Topic 6.04.04 Food and Yoga Practice

Topic 6.04.04 Food and Yoga Practice. VERSION CONTROL: 1 August 2017

Practice with as little food in your stomach as possible. When the stomach is light, your energy is not diverted into digesting your food and can be wholly used to extract the maximum peace-filled benefits from your Yoga.

Your work-out of Yoga asanas should preferably be done on an empty stomach, but may be practised without any discomfort one hour after a very light meal. If this is difficult, a cup of herbal tea with honey, or clayton’s coffee, cocoa, (hot) milk or soup may be taken before doing them.

Early morning practice
For morning practice, after answering the call of nature, and about ten minutes before asana practice, in the warm weather of the tropics, the tradition is to drink a glass of plain water. This reduces the heat produced after a night’s sleep.

Before
As a rough guide, preferably no meals for at least an hour and a half or two hours before your session. But allow at least four hours to elapse after a heavy meal (Christmas dinner) before starting your practice.

After
Food may be taken half an hour after completing the asanas. A light snack, eg. a piece of toast, a muffin, fruit may be eaten half an hour after practice. A full meal is best eaten one hour after practice.