Yogic Nutrition

Fuel your yoga practice with good nutrition. Eat well, live strong, practice yoga.


The Yoga practice is all about the full breath and the physical strength should be able to be used up to your personal limits. Therefore it is very important that your body can concentrate on the practice and, for example, do not have to engage in intensive digestive activity. At the same time, you should not feel hungry. The Yoga philosophy has some techniques and principles that teach us how to better focus on our practice. One principle, for example, is Ahimsa:

AHIMSA – Sanskrit, ahiṃsā, literally means nonviolence – one of the most important principles in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

Ahimsa means, in context to yoga, to prepare your body for your practice in the best possible way and not to strain it unnecessarily. Stress means for your body to go into certain asanas with a full stomach. Not drinking water during the practice is part of Ahimsa. Since you should put your body’s attention on the asana practice and not on the intake of water at the same time.


Notebook

"Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food"

- Hippocrates



The fact that your diet influences your body is something you have probably long since realized. But even in science, it is no longer a secret that the way you eat and the food you choose can influence your mind

Yogis understood long ago that the type, quality, and quantity of food consumed not only nourishes and shapes the physical body, but also influences the mind and emotions of human beings in a more subtle way. The holistic concept of yoga nutrition aims at cleansing, strengthening, and developing all levels of our human existence. While most other nutrition systems focus on the physical and chemical effects of nutrition, yoga nutrition also considers the mental and spiritual aspects of our food.

The Ayurveda as well as Yoga philosophy describes three subtle energies, which can be found in many areas of life, also in yoga nutrition. These energies are also called Gunas: Tamas (inertia), Rajas (restlessness), and Sattva (lightness).




Food can also be divided into these three areas. Yoga nutrition is recommended to be as sattvic as possible. Tamas and Rajas food choices should be reduced. But do not be too strict with yourself in your yoga nutrition.

Tamas

In Yoga, it is said that Tamas food no longer has any vital energy. It even drains energy from the body and makes the mind slow. Unripe, rotten, overcooked, or preserved foods are called Tamas food. Here some more Tamas food/groups:

  • Meat and fish
  • alcohol, tobacco and drugs
  • Convenience food
  • onion and garlic

    • Too much food can also make you lethargic and thus increase your Tamas.


    Rajas

    Rajas food includes everything that makes your body and mind restless, nervous, uncontrollable, and emotionally upset. This include:

  • Coffee and black tea
  • too spicy food
  • refined sugar, sweets and overly salted foods
  • too hot or cold meals

    • Eating too hastily and not chewing enough will also have an increasing effect on your Rajas.


    Sattva

    The ideal yoga nutrition is a sattvic diet. It brings your body valuable nutrients, gives new energy and lets the mind become clear and peaceful. Here you can help yourself with a large selection of food:

  • Whole-grain cereal products, such as whole-grain bread and whole-grain pasta. Whole rice, millet, buckwheat, spelt, green spelt and barley
  • potatoes
  • Legumes (these must be cooked well to make them easier to digest): lentils, beans, peas and soy products such as tofu
  • different vegetables, salads, fruits and nuts
  • Milk and dairy products

    • The fresher the products, the better. Raw food contains more “prana”, i.e. life energy, than cooked food. The food should at best be eaten calmly and consciously. Chewing well and eating only moderately strengthens your Sattva. In spirit, deep gratitude should be brought to the food.





    Some Easy Recipes



    Ingredients

  • 200 g chickpeas (cooked or in a jar)
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • the juice of half a lemon
  • 1 pinch of cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • a little bit olive oil
  • a little bit of water

    • Method

    1. Blend the chickpeas in a blender to make fine paste
    2. Transfer the paste to a large bowl and a tablespoon of tahini to the paste
    3. If the mixture is a little too firm, add a little water.
    4. Add spices such as cumin, salt and pepper and mix everything in the bowl.
    5. For serving, you can sprinkle a few drops of olive oil and a few sesame seeds over the hummus.

    Serve crackers (e.g. self-made) and/or raw vegetables with it, such as carrots, cucumbers, kohlrabi, etc.



    Ingredients

  • Buckwheat
  • Water or Vegetable Milk or Oat Milk
  • Cinnamon
  • Turmeric
  • Cardamom

    • Method

    1. Boil buckwheat with water
    2. Add a dash of vegetable milk and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until you have your perfect consistency.
    3. Add in pinches of turmeric, cardamom, and cimnamon
    4. Additionally, you can also add nuts and compote (from local fruits) are great to go with it

    Our favorite consistency for 125 g buckwheat is about 300 ml water and 100 ml oat milk.
    Alternatively, you can soak the buckwheat seeds in cold water overnight to reduce the cooking time a little.



    Ingredients

  • Lentils (we like to take yellow or red lentils because they are peeled and therefore only need 15-20 minutes to cook)
  • Ghee to cook (or another oil that suits you more)
  • Onions
  • Spices from your kitchen (we like to use: salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper)
  • Vegetables that you love (we gladly take: chard, carrots, mushrooms, leek, beetroot)

    • Method

    1. First, melt the oil or ghee slightly in a hot pan.
    2. Then add the onions and let them fry briefly.
    3. Next, add in the dry spices.
    4. Stir everything regularly so that nothing burns.
    5. If you like to add fresh spices, now is the right time.
    6. Then fry the vegetables and lentils briefly without water.
    7. Shortly afterward add water so that everything is nicely covered and can simmer for a while.
    8. The exact amount of water depends on the type of lens and your desired consistency.
    9. The rule of thumb is twice as much water as lentils.
    10. Add a dash of lemon (vitamin C) over your finished meal also increases the iron absorption of the legumes.

    It is very important to cook the legumes well so that they are more digestible.