Eat Like a Yogi, Think Like a Yogi: A Yoga Diet Based On Ayurvedic Principles

Recently I have been obsessed with yoga and the art behind it. With trying to replace gymming with yoga as a part of my daily workout, I have realised that there goes a lot more in trying to live a clean and healthy life. It is a general misconception that a yogi needs nothing to eat or that it isn't as important a part of their lifestyle. This is completely untrue. Nourishment of the body’s tissues is the one that is responsible for building a mindset that is balanced and ultimately content. Think about it this way, what would happen if you spend your days drinking coffee and eating sweet foods? Would you feel calm and at peace with yourself? Sure, you can reach to a certain extent in a place where you are nourishing your body properly with asanas, pranayamas, and meditation. But is that enough? What exactly does it mean to nourish yourself properly? Just how do you eat like a yogi?

The Diet of Patanjali

Admittedly, extending your yoga practice to the dinner table is not an easy task, mostly because the classic yogic texts such as Patanjali's Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita don't list any specific foods for following a "yogic diet". And even if they did, it is highly unlikely that the foods prescribed in India thousands of years ago would be appropriate today for each and every one of us.

There is no menu prescribed for yogi even though there exists a yogic diet. Meant to enhance your clarity and give you a certain lightness, the diet is meant to give your body a great basis for coming to terms with your body.

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In the Ayurvedic tradition, foods that are considered sattvic include most vegetables, ghee (clarified butter), fruits, legumes, and whole grains. Foods like onions, meats, garlic can increase your dullness and are called tamasic foods.

Coffee, red chillies, and salt, on the other hand, creates hyperactivity and are thus called rajasic food. However, this doesn’t mean that you completely let go of these foods. Having a yogic diet means introspecting on what your body needs to come to that balance and incorporating it in your lifestyle.

My book, Superfoods for awesome memory has been written with clean eating in mind. Using these 16 ingredients you can take the first step towards clean cooking and healthy living. In this way of thinking about nourishment, what you need as an individual may be very different from what someone else needs. And what you need at this moment in your life may be very different from what you needed five years ago or will need five years from now.

You don't have to strictly follow what the ancient sages have to say, which is why there isn’t a strict prescription of these foods. It all depends on how often you listen to your body’s needs and serve it exactly that.

If you are someone who is practicing yoga, then your diet should incorporate the same values and teachings of yoga as you do while exercising. Not everyone can do a headstand. However, everyone eats. What becomes essential for us to notice what our body requires and accordingly incorporate or remove those elements from our diet.

To read more stories from Masterchef Shipra Khanna, stay tuned to HerZindagi.