Hatha Pradipika prohibits the yoga practitioner from eating “flesh foods”. Gheranda Samhita also implies that a yoga practice without following a careful diet of pure foods will not be successful in healing the body.

These and other texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the texts that form the basis of Ayurvedic science encourage eating a sattvic diet for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. That is, foods that are fresh and wholesome like fruits and vegetables. Meat would fall under tamasic foods which are heavy and hard to digest.

Also ahimsa is one of the yamas that make up the practice of yoga according to the Patanjali Yoga Sutra. That is practicing non-violence as a moral obligation.

So I believe it is important to understand the roots of yoga (through the texts that recorded this practice thousands of years ago and the examples that serious practitioners set) and not just view it as a physical exercise. It requires lifestyle changes to really achieve the benefits.

Assmilker #765070