Yoga Diet

Yoga Diet - The Three Gunas

The Yoga Diet is one the Five Principles of Yoga. You will soon notice that eating properly will aid your health and make you feel fit and cleaner. The Yoga Diet is a perfect complement to Yoga Exercise. Despite the fact that the Yoga Diet is not a diet in the common sense of the word, you will probably lose considerable weight by just eating only healthy foods. Even if you do not want to become a vegetarian, following these basic Yoga Diet rules as it will make you feel so much better.

In the unmanifested universe, energy has three qualities, known as

1. Gunas, that exist together in equilibrium
2. Sattva (purity); Rajas (activity, passion, the process of change)
3. Tamas (darkness, inertia).

Once energy takes form, one quality of the three predominates. Thus on an apple tree, some fruits are ripe (sattvic), some are ripening (rajastic) and some are overripe (tamastic). But no matter what quality prevails, an element of each of the other two will always be present as well - parts of the apple will be in all the different stages. The Three Gunas encompass all existence, all actions.

Sattvic Food

* the purest diet
* the most suitable one for any serious student of Yoga.
* nourishes the body and maintains it in a peaceful state.
* calms and purifies the mind, enabling it to function at its maximum potential.
* leads to true health; a peaceful mind in control of a fit body, with a balanced flow of energy between them.

Sattvic foods include:

* cereals
* wholemeal bread
* fresh fruit and vegetables
* pure fruit juices
* milk
* butter and cheese
* legumes
* nuts
* seeds
* sprouted seeds
* honey and herb teas

Rajastic Food

* very hot, bitter, sour, dry or salty food
* destroys the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind
* too much Rajastic food will over-stimulate the body and excite the passions, making the mind restless and uncontrollable
* eating in a hurry is also considered rajastic

Rajastic foods include:

* hot substances, such as sharp spices or strong herbs
* stimulants such as coffee and teas
* fish
* eggs
* salt and chocolate

Tamastic Food

* A Tamastic Diet benefits neither the mind nor the body.
* Prana, or energy is withdrawn, powers of reasoning become clouded and a sense of inertia sets in.
* The body's resistance to disease is destroyed and the mind filled with dark emotions, such as anger and greed.
* Overeating is also considered tamastic.

Tamastic food includes:

* meat
* alcohol
* tobacco
* onions
* garlic
* fermented foods such as vinegar
* stale overripe substances

Warning: The Yoga Diet is not rocket science. It is just about including more healthy food options in your diet. However, if you feel unsure on how to proceed or you have a medical condition which prevents you from radically changing your Diet, please consult a physician first before changing any of your food patterns.

瑜伽的特殊食物观：食物的三种属性 悦性、变性、惰性食物）

饮食在瑜伽体系中占有决定性的地位，因为食品的种类会直接影响人的身体和精神状况，了解食物的属性再食用，可以让您的心灵更澄净，身体更健康。　　

依照食物对身心灵的影响，瑜伽将食物分为悦性食物、变性食物和惰性食物。平常应该多吃悦性食物。

悦性、变性和惰性食物

“悦性、变性和惰性食物”的理论是从何而来的呢？瑜伽理论这样说：“瑜伽视宇宙为一体,万事万物都是宇宙本体的显示，所有万物的内在都存在着宇宙运行的势能。”

所谓宇宙运行势能有三种：悦性力量、变性力量和惰性力量。悦性力量赋予万物富有生机，变性力量赋予万物不定善变，惰性力量赋予万物慵懒怠惰与死亡，此 三种力量对宇宙本体束缚而造成精细粗钝不同的万物。因此所有事物中，这三种力量以不同的比例存在着。所以瑜伽里根据食物中所含的悦性力量、变性力量和惰性 力量的多寡及人类食用后对身、心、灵的影响，将食物分为悦性食物、变性食物、惰性食物。

因此在瑜伽的概念下，教练建议我们在选择食物时：

　　１、多吃悦性食物，少吃变性食物，不吃惰性食物。
　　２、多吃含叶绿素的蔬果。
　　３、尽可能的选择意识发展比较低的物种为食物。
　　４、要宰杀已有意识或意识尚未发展的动物之前，先考虑一下不杀取这些动物时，自己的生命是否也能健康的生活。

食物的分类并非一成不变, 悦性食物、变性食物、惰性食物的分类并非一成不变的，会随着气候、个人身体状况而变的，比如气候寒冷的地方，变性食物就会变为悦性食物，惰性食物就会变为变性食物。　　

悦性食物

瑜伽观念：富有悦性力量的食物称之为悦性食物，食用后极易消化，在体内不易堆积尿酸及毒素，消化后在身上产生的能量使身体变得健康轻松和精力充沛，身心变得愉悦、自律、快乐，同时产生博爱、希望和怜悯的胸怀，让心灵处于平和与稳定。

食物种类：悦性食物包括所有谷类，如米、麦、面、玉米、麦包卷、麦包、糕、不含蛋小西点、大麦、燕麦、水果、大多数的蔬菜、牛奶、乳类制品、豆类、坚果、大豆制品，如豆腐、豆浆、温和的香料。

变性食物

瑜伽观念：富有变性力量的食物称为变性食物，食用后会使人心变得好动，若食用过多，会使人变得过分积极、烦躁不安、甚至产生憎恨、嫉妒、沮丧、恨怒、恐惧等情绪而失去镇静平和。

食物种类：变性食物包括有咖啡、浓茶、泡菜、海带、白萝卜、酱油、强烈脓肿的调味品、可可、可口可乐、汽水。

惰性食物

瑜伽观念：富有惰性力量的食物称之为惰性食物，食用后在身上产生的能量，使人嗜睡、昏沉、不安，身体易生倦怠，生病，身心变得粗鲁，产生慵懒和不可遏止的欲望，缺乏生命力和开创力。

食物种类：惰性食物包括所有的肉类、鱼、蛋、洋葱、菇类、芥末、蒜、麻醉性饮料、酒、烟、麻醉品。陈腐的食物、放置过久的食物也会变为惰性食物。

Chakra

please click on the table to view in larger mode

Have you felt it?

Many people join Yoga class because they want to get fit, reduce body weight and sweat. Are they joining the right class? As we can see, Yoga class is being offered in gym studio, first impression for Yoga is exercise. Do you know back in Ancient time, sage practice Yoga from dawn to night, Yoga is part of their daily life, they eat, walk, sleep with Yoga.


Nowadays, Yoga is a happening thing to do, it is the hottest topic in town. If you don't know or do not practice Yoga, you are "out-dated". Do all these people really practice or experience the real Yoga?


I have student come to my class and after the class, student told me that he/she does not enjoy the class because he/she does not sweat in the class. Come on, what does sweat need to do with Yoga? If you want to sweat, why don't you go jogging, hiking, cycling and etc ....


One does not need to know what is Yoga before he/she join a Yoga class, but you need to bring your heart along with you attend a Yoga class, you need to experience it with your heart, you need to feel it. Yoga practice is an experiential learning, different people will have different experience because each of us is unique in this Universal.


So next time, don't ask why you do not sweat in Yoga class but rather ask what have you felt during the class.


~namaste

Sukshma Vyayama

I had attended a five days workshop for Sukshma Vyayama led by Swamiji Yogananda from AOL Bangalore Ashram. It is a series of very simple and easy steps, yet the effect is great. Below is an article I search via google, it gave me a good insight on what is Sukshma Vyayama.

Sukshma Vyayama is an ancient component of yoga not known to most of the schools of yoga today in the world. This was developed, designed and propagated originally by his His Holiness Maharishi Karthikeyaji Maharaj of the Himalaya. He had great kindness and compassion for humanity and taught Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, who in turn propagated it to the modern world, including the Nehru family. Dhirendra Brahmachari also produced books and established institutions in Delhi and travelled throughout the country to teach a large number of people. Shri Surya Raghava Dikshitulu of Secunderabad learnt from Shri Dhirendrandra Brahmachari in the 1950s and I had the great fortune of learning from Yogasana Acharya Shri Surya Raghava Dikshitulu from in 1964 onwards.

Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaawas developed by Maharishi Kartikeya Ji Maharaj on the basis of some of the most essential but normally not understood, mysterious aspects of Hatha Yoga relating to the Mudras and Bandhas. Though the Hatha Yoga literature is filled with references to the profound importance attached to the Bandhas and Mudras, many of the modern yoga schools both in India and abroad have comfortably ignored this aspect perhaps due to their own ignorance of this subject. It is also true that the Bandhas and Mudras are very complex can be practiced by advanced yogis in the original form as prescribed in the yogic texts namely HathayogaPradeepika, Siva Samhita and so on.

The science of yoga itself was restricted to the yogis who have renounced the world and who have given up all attachments and gone into the forest or the Himalaya. Yoga was taught and practiced only for them, by them and amongst them. But in the recent times some of the smaller, simpler and easier components of the yoga system were brought out from the mystery and secrecy that shrouded them, for the benefit of the modern society by Shri Dhirendra Brahmachari and various other yoga experts. So, in conformity with the approach of bringing to the common people and normal society, some of the simplified and easier aspects of Hatha Yoga, this system of Sukshma Vyayamaa was developed, designed and propagated by His Holiness Maharishi Karthikeyaji Maharaj.

As mentioned earlier Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaa is a unique system of exercises not available anywhere in the world, in any other form either in the yogic domain or in the non-yogic, physical or cultural domain. It is so sensitive, so powerful, so scientific so deep and yet so simple that even a child after crossing the age of ten can easily practice it and derive benefit. The benefits claimed are very great and there are also experiences collaborated by lakhs of disciples of Shri Dhirendra Brahmachari, my own teacher Sri Dikshtulu and my many of my students. The benefits of Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaa are so great that even without practicing the rest of the aspects of Hatha Yoga such as Asanas it is possible to derive extremely tangible benefits in a very quick manner.

The other beautiful and more important aspect of Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaa is, that it is the only system of exercises in the world where each and every part of the body including Each organ, each joint and each muscle is taken into consideration, and a particular exercise or set of excercises associated with a specific type of breathing in a specific type of position with a specific point of mental concentration is prescribed.

So, starting with the top that is the head, we cover:

various parts of the brain, the eyes, nose, ears, and neck, the shoulders, arms and arm joints, finger joints and even fingertips the upper chest , middle chest and abdomen and trunk in different aspects the thighs and buttocks, even organs like rectum/anus and the bladder (for which excercises are very rarely prescribed) the knees, ankles, foot, foot muscle and joints, toes and finally the big toe.

So, literally "from top to toe" is the coverage in the above mentioned sequence which is something very unique in the entire world, in the past, present and possibly the future too.

So the Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaa as is implied by the name, is meant for the subtle body or Sukshma Sarira. It is not meant for the gross body or Sthula Sarira. There is a separate set of exercises for the gross body - Sthula Vyayamaa which succeeds Sukshma Vyayamaa but it is just about half a dozen exercises of gross nature similiar to other gross exercises such as swimming and running or various physical and cultural excercises. Yogic Sukshma Vyayamaa, however, is on a different footing. It is meant for the subtle body of the human being, as per Indian traditional philosophy. As per the yogic philosophical tradition there are five bodies for every individual - the physical and the subtle: the annamaya sarira, pranamaya sareera, manomaya sareera, vigyanamaya sareera and anandamaya sareera. So, Sukshma Vyayamaa deals with the second level, that is the subtle body or the pranamaya sareera.

The main features or components of Sukshma Vyayamaa are (1) breathing (2) concentration point (3) actual exercise - which involves motion most of the times though not always. Breathing of different types: very light or very fast or very deep, sometimes through the mouth although mostly through the nose. This is a brief about Sukshma Vyayamaa.

The benefits once again are immense and are direct and immediate. Within a month of regular practice,

preferably twice a day, morning and evening, or once a day in the morning,

before bath if warm water, or after bath if cold water,

before any kind of food,

with a tight underwear and shorts,

on a mattress,

either open air or indoors,

without any cold or heat or rain,

will lead to development of extraordinary levels of capabilities and faculties of various aspects of the personalities both mental and physical.

For those who have maladies and problems of different kind, Sukshma Vyayamaa alone is capable of curing and preventing without taking the help of asanas or other aspects of pranayama or kriyas. Though we do not prohibit the other aspects, Sukshma Vyayamaa is solely capable of handling all problems, both curing and preventing, and increasing the strength and vigour of different organs and systems in the body.

Sukshma Vyayama, though it looks very simplistic, is also going to awaken the Kundalini if performed correctly for a long period of time on a regular basis. The other aspects of classical Hatha Yoga which have been incorporated into package of Sukshma Vyayama, by his Holiness Maharishi Kartikeyaji are the Sambhavi Mudra, Shanmukhi Mudra and also Tratak. The eye exercises are from Tratak, and the ear exercise is Shanmukhi Mudra which was used in the classical yoga to get into the trance state of deep meditation though in Sukshma Vyayama it is only used for calming and quietening the mind for a common man.

So, to conclude, the mudras and bandhas are utilized along with the modern motion of exercises, movement of the muscles and bones to the extent of each and every joint of the body, each and every bone and the muscle and organ, being given an exercise to improve its' vigour, to improve its' capabilities, faculties and the performance of the individual as a whole.

LOHAS 樂活

Received this from a friend and I would like to share it with you ...

樂活族釋義
　　樂活族又稱樂活生活、洛哈思主義、樂活，是一個西方傳來的新興生活型態族群, 由音譯lohas而來, lohas是英語lifestyles of health and sustainability的縮寫，意為以健康及自給自足的型態過生活。 　　他們關心生病的地球，也擔心自己生病，他們吃健康的食品與有機野菜，穿天然材質棉麻衣物，利用二手家用品，騎自行車或步行，練瑜伽健身，聽心靈音樂，注重個人成長，通過消費和衣食住行的生活實踐，希望自己有活力。　　樂活族的愛健康、地球的可持續性的生活方式席卷歐美日，滲透全球。“樂活族”這群人是樂觀、包容的，他們通過消費、透過生活，支持環保、做好事，自我感覺好；他們身心健康，每個人也變得越來越靚麗、有活力。這個過程就是：dogood、feelgood、lookgood（做好事，心情好，有活力）。在周圍，漸漸地已然出現一些手工雜貨店，其店強調的是“非大量製造”、“多樣性”和“環保”，據一位小店主說，“我們不是單純在賣產品，而是在經營人與人之間日常生活的情感。”樂活族遵循的準則

　　1、堅持自然溫和的輕慢運動。
　　2、不抽煙，也盡量不吸二手煙。
　　3、電器不使用時關閉電源以節約能源。
　　4、盡量選擇有機食品和健康食品食用，避免高鹽，高油，高糖。
　　5、減少製造垃圾，實行垃圾分類和回收。
　　6、親近自然，選擇“有機”旅行。
　　7、注重自我，終身學習，關懷他人，分享樂活。
　　8、積極參加公益活動，如社區義工，支教等。
　　9、支持社會慈善事業，進行舊物捐贈和捐款。
　　10、節約用水，將馬桶和水龍頭的流量關小，一水多用。
　　11、向家人，朋友推薦與環境友善的產品。
　　12、減少一次性筷子和紙張的使用，珍惜森林資源。
如何把自己打造成一個樂活族
　　衣
　　１．減少衣服幹洗的次數。
　　２．貼身的衣物如內褲、內衣、每天洗臉的毛巾，試著選購有機衣料。
　　３．將不需要的衣物送至回收機構。
　　食
　　１．購買當季蔬菜水果，可避免過多的農藥和化肥，購買本地食物，降低運送燃料和多餘包裝。
　　２．出外就餐自帶筷子、杯子、碗。
　　３．保持飲食均衡、多樣。
　　住
　　１．換較小、通風采光好的房子。
　　２．用自然提煉或可生物分解的清潔劑。
　　３．水槽下放水桶，回收廢水做家務清潔。
　　４．盡量開窗，減少使用冷氣。
　　行
　　１．盡量搭乘公共交通工具，還可以增加運動量。
　　２．健走是一項很好的運動，最重要又不花錢。
　　３．定期保養愛車，達到車子最佳性能又不浪費油。
　　４．如果想買車，考慮環保車。
樂活族的生活態度
　　▲快樂生活與金錢無關
　　21世紀的人該選擇一種什麼樣的活法？成為越來越多人所思考與追尋的話題。
　　生活質量取決於經濟條件，這恐怕已成為人們的固有觀念。然而“樂活族”卻認為：生活質量不僅取決於經濟基礎，而更主要的是取決於生活的觀念。
　　不可否認，經濟狀況是決定生活質量的前提條件，但它並非是決定生活質量的關鍵因素。在現實生活中不乏這樣的例子：有錢但生活質量並不高。問題的焦點就是生活觀念落後。對於某些人，錢不僅沒為他創造幸福，還變成禍根。同樣，有些人收入也並不很高，但生活質量卻不錯，一家人吃得好穿得好，還不時外出旅遊，生活很時尚。問題的關鍵是他們能夠文明科學地消費，充分享受現代化給生活帶來的樂趣。其實，這也正是“樂活”的精髓。
　　當有些人還在追求名牌轎車、山珍海味帶來的虛榮和奢華時，“樂活族”們在嘲笑那些人的落伍。因為，搭乘大眾運輸工具、吃綠色有機食品、穿棉麻天然織物、使用二手貨品才是當前流行的生活方式。不是用擁有物質的多少，而是以一種健康的生活態度使自己快樂。這令我們看到了一種區別於其他人群的外在表現形式，其實他們最本質的特點在於他們獨特的價值觀：把生態與身心健康放在名利之上。
　　應該說，“樂活”是20世紀末許多富裕階層經曆追求逸樂、過度消費的空虛之後，所產生的集體反思。令人高興的是，很多人開始追尋與實踐一種新的生產方式與生活方式，這種新的“活法”能夠保證人類健康、快樂而可持續地發展。於是看到走時尚路線的“樂活”讓許多人找到了真正優良品質生活的真諦