Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Namaskar Tolyo,

Yoga, and Ayurveda, classify food into three categories: Rajasic, Satvic, and Tamasic.

The foods to focus, on including in your diet, are sattvic foods. These are the purest foods that promote health and provide an even energy. Honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, lentils, yogurt and other dairy, make up much of these foods.

Rice and grains are also in this category, providing fiber and assisting digestion. Little, to no preparation, is done to the foods before consumption. In this way, nutrition gs undisturbed with foods which are served raw or lightly cooked.

These foods provide the highest degree of benefits and nourish the body. Sattvic foods keep the body balanced and are the most thoroughly absorbed and incorporated.

Let your Yoga students be aware of the following:

Impure, highly processed, and synthetic foods, not only isolate the nourishing benefits of foods - they also cause imbalanced conditions. These conditions cause discomfort, obesity, and disease. Many diseases are linked to diet in a major way. Seek to create balance in your body through your diet.

Any change in diet is difficult because it is a lifestyle change. Lifestyle changes are the only way to see long-term benefits. This is why fad diets are so terrible for the body. The more widely the pendulum swings, the less equilibrium you will experience.

Ancient Yogis very much understood this and sought to balance their body, mind, and spirit, in all ways. While you will find great improvement through regular Yoga practice, without intentional eating, it will be limited. Make the effort to create a new life balance for yourself through the Yoga diet.

Namaste,

Paul