With the whole country getting into the groove of Yoga, my neighbourhood bookstore CROSSWORD decided to hold a Yoga Open Day with Rujuta Diwekar, well-known fitness expert and dietician, addressing a crowd hungry for information on Yoga and Diet. In a wonderfully stimulating and interesting 1 1/2 hour session, Rujuta busted many myths associated with Yoga.

The true meaning of Yoga

It seems almost strange but this morning while I was trying to do a decent Marichasan, I was wondering how many body twisting poses I’d have to do before the bulging stomach was streamlined and lo and behold I got the answer to this question almost at the beginning of the session!  We all do Yoga with the hope that it will make us slim and sexy but as explained how many of us really do Yoga? For many of us it is a physical exercise like weight training, pilates Zumba or any other regimen that we follow for mere fitness and weight loss. Yoga in its truest sense is one where thought, word and deed are in sync. Consider this :

In my mind I am slim and fit

When I see a chocolate I tell myself that I’m on a diet

But I still reach out and stuff my face with it.

This is what we do all the time – there is a complete mismatch between our thoughts, words and deeds. It is only when we practice all three that we are actually doing yoga and that is when the exercise that is associated with the word YOGA will be truly beneficial.

The talk which was scheduled to begin at 11.30 DID BEGIN at 11.30 despite the heavily overcast sky and a city still limping back to normalcy after the deluge that struck us on Friday. How many of us do Yoga? And how many of us do a headstand in the middle of the room? Strangely enough very few hands went up for the first question and none went up for the second. Rujuta wasn’t in the least bit surprised because as she said, we Indians have the habit of only recognising the worth of a heritage sari after it has been praised/validated in the West. Yoga Day is being celebrated in India today only because it is a big deal internationally – it won’t be long she said before we celebrated Daal Chawal Day or Ghee Day, after the benefits of these are discovered in the West. And may be there will be another record of so many million tonnes of ghee being made on Rajpath or by the Bay! Similarly, she said that the inability to do a headstand in the centre of the room reflects largely on the Indian woman’s conditioning to comply rather than

Similarly, she said that she wasn’t surprised that most of the people couldn’t do a headstand in the middle of the room  that because Indian women are  conditioned to comply rather than question (most of the audience comprised women). Consequently, she said that Indian women are great at doing forward bends (some even managing to go beyond their feet!) while western women find it hard to do so.

Does Yoga mean you have to be vegetarian? 

Not at all, says Ruyjuta. In fact the greatest Yoga exponents have been Non-Vegetarian. And for that matter, you don’t even have to be a teetotaller.

Food has to be simple ( heritage food as she calls it – food that your grandmother can recognise), sensible ( eaten at the right time and in the right proportion) and seasonal ( food that is eaten out of season or out of region is totally counter productive.)

Our food habits have to be sustainable – being on a permanent diet is not only undesirable but also impossible. So eat what our grannies used to eat. Eat in moderation and don’t deny yourself any foods for denial causes cravings and binge eating. And above all eat seasonal. There’s no point in eating mango in winter because that food is not fresh and lacks the nutrition it has when in season. Similarly, she says eat local – when in Spain eat as Spaniards do – don’t travel with your daal dhokli or aaloo paratha. Conversely don’t eat Olives in India – eat them in Jordan or Italy!

What is healthy and wholesome food? 

Food that is freshly cooked. Food that is home made. Food that is cooked in the morning can be eaten at night – and it can be re-heated but NOT in the Microwave. SImilarly, she said there is no real benefit in eating copious amounts of vegetables and sacrificing the carbs. Nor is there any point in avoiding pickles and chutneys and relishes as they all have their place in our regular food. We should recognise their importance and eat them accordingly. Relish the ladoos and don’t eat the flax seeds as diet food but enjoy them as Alshi chutney!

Are supplements useful? 

There is no point in eating roasted papad or chapati without ghee and eating Cod Liver Oil tablets. It is far better to eat naturally rather than eating supplements.

Give up the guilt

Ultimately it is we who are responsible for our own self image. We have been conditioned to feel good only if we are miserable about ourselves. Break this myth, she says, be happy with yourself and don’t feel guilty about being who you are. So go out there and be happy. Do Yoga. Eat Sensibly and Be Fit. Follow yama, so Yama won’t follow you!

                   Learn to stand on your head in the middle of the room

Happy Yoga Day

I’m also posting this on Write Tribe Pro Blogger challenge where you can find posts written by some amazing bloggers.