Sattvic Food and Yoga: The Significance of Sattvic Food for A Transformative Yoga Practice

For the successful practice of yoga, the food a yoga aspirant takes, affects his or her yoga practice significantly. If the aspirant eats Sattvic food, it keeps his or her body and mind healthy as well as helps him or her to achieve the full benefits from Yoga.

Bali Yoga Ashram is one of the best yoga schools in Bali that provides several teacher training courses in Yoga and Ayurveda. According to Ayurveda, there are three types of foods: Sattvic Food, Rajasic Food and Tamasic Food. These food categories are based on the three gunas. In ayurveda and yoga philosophy, there are three types of gunas:

Sattva (Purity, Harmony): This guna represents purity, knowledge as well as harmony. Sattvic foods promote clarity and overall balance in a person. Hence Sattvic foods suit those people who want to perform yoga practice as well as spiritual practice.

Rajas (Activity, Passion): It represents activity, passion as well as restlessness. Hence, Rajasic foods stimulate as well as energise the person who has this kind of food. Rajasic foods suit those people who require them to perform heavy physical activities.

Tamas (Inertia, Dullness): This guna represents inertia, darkness as well as ignorance. Tamasic foods are heavy, dull and hence it leads the person to lethargy and confusion. People should refrain from such food items.

Understanding Sattvic Food

Sattvic food comes from the Sanskrit word “Sattva,” meaning purity or harmony. It refers to a diet that promotes clarity, peace and balance. These foods promote Sattva guna in a person. So, the aspirants who want to enhance their physical, mental as well as spiritual well-being through yoga require to adopt the Sattvic diet for keeping body healthy as well as successfully performing yoga practice.

Sattvic food is vegetarian as well as simple, fresh as well as natural in quality. According to Ayurveda it enhances vitality, health as well as overall wellbeing. Sattvic food is light, easy to digest, as well as rich in prana (life force energy). A Sattvic diet includes fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds as well as dairy products that can be consumed in their natural, unprocessed forms.

Components of a Sattvic diet:

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: They are high in prana as well as are necessary for a person for maintaining a healthy body and mind.

Whole Grains: Such as rice, wheat, barley, and oats, all come under Sattvic food items. They provide sustained energy as well as nourishment to the person who has these kinds of foods.

Legumes: lentils (dal), chickpeas, mung beans etc. They are excellent sources of protein and fibre.

Nuts and Seeds: such as Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Pumpkin seeds etc. They  give healthy fats, protein as well as essential nutrients.

Dairy Products: Such as milk, cow ghee (clarified butter) as well as fresh cheese, provided a person sources them ethically as well as consumes these food items in moderation.

Herbs and Spices: Herbs and spices such as ginger, turmeric and basil. These herbs improve digestion as well as enhance the flavour of food.

Natural Sweeteners: Honey and jaggery are sweet by nature as well as healthy if consumed in moderation. A person should prefer them over refined sugars.

Pure Water: Clean and pure water is necessary for a person for proper hydration and detoxification.

Foods to Avoid in a Sattvic Diet:

A person following Sattvic Diet should avoid Tamasic (dull, inert) or rajasic (stimulating, agitating) foods such as:

Processed Foods: They include packaged snacks, fast food as well as any food item that contains artificial additives or preservatives.

Stimulants: Such as tea, coffee and chocolate as they contain caffeine, which agitates the mind of a person.

Heavy and Greasy Foods: Food items such as deep-fried foods and excessive oils. They are hard to digest and so lead to lethargy as well as blockages.

Meat and Eggs: These are tamasic food items and hence the person following Sattvic diet should avoid such items to maintain purity in his or her diet as well as non-violence.

Onions and Garlic: They are vegetarian food items however, Sattvic diet practitioners should avoid them due to their stimulating qualities that can disturb the mind’s tranquillity.

Alcohol and Tobacco: These substances are strictly prohibited in Sattvic diet as they impair clarity and consciousness of the person.

Significance of Sattvic Food in Yoga

A yoga person requires the benefits of Sattvic food in his daily life in order to support his or her yoga practice. Hence, Sattvic diet is of great importance in the life of a yoga practitioner as it is beneficial for overall well being in many ways such as:

Enhancing Physical Health:

1. Satvik foods are rich in essential nutrients, vitamins as well as minerals so they give optimal nutrition to support overall health and vitality.
2. A Sattvic diet removes impurities and detoxifies the body as well as it promotes the health of the digestive system and keeps the body energetic for the day.

Mental Clarity and Emotional Balance:

1. Satvik foods calm the mind, reduce stress, as well as enhance mental clarity in a person. So it makes it easier to concentrate the mind while practising yoga and meditation.
2. Sattvic diet is a balanced diet hence, it regulates emotions and also promotes harmony as well as emotional balance.

Spiritual Growth:

1. Following a Satvik diet strictly gives the sense of discipline to the person, so these foods are helpful in spiritual growth.
2. A person who has natural, plant-based foods feels a deeper connection with nature as well as the environment.

Sattvic diet promotes Ahimsa (Non violence) in a person following satvic diet. The killings (violence) of animals for food is not allowed in sattvic food so it avoids harm to animals. Apart from that, choosing organic, locally-sourced as well as ethically-produced foods supports humane practices as well as promotes a compassionate living.

Sattvic food is vegetarian as well as simple, fresh as well as natural in quality. According to Ayurveda it enhances vitality, health as well as overall wellbeing. Sattvic food is light, easy to digest, as well as rich in prana (life force energy). A Sattvic diet includes fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds as well as dairy products that can be consumed in their natural, unprocessed forms.

Sattvic Diet Plan to Incorporate in Daily Life:

A Sattvic diet plan focuses on natural, pure, and balanced foods that nourish the body, mind and spirit. People prepare sattvic diet with fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds as well as dairy products. According to Sattvic diet plan, a  person can have his or her meals as under:

Morning Routine

A person should start his or her day with a glass of warm water which is also called as Usha Pan ( morning drink)

Morning Snack (if needed):

A person should take a  seasonal fruit like an apple, banana, or a handful of berries.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal: A person should cook oats in water or milk and have fresh fruits like berries, bananas, nuts and seeds (e.g., almonds, chia seeds etc). He or she can also have moong dal cheela with mint-coriander sauce and curd.

Herbal Tea: take a cup of herbal tea such as ginger, tulsi (holy basil), or chamomile tea. Breakfast should be taken between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM.

Mid-Morning Snack (only if required)

Smoothie: A person can have a smoothie made of fresh fruits (like mango, banana, and spinach) with water or almond milk. He or she can take a seasonal fruit also in place  of a smoothie between 10 and 11 AM. Make sure multiple fruits are not taken at once. Make smoothie of only one fruit at a time.

Lunch:

A person should take lunch between 1:00 PM and 1:30 PM. At lunch, he or she can have whole grain chapati (roti – indian flatbread), a bowl of boiled rice, pulse (dal like toor dal or masoor dal), any seasonal vegetable prepared with less oil and spices as well as cucumber raita.

Afternoon Snack:

Have a handful of raw nuts and seeds, such as almonds, walnuts, roasted makhana etc with tea around 5:00 PM.

Dinner:

A person should take whole wheat chapati (roti), boiled vegetables like bottle gourd, pulse (like moong dal) and a pinch of cow ghee (clarified butter). People should have dinner around 7:00 PM.

Conclusion

Sattvic food for a person is about the importance of purity, balance, simplicity  as well as health consciousness in his or her dietary choices. By embracing a Sattvic diet, a person aligns his or her lifestyle with the principles of Ayurveda and Yoga for achieving physical health, mental as well as spiritual growth, . This is a holistic approach to nutrition which not only enhances personal well-being but also fosters a compassionate and ethical way of living that benefits both the person and the environment. Bali Yoga Ashram’s Yoga and Ayurveda Teacher Training course can help you to learn about different aspects of Sattvic diet to maintain the balance of energies. To learn more contact us now.