The Yoga Way: Food for Body, Mind & Spirit

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

In this new book, Swami Satchidananda and his senior students offer information and guidance on our food choices and their effect on our Yoga practice, lives, and our planet. Swami Satchidananda taught that the manner in which we eat can create a body and mind that is sattvic (pure, balanced, yogic). In addition to proof of the positive effects of a clean, wholesome, plant-based diet on our bodies, minds, and lives, The Yoga Way discusses how to eat for maximum health and vitality. Both new and established vegetarians/ vegans will benefit from information on when to eat, when too fast, the properties of food, as well as a sample 7-day meal plan with recipes. Includes a foreword by Dean Ornish, M.D.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Integral Yoga Publications
• Release date: Aug 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9780932040138

Book preview

PART I:

WHY SHOULD I

BE A VEGETARIAN?

by Sri Swami Satchidananda

CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION TO

VEGETARIAN LIFE

Why should someone want to become a vegetarian? Many, many people have asked me this question. And in this scientific age most people want to see some proof of the benefit of something before they try it. So I would like to share with you some of the history regarding one study with which I was involved.

In 1977, I was invited to speak at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. More coronary bypass operations were performed in the medical center there than anywhere else in the United States. The students and doctors were very interested in my talk about vegetarian diet and Yoga.

One of the medical doctors at Baylor at that time, was a student of mine named Dean Ornish. He wanted to study the effect of vegetarian diet and Yoga on coronary heart disease. He had been working with a group of patients who had acute problems, many of which could not be corrected by surgery.

The Plaza Hotel in Houston generously donated one month’s use of ten rooms for the study. Some of the patients spent the entire time there; others went to work during the day and came home to the hotel at night. All of them were put on a program of a strict vegetarian diet, simple Yoga postures and breathing exercises, progressive deep relaxation, and healing visualization.

After one month, most of the patients demonstrated substantial improvement. Many became pain free. Many of those who wanted to go back to work full-time were able to do so. Most important, tests indicated that the heart was able to receive an increased blood flow through such treatment. This had never been documented in such a way before.

Later, we repeated the study in a more definitive way. In this second study, forty-eight heart patient volunteers were randomly divided into two equal groups. One group had the program of a vegetarian diet and Yoga for three and a half weeks; the other group received only their usual medical care during the same period.

When tested after the program, the vegetarian group showed substantial improvements. These patients experienced a 91 percent reduction of angina (chest pain), increased exercise capability, reduced blood pressure, and reduced cholesterol levels. Nuclear cardiology tests indicated that each one’s heart was beating and pumping blood more effectively. In contrast, the control group showed none of these improvements.

Other scientific studies have also been conducted on vegetarianism and have also showed very positive effects. Why is this? There are many reasons, some of which I will present on the following pages. We should know, however, that health considerations are not the only arguments in favor of a vegetarian diet. We can look, too, from the points of view of philosophy, religion, ethics, ecology, and economics.

We can consider what kind of foods our bodies are physiologically designed for. And for those interested in the effects of food on our minds, we can look at what kind of diet is most conducive to our mental well-being. Considering even one of these points is likely to make us think more seriously about adopting a vegetarian diet. When we look at all of them, the evidence becomes quite convincing.

So, for the sake of our physical and mental well-being, and for the well-being of our beloved planet Earth, I present the following facts about vegetarianism. It is my sincere hope and prayer that this information might help open your mind to new possibilities for a healthier, happier life.

CHAPTER 2:

OUR NATURAL DIET

Let us first consider the question, What is the natural diet for human beings? When we look at the diet of mammals, we find two major groups: the flesh-eating animals, such as dogs, cats, tigers and lions; and the vegetarian animals, such as cows, bulls, horses, camels, monkeys—and even the largest land animal, the elephant.

Comparing their physical features, the flesh-eating animals have long teeth to tear the raw animal flesh from the bones, while the vegetarian animals all have flat teeth for grinding vegetable food. Meat-eating animals have rough tongues to lick the flesh from the bone and sharp, strong claws to catch and kill their prey, while vegetarian animals do not. The meat-eaters also have excellent night vision for hunting, while the vegetarians have more difficulty seeing after dusk.

These are just the external features that can be seen. There are others, which we cannot see. The intestines of meat-eating animals are only about two to three times their body length. That means that the meat they eat can pass through their systems quickly before it putrefies.

Vegetarian animals’ intestines are about six or seven times their bodies’ length, because their systems need not push the food through so rapidly. The vegetarians have a different pH in their saliva and their stomachs than the meat-eaters; vegetarians also have digestive enzymes in their saliva, and begin digesting while the food is still in the mouth, while meat-eaters gulp their food without much