My dear yogis and yoginis!
Today I would like to share a few thoughts on ‘yogic food’.
Eating the right food is essential for a good yoga practice on as well as off the mat…
Some of you might have heard the term ‘sattvic food’ which basically means ‘healthy, fresh, non-violent’ food. Sometimes we forget how much we are influenced by what we eat. Many people get very tired after lunch, thinking it is ‘food’ in general and its digestion which makes you want to sleep.
However, try simply leaving out the bread, rice or other very starchy food such as potatoes and you will immediately see the difference!
It doesn’t mean that lunch must be fruit or a few green leaves, it can still be fun! Just think of adding some lentils or chickpeas, seeds and nuts for the energy! This will make it a fully satisfying meal without depressing your energies and mood.
I don’t think any human being is completely free from the famous gravings… chocolate, pizza, pasta…to name a few favrouites… and there is nothing against including those moderately into the diet. There is nothing worse than not eating something and thinking about it the whole time!!!
What I found a very useful technique to make healthy eating a very natural attitude
(as it should be! All good things are natural, it is just the conditioning that make us believe differently)
is to not go with that primal graving of rich and fatty and unhealthy but to think about how the food makes me feel once I have eaten it!
The pleasure of eating is comparatively short to the hours of enjoying it becoming part of your being, so stay strong and just try it!
The more you rewire your thinking on the long term result, the easier it will get.
Isn’t it much nicer to be full of energy, mental and intellectual alert and feel good than that sluggish feeling and guilty conscience you get after eating the wrong kind of food…?
A few more words on sattvic (good food).
There are a few very easy rules:
1) always eat fresh! I sometimes store left-overs in the fridge but generally try to avoid it. Only after one hour bacteria starts building up in food
2) Always cook and prepare your food at home! As you probably know, all take-away or fast food is full of nasties (sugar, salt, artificial flavours and colours etc) to make it taste ‘good’ using few and cheap ingredients. You can see how food simply reflects a certain way of thinking…
3) When body and mind are living a healthy life you naturally feel what is good for you! Some studies tell you this others that and it changes all the time. So trust your own self, feel into your body and see what is it that will make me feel good!!!
4) Of course there are some guidelines, basically a meat free diet is much healthier… more and more studies reveal this and clearly when we grow up as children most of us will remember that we our parents had to ‘force’ the dead animals into us! As I said, we naturally feel what is good for us until we get conditioned by what we are supposed to eat or do or be!
5) Balance your diet, eat lots of veggies (fresh), salads, grains, seeds, fruit, legumes and be generous with experimenting with spices, it not only makes cooking creative and fun, it also opens the palate to different tastes and some of the spices have amazing health benefits!!!
Suggestion of the day: try TUMERIC… not only is it an incredibly versatile spice- it can be added to any meal, ads an interesting yellow colour and does not have an over-powering taste if used in moderation. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and recent research reveals that turmeric provides benefits in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease…
Last but not least remember that eating fresh and healthy food does not take time or effort, it is very simple!
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