Eating and living in balance

Many of us have a yoga practice to create balance in our body and mind. Yoga is an ancient practice that originally was designed to guide and support the body to sit for long periods of time for meditation. Over thousands of years, yoga has evolved and many of us enjoy the physical practice of yoga. By default, with practice, we enrich our lives.

The more we practice yoga, the more we begin to seek something from within, which comes from being aware. The first time I heard ‘be aware of your breath’, I didn’t quiet get it. But, now, with years of practice and study, awareness brings balance, peace and harmony and isn’t this what we are all seeking? Awareness takes us out of our mind, which is focusing on the past or gazing into the future and lands us right here, right now.

Everything we experience is in consciousness, we just often aren’t aware, which is why we are living less than perfect lives. This is why we suffer from disease, over-eating, strong cravings and making poor food choices.

 

 

How Can Yoga Help My Diet?

By practicing yoga and creating a regular practice of being AWARE, we cultivate and deepen our intuition and understanding of how to live our lives on and off the matt.

So many of us get our information about nutrition from our friends or social media or whatever the new ‘Super Food’ that everyone is raving about. Although there is a lot of excellent information out there regarding nutrition, it isn’t always the right information for our particular body constitution or situation. Just like no two people are alike, what nourishes one person maybe very depleting to another.

In our Yoga Practice, we educate and nourish our body, mind and spirit through breathing (prana/energy), asanas (postures) and most importantly showing up and honoring where we are holistically that day. Yoga and nutrition are one in the same in many ways. Both nourish our mind, body and spirit. Just as conscious breathing and asanas invites greater prana or energy into our lives, so to does nourishing fresh foods and clean water create energy in our body and mind. Making choices that are in tune with our body are important in maintaining and creating perfect health.

Food is concentrated energy that nourishes the mind, body and spirit. Eating whole foods and drinking an abundance of fresh clean water, guides us towards a more harmonious person, we enhance our prana, which is the life-giving energy that enlivens our entire being.

In Ayurveda, a balanced diet doesn’t revolve around fats, carbohydrates, proteins, calories and vitamins. As you begin to deepen your yoga practice and become more aware on and off the matt, you will enhance your intuition… which is the body’s very own intelligence, knowing instinctively what it needs.

Over-indulgence, cravings, poor food choices generally have little to do with food itself. Generally, our stress levels dictate how we eat, when we eat and what we eat. It is impulsive, excessive, and goes back to being unaware. This is like allowing a stranger to manage our finances. We would never do that but when it comes to food and nutrition, we relinquish our power.  Find the culprit and become aware of yourself. Begin with awareness and ask yourself these simple questions before you eat:

1. What is my body craving?
2. Is It healthy and supportive for my well-being?
3. How will I feel AFTER I eat this?

Consider how wonderful it is to enjoy a beautifully prepared plate of food, abounding with fresh food. We feel energized and alive. As we learn to eat in harmony with our bodies, we learn to eat in ways that truly benefit us. Choosing foods intuitively, using nature’s cues helps prevent and heal us from illness and enables us to feel balanced, vital and whole.

Today’s Mantra: “I choose foods that help me thrive.”

 

By: Julie Kingston

Certified Integrative Nutritionist, Yoga and Meditation Teacher

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Join Julie on Sunday morning for Meditation and Vinyasa