How Nutrition Affects Your Yoga Practice

Practicing yoga brings many rewards, but could weThe body will need to work harder to break down,
enhance these rewards by altering what we eat?utilize and remove aggressive and harsh foods much
Nutrition plays an enormous role in our lives, bothmore than it does with softer, lighter and more
emotionally and physically so it has to have an impactnatural produce.
on what we do and the way that we do it.So how does this relate to yoga?
If we imagine ourselves as one long tube (ourWhen practicing yoga we want to feel light, empty
digestive tract), we therefore need to understandand energized. Your yoga practice would therefore
that what goes into this tube will affect us in everybe enhanced no end by eating foods of a softer
way. What enters the tube is responsible for ourvibration. These foods will be easily absorbed and
energy, how we feel, how we look, how we heal,digested delivering energy, vitality and essential
how we communicate, how our brain works and sonutrients without causing unnecessary stress to the
on.body.
Knowing that, what happens if the tube gets blockedWhen your tube is clean your yoga practice will seem
or congested? Surely in this case, vitality and energyso much easier. Your body will flow through asana
would be reduced, and internal systems will need towith calm and concentration rather than shake and
slow down, and or stop to try and sort out therattle! Why do you think yogis don't eat animals?
congestion or blockage. In short, what happens toAnimal produce has a strong vibration so when the
the tube on the inside affects us totally on thebody has to deal with that strong vibration from
outside.food it can't afford the space to feel spirit and
Everything external to us has a vibration includingbeyond!
what we eat. Altering the vibration to somethingCertain yoga postures will push and squeeze internal
softer, more neutral and lighter (such as fruits,organs creating cleanses and a release of toxins. This
vegetables, natural organic whole grains and water),in itself gives the body enough to do without adding
will allow your body and mind to feel softer andin extra toxins through foods.
lighter.Without getting too spiritual, yoga is a practice to
The harsher, stronger and more stressful aggressiveopen and connect your body and mind to whatever
foods holding a much higher vibration (such as meat,you chose spirit to be! What you eat will create work
dairy, alcohol, sugar and caffeine), create stress onfor your body and therefore mind, so by keeping
our bodies and have a powerful and strong impactthat work as simple as possible your yoga practice
upon us. These types of foods can make us feelcould sour higher than you have ever imagined.
aggressive, angry, irritated and tired.