Yoga and Veganism

The Happy Vegan Yogini

Next week will wrap up National Yoga Month.  Yoga Month is a chance for all yogis to spread awareness about yoga and it's many benefits, and inspire others to live a happier, healthier lifestyle.  Now, you may be thinking to yourself “wait, didn't I come to the Vegan Examiner page?”.  Yes, you have come to visit the Vegan Examiner, don't fret.  So, “what does yoga have to do with veganism” you might now be asking.  As it turns out quite a lot.

We can start with a healthy lifestyle.  Yoga encourages us to get in touch with our bodies, to view them as a container for our infinite love and beauty.  When we begin to think of our bodies as this sacred container we naturally want to take care of it and preserve it.  Following  a vegan diet is a fantastic way to care for your body.  Even the American Dietetic Association has agreed that a completely plant based diet is healthy.  A plant based diet is naturally low in fat, completely void of cholesterol, and able to provide us with all the vital nutrients our bodies need to be strong and healthy.  Studies also show that eating a completely plant based diet lowers our risk of many common and devastating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  In addition, following a plant based diet keeps the high concentrations of herbicides, pesticides, and antibiotics found in fatty animal foods out of our bodies.

Yoga also encourages us to recognize our connection to the natural world.  As yogis it is our responsibility to protect and preserve the environment.  It is more and more evident that factory farming is devastating to the environment.  Factory farms produce more greenhouse gasses than our automobiles currently produce.  Run-off from factory farms is polluting the water on scales that we have never seen before.  Chemical herbicides and pesticides are polluting our ground as well as our air.  By adopting a vegan lifestyle we are refusing to participate in the destruction of our environment.  Through yoga we begin to recognize our connection with the Earth and the other beings on it.

Lindsay Nixon, yoga student and vegan from Manhattan, says of her yogic experience, “for me, yoga teaches me about being connected to my body and the world around me.  It's an incredibly natural experience, so when I see other animals flourishing on seeds, nuts, berries and leaves I think “that is how I need to eat...this is how I need to live.”  Because of this Lindsay feels that her yoga practice is leading her toward a more raw vegan diet.  Lindsay comments “I don't understand how anyone can eat dairy and have other bodies inside their body, and do yoga.”

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly is the yogic precept of ahimsa.  Ahimsa is the first of the yamas, or spiritual disciplines regarding how we treat and interact with others.  Ahimsa is translated as non-harming, or non-violence.  We can not deny that by participating in a traditional diet based on meat and other animal products we are not following the yogic principle of non-violence.  There is no non-violent way to take the life of a sentient being.  

There is much controversy over the subject of yoga and vegetarianism, and in the end the individual has to be responsible for the choices they make.  With the increased awareness that comes with practicing yoga, often times a plant based diet naturally follows.  Take Jenny Naes, yoga instructor in Evansville, Indiana, for instance.  She says, “becoming vegan grew organically out of my yoga practice.”  Jenny says that the practice of ahimsa was and continues to be one of the most important lessons she's learned from her yoga practice.  Of her practice of ahimsa Jenny says “It started with building compassion toward myself.  It didn't take to long for me to begin extending compassion out to other humans.”  She then “extended ahimsa to all non-humans and happily became a vegan.”  Her path to becoming vegan started with becoming a vegetarian.  She says “I knew all the while as a vegetarian that I wasn't completely living a cruelty free life, but was nervous that I'd fail and go back to eating meat again.”  It wasn't until Jenny suffered an injury and her physical yoga practice had to change that she began to really understand compassion for herself.  “It was during this time of strengthening my compassion inwardly that I felt it was time to do so outwardly as well.  I decided veganism was the path I was now meant to take.  I haven't looked back since then.”

Of course, not all yogis are vegetarian.  Take Jodi Mardesich, yoga instructor in Utah, for example.  Jodi was a raw vegan for about a year, but found it to be very challenging.  She is no longer a raw vegan, but notes that her experience with a raw vegan diet put her on the path toward awareness of her body and how what she eats effects it.  She says “When you eat pure, whole foods, you can feel how alive they are, and that eventually creates and experiential link between what goes in and  how you feel”.  Jodi sees eating well as a form of yoga, she calls it “consciousness in action”.  Jodi admits that this consciousness extends to vegetarianism.  “I believe that the more conscious you become, you can't ignore the link between the animals you eat and their suffering.”  Jodi admits that she's not quite there yet, and that she does occasionally eat meat, saying “it's just one more way for me to do what I know is wrong and beat myself up over it.”  

Yoga and diet, whether vegan or not, go hand in hand.  Yoga is a practice of conscious awareness, a practice that challenges us to look at ourselves as we are.  For many, this awareness coupled with yogic teachings is enough to start them on the path to veganism.

Looking for yoga in the Louisville Area?

Eternal Health Yoga on Frankfort Ave offers a variety of classes, in various styles including yin, hatha, and kundalini.

Already vegan or thinking of going vegan? 

You might like my article on Finding Vegan Support, and my list of Top 10 Vegan Blogs.