How Food and Yoga Go Together?

Feeling ego driven? Lazy? ..maybe even a little dissolute. Practicing a more ‘yogic lifestyle’ in terms of the food you eat could help balance some of the in-balances you might be feeling.

What has food got to do with Yoga you ask? Well, let me tell you…

What is Yoga?

If you ask anyone that hasn’t studied Yoga, they will probably have the impression that Yoga is just stretching. For some Yoga really is just that ..stretching, and that’s fine because people come to Yoga for many different reasons today. Some come for the stretching and physical asana benefits, some to deepen their spirituality, and some to understand and keeping their knowledge of the background to Yoga so they can live a more ‘yogic lifestyle’.

Yogas history and background is extensive, having first been noted in the Upanishads which were written in around 800–200 BC, and are a religious Hindu text. It was also part of one of the Rigveda which is one of the 4 Vedas that was written in around 500 BCE, they are a collection of Indian Vedic Sanskrit hymns.

Ayurveda is something that is written about in the Rigveda, and is based on the idea of finding balance between the spirit, body and mind, and a belief that as humans we are made up of 5 elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Space. Ayurveda encompass lifestyle, your diet, yoga and much more!

Ayurvedic practitioners believe that these 5 elements come together and make up 3 life-force energies, the 3 Doshas, Vata - Space and Air, Pitta - Fire and Water, and Kapha - Water and Earth, which are believed by Ayurvedic practitioners to be a substance found in everyones body.

The 3 Gunas - Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas stem from the The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, of which there are 196, written somewhere between 500 BCE, and 400CE. These sutras (aphorisms) are the practice and also the theory of Yoga, and within the 4 chapters they outline the 8 limbs of Yoga. The Gunas parallel the Doshas, and can have an effect on them.

The 3 Gunas

The Gunas are just a small part in the history and philosophy of Yoga that we can practice off the mat, they teach us that the diet we have and foods we eat effect us, and not just aesthetically, they can effect our mindset, lifestyle and perhaps even our Yoga practice.

Cereal for breakfast, beef burger for lunch, and fish fingers for your evening meal, washed down with a glass of your favourite fizzy drink, and you are seriously cultivating Tamas - impurity and laziness. If you’re looking for more purity and harmony in your life, and lets face it in 2020 ..who isn’t ..then it’s a more Sattva focused diet you need!

Sattva - purity and harmony.
In relation to foods it would be things that encourage purity of the mind, and making the right choice. Grains, Fruit, Vegetables, Honey, Nuts and Milk.

Rajas - passion and manipulation.
In relation to foods it would be things that instil motivation and creates desires.
Coffee, eggs, chocolate, salt, garlic and chicken.

Tamas - impurity and laziness.
In relation to foods it would be foods that can cloud the mind, give negative thoughts and hinder getting better from illness.
Alcohol, fried food, fizzy drinks, refined sugars, frozen food and red meat.

How to make Guna Granola?

So now you know.. you might be wondering what on earth you’re going to replace your favourite breakfast cereal with! Well look no further my friends, we’ve got you covered, with our Guna Granola, packed full of Sattva foods to start your day with harmony!

Guna Granola - serves 2
Pre-heat oven to 180°C fan assisted 

Ingredients
Coconut oil X 1 tsp
Walnuts X 30g
Almonds X 30g
Rolled oats X 40g
Cacao nibs - sprinkle to taste
Raisins X 30g
Pumpkin seeds - sprinkle to taste
Honey or Agave X 2 tbsp spoons
Cinnamon - sprinkle to taste

Method
*Melt your coconut oil in the microwave
*Ground together your walnuts and almonds
*Add your ground nuts, rolled oats cacao nibs, raisins, pumpkin seeds into the melted coconut oil

*Mix together

OPTION: Add in a sprinkle of cinnamon
*Add in your Honey or Agave

*Mix together

Spread the mixture on to a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper and bake for around 20 - 25 minutes - or until the edges turn a golden brown.

You could have this on it’s own as a snack or sprinkle it on top of some yoghurt with fresh fruit.


Want to know more?

Our 200hr Teacher Training courses have a whole History and Philosophy section where you can learn more about where Yoga comes from and how you can incorporate more Yoga in to your life on and off the mat - visit www.yogacourse.com to find out more!