improve. Your habitual thoughts will become more positive and uplifting.
You have made the wonderful choice of deciding to devote time, discipline and energy toward the study and practice of hatha yoga. Take another step that will enable you to get the very most out of it. Learn to eat like a yogi!
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