YOGA AND FOOD
As someone who practices yoga for over 10 years and a non meat eater for maybe 9 years, I get asked a lot about food and what it has to do with yoga. Talking about food is a bit like talking about politics or religion. People get very emotional. People often seem to feel judged by a non meat eater. As someone who has occasionally eaten fish over the years, I have often gotten the line "But you eat fish. Do they not count as living beings?" and "But you drink alcohol so how can you say you don't eat meat for health reasons?" In answer to these questions: yes, fish count but I'm doing the best I can and yes, I drink alcohol and it's not healthy but yet again, I'm doing the best I can. Other arguments are that vegetarianism, veganism and buying organic food is very middle class and my answer to this would be that, where we live, this is true but so what? What's wrong with being middle class? What's wrong with buying healthier (also more expensive) food if I can afford it. Also, I'm not the problem here. Surely the problem lies in a society where heavily processed crap is way more affordable than fruit and vegetables.
All of these hostile questions seem to be aiming to achieve one thing: to somehow prove that I am a hypocrite and therefore allow the asker to feel comfortable with his/her own food choices. I don't honestly get the logic behind this. I don't see things as all or nothing. If we were all to adopt this mentality, we would never change anything. I am not judging anybody. I think we are all doing the best we can. This is also why I hate labels like vegetarian or vegan because I think they create separation. There are so many reasons to not eat meat but I can only speak for myself.
Why I stopped eating meat?
I wanted to learn more about food and incorporate more vegetables into my diet. I was a meat and potatoes kind of girl and felt the need to learn how to cook vegetables so that they tasted nice, not just as an obligation on the plate. I then decided to go off meat and see how long I could last. So far it's been 9 years I think.
Why do you continue to not eat meat and what does it have to do with yoga?
This is a big question but I will try to simplify it! For me, at the most basic level, it comes down to AHIMSA (non-violence) which is a vital part of the philosophy of yoga. Firstly, non-violence towards oneself means trying to put healthy food into your body. We aim to treat our body as a temple. Therefore, unprocessed, chemical free and nutrient rich as possible is the ideal. So what's the problem with eating meat I hear you ask? Well, most of the meat out there is pretty bad quality. Most animals are pumped with anti-biotics and kept in awful conditions. This doesn't make for good, healthy meat so even if you think its natural to eat animals, the meat out there probably isn't good for your health, not to mention the artery clogging fat in meat. There are other reasons but that will make for a very long blog post!
Secondly, non-violence towards others. So, this would cover the loving the animals part. If you can avoid causing suffering to animals to sustain yourself, why not? The main argument I hear from people is that animals were meant to be killed and eaten. Why? Why is this accepted as a universal truth? What about man's ability to adapt and evolve? We no longer live in a world where we need to eat animals to survive. We can get all the nourishment we need from plant based food.
The SATTVIC Diet which means a diet most appropriate for meditation. This concept is one which I will explain in greater detail in a follow up post. Basically we are trying to prepare ourselves for meditation. Meat is considered as not being sattvic. Red meat can take up to 2 days to be broken down and eliminated from the body. It is considered that the mind is most prepared for meditation when the body is relatively empty. That is why fasting is also a common practice in yoga.
Does this mean that everyone who practices yoga should be vegetarian or vegan?
No, most definitely not. We are all on our own personal journey. Food is a very personal thing and we can all do whatever we want without judgement. Yoga practitioners are aiming towards health so they are trying to make more conscious choices. I have come across a lot of different nutritional theories over the years and a lot of people who have sworn that their food choice is the way to go only to realise after a number of years that it wasn't quite right for them. I don't believe in the idea of one size fits all. How one body reacts to incorporating or eliminating certain foods will be different from how another body reacts.
So, generally if you meet a yoga student/teacher who doesn't eat meat/fish/eggs/dairy, they are doing it for what they believe to be valid health reasons first and for love of animals second. If you meet a yoga student/teacher who does eat all these things, they are also likely to be doing it for their own health reasons.
Try not to judge. Eliminating certain things from your diet is not easy. It takes a lot of self sacrifice and can be quite isolating so maybe try not to make it any harder. Let's not fall out over food! Let's let go of the need to be right and just live and let live.
