Yoga and Diet

In the Yoga and Tantra traditions you find that the issue of diet is very important. In the hatha yoga pradipika it is said clearly that a yogi must avoid certain types of food and keep to a sattvic diet. Also, in the bhagavad gita krishna gives some advice regarding diet to Arjuna, saying that correct diet is necessary for the success in Yoga.

The question is why do the yogis put so much emphases on diet? In Agama Yoga school in Thailand, we teach that diet is a the first step in human health or in the case of wrong diet in disease. By learning the effects food has on the body, the energy different food types carry, the yogi can actually control not only his level of health but also what energy will enter his system and consequently what will be his predominant type and level of energy (see the Yin Yang diet and Yoga), and most importantly how the food effect the mind.

This gives you control over many aspects of your life, it will start from control over the physical level, the energy level, the emotional and finally the mental. Most people are not familiar with how far reaching effects the diet has on our body. The adage: you are what you eat is understood literally by the yogis.

So where to start? well, I would say the best way to stat is by studying your body and realizing what fits best for it's structure. What is your body type? Since there are so many different types of diets and health systems out there, we need to decide which system to follow, which fits to our body type and will have the best effect.

Start by looking at your body (this must be an honest look at your body and without getting upset from the ego...) and answer the following questions:

1. Do I have a big body type? (that is am I a heavy person, big bones, big muscles, easy to accumulate fat, or small structure, thin bones etc.)

2. I am oily or dry? (that is my hair, scalp, skin etc.)

3. Am I constipated? and generally how are the bowel movements?

4. Do I feel tired most of the time or full of energy?

5. How is the quality of my sleep?

6. Do I feel happy?

In this way, we can get a very good picture of our current state of health and our body type. Next step is to look at the yogic dietary answers to your body structure and current state of health.

Yoga offers many solutions, modern yogis are using diet from the traditional ancient yogic texts and all the way to modern diets based on PH levels.

Now that you have an idea on your body type and state I would suggest to begin with the yogic first solution and that is to change your diet into a sattvic diet. What is a sattvic diet? well this is a diet which is based on the understanding of the tendencies (gunas) in Yoga. The three gunas are: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. These are the basic 3 qualities or tendencies in the Universe. You can find them in any aspect of the universe and in the qualities of human beings:

• Sattva (originally "being, existence, entity") has been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This typically implies that a person with more of Sattva has a positive or even orderly state of mind. Such a person is psychologically kind, calm, alert and thoughtful. Compare also the bodhisattvas in Buddhism.

• Rajas (originally "atmosphere, air, firmament") leads one to activity. Rajas is the force that creates desires for acquiring new things and fears for losing something that one has. These desires and fears lead one to activity. (Rajas is etymologically unrelated to the word raja.) Feuerstein translates rajas as "dynamism".

• Tamas (originally "darkness", "obscurity") has been translated to mean "too inactive", negative, lethargic, dull, or slow. Usually it is associated with darkness, delusion, or ignorance. A tamas quality also can imply that a person has a self-destructive or entropic state of mind. That person is constantly pursuing destructive activities. Feuerstein translates tamas as "inertia".

The Yogis studying the gunas realized they also manifest in the food and therefore teach us which food items are producing which guna in our body. The most important quality the yogi must pursue is Sattva guna. This must be cultivated in your system and become your predominant guna. Logic dictates that the more Sattvic food we'll eat the more we gain that guna in our structure. This will help achieve inner peace, lucidity, calmness, happiness and spirituality.

For a detailed list of Sattvic foods recommended, read the hatha yoga pradipika, by Yogi Swatmarama. (I recommend the translation by Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India).

That is the first step. Next there are other teachings and system that can give great help in understanding diet and health. The most comprehensive and natural system I recommend is the Ayurvedic medicine of India. This is a vast subject in itself, therefore I will elaborate on it and on other systems of diet and health (like the Yin Yang famous healing Diet) in my next post.

For more info. on Yoga and Diet check out: Agama Yoga school.