Ayurveda is an ancient
health care system that is growing in popularity in the West. As our own
doctors have little more to offer than different colored pills, a system that
deems food as both preventative medicine and cure is particularly appealing.
Ayurvedic teas, medicinal herbs and dietary
practices are as much in fashion among the yoga crowd as elephants and Om
symbols.
But there are a few
things to consider before you jump into the Ayurvedia band-wagon.
An Ayurvedic Diet is
not another name for the Yogic Diet.
They have many
similarities, both being rooted in the culture of Hinduism, but Ayurvedic diets
and yogic diets are designed with different intentions.
In fact, an Ayurvedic
diet encompasses the yogic diet. Think of the Hindu many-headed BIG god - the huge, universal god who encompasses the
three lesser gods Shiva,Vishnu, and Brahman.
Different cults within Hinduism choose to focus their worship on one of
the lesser aspects of the BIG god, so that Vaishnaites worship Vishnu and
Shiviites worship Shiva, and Brahmaites are pretty much extinct.
To draw a parallel to
diet, Ayurveda is the BIG god. It encompasses three types of food; rajasic,
tamasic, and sattvic. A yogic diet is
one that includes only food deemed Sattvic (for more information on what these
terms actually mean, flip to the next article).
So a yogic diet and an
Ayurvedic diet have many similarities, but a yogic diet excludes many foods
included in Ayurveda, and places emphasis on certain foods that maybe Ayurveda
doesn’t find particularly important.
The purpose of the
next series of articles is to explore the dietary recommendations given to
yogis and see how these compare to what is attributed to Ayurveda or
misconceptions of Ayurveda. Certain subjects such as the aversion to mushrooms and onions
and the glorification of ghee will be explored in more depth in individual
articles.
Part 2: Ayurveda Defined
Can't wait for the Series!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I can, but just a little bit!
This is really good info Lindsay :)
Fruitasticaly, Guimo
Love it that you're pointing out that an Ayurvedic diet and a yogic diet are not the same. There seems to be a lot of confusion about that in the world of modern Yoga. And although my take on the classic texts doesn't agree that they support a fruitarian diet, I definitely believe that you just about can't get enough of raw fruits and vegetables supplemented by moderate amounts of nuts and seeds. It's great healthy stuff!
ReplyDeleteVegan diets are super healthy, too. Mahatma Gandhi, one of my favorite yogis, was right about that one. We don't need milk or meat. That's clear now. The ancient Yoga texts suggest that meat is unfavorable and milk may be beneficial but is not necessary for the health or a good practice.
Thanks for contributing to the wellness of our Yoga community! Appreciate the blog.
What an interesting teaser! =) Can't wait for the series either =)
ReplyDelete