Yoga is a practice that started out as a spiritual pursuit but has become an increasingly popular form of exercise. In order to take advantage of the health benefits it can offer, many people choose to follow a Yogic Diet. What exactly does this diet look like? How does one know which foods are best for them? This blog post will go into detail about what a yogic diet entails and how it differs from other diets.
Yoga can make people healthy and fit, this 5,000-year-old practice is taken from the ancient sacred text called the Rig Veda. It is one of the four ancient sacred texts called Vedas and is a collection of more than a thousand hymns and mantras in ten chapters known as mandalas, they are used by Hindu priests. Later on, Yoga was developed by the sages and documented the practices and beliefs in the Upanishads with over 200 scriptures.
In those sacred texts that were developed by Indian sages, not only mentioned Yoga, but also the food and the practices of the yogic sciences. This yogic diet is mainly focused on mindful eating, whole foods, and nourishing your body. Let’s take a deep dive into the yogic diet.
What does the Yogic diet means?
Yogic diet means food that is based on some principles that are mentioned in the Vedas like sattva (purity), nonviolence (ahimsa), and balanced living. The sattvic foods are having the quality of creating balance in the mind and the body and increase energy.
It is advised to avoid some foods like Rajasic and Tamasic, which means lifeless foods that are cooked and preserved. In the yogic culture, a vegetarian/vegan diet is recommended and strictly opposes any harm to living creatures. With careful planning, this pure diet leads to optimum health and a peaceful mind.
Sattvic Foods:
Sattvic food means that foods that are pure and life-giving which promotes vitality, strength, health, and relaxation. Sattvic foods are juices, fresh fruits, grains, fresh green vegetables, green beans, cold-pressed oils from coc0nut, sesame, olive, ginger, turmeric, jaggery, seeds, and nuts. These foods digest easily and are also called pranic foods (life-giving).
Rajasic Foods.
As we discussed, better to avoid rajasic foods because they are overstimulating and produce an excess amount of energy that will consume extra storage in our body and also promotes anger, sleeplessness, hyperactivity, and restlessness. Eating in hurry is as considered as rajasic foods, rajasic foods include meat, fish, coffee, over-sweetened chocolates, food colorings/additives, some spices, sour, bitter, dry, and salty.
Tamasic Foods:
By eating Tamasic foods our body’s immune system might be affected and there will be no benefits from eating tamasic foods. Tamasic foods include over-cultivated, deep-fried preserved, and packaged. These foods are hard to digest and make you feel full and bloated. Overeating also comes and under tamasic.
What is Yoga, and how is it helpful ?
Yoga, a physical and mental exercise from India originating in ancient times, is most often practiced achieving selflessness. The goal of yoga, like other forms of exercise, is to improve health and well-being by achieving a state of perfect balance or harmony called “samadhi”.
Yoga combines various disciplines including philosophy, breathing techniques (pranayama), postures (asanas), and meditation. It can be done for different reasons: recreation; self-defense; its believed benefits for the mind, body, and spirit; or simply because it’s enjoyable.
The practice of yoga, which can involve meditation or chanting mantras as well as physical postures and breathing exercises, is said to have originated more than 5000 years ago in India. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit meaning “to join” or “unite together”. Yoga means joining with your true self (soul). There are many types of yogic practices such as Hatha yoga, Raja yoga, and Kundalini yoga; they all aim for a spiritual connection through mastery over body and mind.
Benefits of doing Yoga every day?
Yoga is beneficial for all ages. It promotes relaxation of the body and mind, improves blood circulation, strengthens muscles and joints, enhances physical fitness levels without involving any risks to health. Yoga reduces stress through breathing exercises and helps release pent-up emotions like anger or frustration in a healthy way.
It also gives one an opportunity to explore oneself as well as discover hidden talents that may not be possible otherwise due to our busy schedules at work or home commitments; it can help clarify thoughts which in turn will bring about good decision-making skills for managing life better.
All these factors contribute towards living a more balanced lifestyle with improved mental clarity leading to increased productivity on days when we are feeling less energetic than usual! There’s no doubt that yoga is a great way to feel better, be more productive and live healthier!
Yoga has many health benefits such as:
- Improves your mood by reducing stress
- Gives you mental clarity which helps in decision-making skills.
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Increases blood circulation throughout the body for improved immunity system.
It strengthens joints and muscles without any risk of injury because it doesn’t involve physical strain. Yoga also reduces pain sensations through stretching out tightened muscles or ligaments due to overuse like happens with athletes after their strenuous workouts. It can help get rid of backache as well as other chronic joint pains too! And last but not least, Yoga improves sleep quality by releasing tension in the body and mind that can lead to difficulty in sleeping.
