Consistent mealtimes. Delicious food in measured quantities.  Your burp means you ate enough.  

Vegetarian food, but of the highest quality, including being protein rich – which is why yogis in India include dairy in their diet.

I have been healthier since I began eating this way than I ever had been. Raised as an omnivore, when I ate meat, I was consistently anemic.  

It disappeared when I became vegetarian.  I attribute it to a more efficient digestion process.  Meat is incredibly hard on the human digestive system.  Better yet, I can tell that my innards work more efficiently – smooth and easy.  It’s wonderful!

When I was a child, my mom fed us meatless meals one or two days weekly, just like she ate when growing up on the farm.  They couldn’t afford to kill off all their farm animals.  They needed them for producing eggs and milk, as well as pulling the plow, etc.  Tractors came along later.  I remember riding on my uncle’s brand-new tractor when I was 10 years old.  It was very exciting.

Good news!  The FDA and American Heart Association approve of vegetarian eating.  But that’s not why yogis do it.  Yoga’s first ethical principle is ahimsa, non-harming.  It is clearly harmful to the animal to eat it.  George Bernard Shaw was more graphic about it, saying:

I choose not to make a graveyard of my body with the rotting corpses of dead animals…

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.

Yes, spiritual intensity goes along with vegetarianism.  Spiritual depth is the purpose of yoga, as described by the ancient sages who created it.  You may have to get beyond the hard breathing and sweat before you discover the inner spaciousness that is found only in stillness.  This is yoga’s specialty.

In the beginning of my vegetarian process, I thought tofu was a little scary.  I knew about beans from my mom’s cooking and from Mexican food, one of my lifelong favorites.  Then I discovered Indian food, later Egyptian and Ethiopian cooking.  All of these feature bean-and-grain combos, the cornerstone of vegetarian nutrition.

Wheat is a big boon to humankind!  I recognize that a current food fad is gluten-free, but I’m hoping it will pass soon.  Every person I’ve met who is proudly gluten-free is also unfortunately protein deficient. 

Wheat is a high protein grain, readily available in many forms.  It was the cultivation of wheat that made civilization possible.  When the early humans found they could grow their protein instead of following the herds on their seasonal migrations, they were able to settle into villages.  Later came cities.

I had a profound and ecstatic meditation experience where I found the whole universe within my own being. I realized I could never eat meat again, as it would be like eating my own body.  Yes, spiritual intensity.  Blissful, life-changing spiritual intensity, for which I am ever grateful.

I had to learn how to cook all over again.  I went to school back in the day where we had “Home Ec” classes.  We were taught about nutrition as well as cost-conscious meal preparation.  I knew how to make the cheapest cuts of meat both tender and tasty, though now I confess that the idea turns my stomach.

I am still responsible for feeding groups of people every day.  In addition to the Ashram residents, we often host yogis on retreat.  Making sure they have delicious food is not enough. It must also be nutritious, so they can do the deep practices we enjoy.  We get 20 grams of protein in every meal, working with variations on four themes:

1. Beans and Grains together (including wheat)
2. Nuts
3. Tofu (a cheese made from soybeans, another bean)
4. Dairy (including cheese)

It is easy to create a variety of palate pleasing meals, especially with the many online recipes now available.  We also include all six tastes in every meal, as described by Ayurveda, the medical system aligned with yoga.  The combination of the six tastes along with sufficient protein does away with all cravings.

It also makes it easy to give your belly a rest between meals.  Yoga recommends 4-6 hours between meals, so your digestive organs can process your food and then rest before their next task.  A heathy belly is the key to overall health, according to Ayurveda.  Beyond that, it makes you happy.

Consistent meals, this is where I started above.  It was when I moved into my Guru’s Ashram that I began eating at the same time every day.  I was amazed at how anxiety fell away, both from my mind as well as my body.  Food anxiety is a real problem for many people, even if they have the money to feed themselves.

Creating a food discipline is a beautiful yogic discipline.  It supports early-to-bed, early-to-rise, as recommended by Ben Franklin, another famous Westerner.  Yogis love the pre-dawn hours, where meditation is so easily accessible.  The sweet quiet time, on the cusp of sunrise, and the ecstatic energy of the rising sun are the best way to start your day.

When you’ve begun your yoga at 3 or 4 in the morning, maybe as late as 5 am, you’re ready for a real meal soon after.  The rest of your meals follow the sun – midday and sunset, or maybe dinner will be a little later in the winter hours or regions near the earth’s poles.

Food!  What a glorious punctuation point in the day!  However, choosing food that supports your spiritual upliftment may require some retraining.  Even your taste buds change.  You start to like things you never imagined.  It was quite a shock to my mind to discover that my body likes cilantro.  I now sprinkle it on lavishly.

Nutrition can be quite complicated.  Well, the science of it is fairly simple, whether you’re looking at modern medicine or the ancient medical system of Ayurveda.  But we get it all mixed up with family and worse – with need, greed and fear. Fortunately, yoga frees you from these limiting emotions, thus contributing to yogic nutrition and even a yogic family life.  Can you imagine?

Resources:

• Search online for “Converting to Vegetarianism” or invest in one of the many books on this important topic.
• The six tastes of Ayurveda are detailed in many online sites, easy to find and to implement in your food choices.
• Swami Nirmalananda teaches a “Yogic Nutrition” course, which covers these many topics in detail.  It also features in-kitchen cooking lessons in each class.  Check our Program Calendar for dates. Or email us at programs@svaroopayoga.org

Online beginning November 7

What does a yogi eat?  To achieve health as well as pleasure and (most importantly) spiritual development, yogis feed themselves consciously.  

Drawing on yoga, Ayurveda and scientific nutritional guidelines, Gurudevi gives you easy ways to improve your nutritional profile.  

As these principles begin working for you, you’ll notice a change in your digestion, assimilation and elimination. 

Taste is also important, especially as it contributes to your nutrition as well as your quality of life.  Each class includes a tasting session with discussion.

Enrollment is limited, so everyone can participate in the discussions as well as get personalized support and recommendations from Gurudevi.

By Lloyd (Dharma) Apirian

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain

By attending Swami Sundays with Gurudevi, I’d already made profound inner shifts.  Yet I was looking for something even deeper.  Feeling a little down and flat, I wanted renewal: a deeper knowing of my own Self.  

An immersion with my Guru guarantees this!  I also know Shaktipat is a powerful way to boost my personal growth and transformation.  So I signed up for my first online Shaktipat Retreat.  

Doing a Shaktipat Retreat weekend at home has its advantages.  I was in my yoga room and everything was so familiar.  Yet I went just as deep in meditation as when I am in Gurudevi’s presence.  After Gurudevi gave Shaktipat-diksha, the spiritual energy climbed my spine more than ever.  It was freeing, opening and releasing.  I was surrendering to the Self. 

During a longer meditation, I experienced an auditory kriya.  I heard OM Namah Shivaya singing in my left ear!  In a short time, the sinus congestion I’d been feeling cleared away.  This was all Grace, pure Grace.  The Shakti moving through the Guru transcends limitations of space, time and energy.

To keep the Grace flowing, it’s recommended you increase your meditation time and be consistent.  After the retreat, I did notice the effects were fading.  I hadn’t been doing enough meditation.  Before my next Shaktipat, I’m signing up for Meditation Club!  To support carrying these effects into my life, I need the structure.

The Shaktipat experiences that Gurudevi describes with her Guru, Baba Muktananda, inspire me.  They once seemed unattainable and remote.  Now I know they are possible for me.  Shaktipat is a life changing opportunity to experience the Truth of my own Beingness.  I am forever grateful.

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Breakthroughs are not dependent on receiving Shaktipat.  Grace is not so limited.  Grace is part of life, always available. 

You’ve been lifted out of your small-s self so many times by Divine Grace.  Shaktipat is the form of Grace that awakens your inner meditative energy, so the upliftment keeps coming, again and again, every time you meditate.  It arises within.

While Svaroopa^® yoga specializes in Shaktipat, you were uplifted and sheltered by Grace before yoga.  Your life has had many moments of Grace.  Like a child sitting on daddy’s shoulders, Grace shows you what you could not see.  Yet you still have to come down to earth and go through the process of growing into your own future. 

It’s easier to navigate to your future when you’ve seen where you’re going, and even easier when you have a GPS.  Yoga’s teachings provide both:  the description of your goal as well as how you get there.  They describe levels and stages that can help you understand where you’re at, and give you practices that help you make the next leap forward. 

That’s what I’m presenting in this Telecourse – the levels and stages of your upliftment.  It tends to happen in leaps and bounds.

By Judy (Jagruti) Goodkin

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

I felt like I was getting an invitation when I received Shaktipat from Gurudevi.  When she placed her thumb on my forehead, it was as if she said, “Follow me.”  In her Q&A session later, someone asked about discipline with yoga practices. Gurudevi’s encouraging response has stayed with me.  It feels like the time for me to be more disciplined.  This willingness to be more disciplined is powerful, both in daily life and my practices.

At a recent Swami Sunday, Gurudevi talked about the gift of Shaktipat.  She gives the gift, but we have to open it and look inside.  It feels like I’m truly opening Gurudevi’s gift of Shaktipat and looking inside.  I’m taking Gurudevi’s “Living Sutras” course.  The course is very deep, and I am experiencing much awakening within.  Ordinarily, I would have more resistance to course assignments.  Yet now I feel very open to them.  I am even adding more than is being asked for.  My awareness of what I need to do for my body and mind is greater.

I appreciate how the Ashram Swamis also help us process our Shaktipat experiences.  Each time, their answers help me greatly.  I asked Samvidaananda about Kundalini in my meditation.  I had been waiting for Kundalini to stop moving me so I could meditate.  Samvidaanada said, “The Kundalini is your meditation.  Just repeat mantra while that is going on.”  

When I returned home and meditated, I let Kundalini have her way.  I experienced powerful movements.  During these kriyas, I was grateful for Samvidaananda’s guidance, and I repeated mantra.  Within a week, my body settled down.  I still get kriyas in meditation, but they are gentler now. 

I’m so grateful for Gurudevi’s invitation.  Opening the gift of Shaktipat has me settling into a deeper place.  Everything I do feels more purposeful.

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Juice squirts out of the ripe peach I cut into, dripping down my chin as I bite into a chunk.  Yum!  It’s called rasa — the juice, the nectar or blissful essence.  Similarly, every chef will tell you that it’s the sauce that makes the dish.  In the same way, you want your life to be juicy, vibrant and meaningful.  Yogis get their rasa from the inside.

Meditation is the direct path to the rasa of Self-Knowingness. By delving into your own inner dimensionality, you tap into the source of life, the power of love, the delight of creativity and the peace of timelessness.  These fill you from within.

Yoga poses and breathing practices make this inner exploration easier. Svaroopa^® Yoga poses target your spinal tensions, dissolving them to open up interior space in your body.  You breathe easier.  You get taller as you get happier.  You move freely as your joints glide due to the synovial fluid lubricating them more effectively.  It’s called rasa.

Your laugh is deeper and more frequent.  Your eyes shine with light, especially after meditating.  Your heart overflows and you act on your compassionate impulses.  Your synapses fire, making connections that give you…