Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Should Yoga Teachers be Vegetarians?

Have you ever walked into a yoga class and been completely surprised when you saw the teacher? It is true we go through our life creating stereotypes. This tends to be very true in the yoga community. We expect our teacher lean, and sporting a spiritual tattoo or a piercing if they are younger. The older ones should have long gray hair, mala beads, and interesting tales of their ashram experience in the 70's.

In addition, we presume that they conduct their life in a certain way. They should meditate daily, speak in a calm, soothing voice, and probably follow a vegan or raw food regimen. After all, one of the oldest dogmas to this ancient practice is ahimsa or non-violence.

However, as the field of yoga grows more mainstream, so do the types of people who choose to do their teacher training, and venture into the field of teaching.

With most everything in life, there are opposing sides to lifestyles. We see stay-at-home moms judging working moms and vice versa. We see conservatives and liberals in constant opposition. In the yoga world, we often see vegetarian teachers challenging non-vegetarian teachers.

Advocates of vegetarianism for yogis often cite ancient yogic texts. The Yoga Sutras call to ahimsa is interpreted as a call to vegetarianism. Pancham Sinh's translation of The Hatha Yoga Pradipika suggests avoiding alcohol, fish, and meat.

There are many olden texts pertaining to achieving enlightenment through yoga. Through the centuries, all written word that originated thousands of years ago, including religious texts such as the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita are only as defined as their translation.

In reality, you are fast-forwarding thousands of years and that requires putting things into perspective. One prevailing notion in yoga is to listen to your body. Practitioners stress that yoga is a personal non-competitive practice.

How you nourish your body is also subjective. While one person may flourish on a vegetarian diet, another may need meat. In addition, the needs of your body will change at varying stages of your life.

Everyone's yogic path is personal, and many find a vegetarian diet is an integral aspect of their practice. Others may need the nutrients found in a carnivorous diet. In the end, yoga is about awareness and freedom, so a true path is one that recognizes the uniqueness of each individual.

Hi Larry, The last time we touched this subject on Facebook, there were a ton of fireworks going off. I didn't realize how aggressive vegans can be. LOL! I know vegans who hate me for eating veggie burgers. To be honest, there are teachers who eat real hamburgers and I can't make a judgment call. The more we learn, the more vegetarians there will be on this earth. However, we are a predator species and humans will probably eat animals to the end. That said, we have to be tolerant of each other. A person's lifestyle choices are his or hers to make. Some kids grow up from vegetarian families and eat bacon as adults. Some meat-eating children become vegans. The story goes on, but who wants to make enemies over dietary choices? Our biggest problem as a species is accepting a person's right to be different.

The people on this forum are awesome. We may have different views, but it's not a dividing point. Thanks to all the names above mine for showing respect to each other. By the way, I'm not a vegan. I am a diabetic on an ayurvedic diet and my body doesn't break carbs down. No candy, alcohol, pasta, bread, white rice, potatoes, fruits, etc. I can eat most vegetables, medicinal amounts of slow burning carbs, and egg whites. I don't eat meat or fish, but most vegans will argue that I shouldn't eat egg whites. Yeah, I could go on metformin or insulin and I could cheat on my diet. My point: I'm not going to judge anyone and I expect mutual respect. People who drag you down, don't belong in your life.

Namaste Julie,

I'm glad that you are the moderator of this forum. The odd thing about diabetes is that I really never had cravings for sweets. My family elders were all diabetics and most members of my family thought i would manage to miss it because they became diabetics in their 30s. I am in my 60s and just recently ran into problems. Thank you for running such a friendly forum.