YOGAN – How Yoga and a vegan diet have helped me to recover.
“Deep in their roots, all plants keep their light.“
First things first. Switching to a whole food, plant-based diet and starting my yoga journey DID NOT CHANGE my life. I am the one who changed my life. But both, Yoga and veganism, were really helpful tools on my journey to nourish and recover both body and mind.
In recent years, many people have started to change their live-style. Depression, anxiety and other mental disorders have increased dramatically. Slowly there is a change in the way we want to treat ourselves and others. Terms such as “mindfulness”, “gratitude” and “meditation” are high on the Google-search list. There is a slow but huge shift in our society.
I want to inspire you. I don’t want you to admire me.
This is something really important for me.
With my life-style, I love to inspire people, but I won’t never tell anyone how to behave or change their life style. I don’t want you to follow a certain diet or start to practice yoga. Of course, I can tell you all about the huge difference it has made in my own life. How it helped me heal. How it helped me became happy and alive!
For me “YOGA(N)” is a life-style. Not a diet or an exercise. It is an experimental science, if you could give it a term. I would call it an experiment, because there is no one best way for all. Everyone has to find their own way. It is like a trial and error experience. So don’t expect that some magic will immediately happen once you follow a certain diet or yoga practice. Be open to try out different ingredients on both – your plate and your yoga mat.
A lot of Yogis are vegan and a lot of vegans do yoga. Is that a co-incident?
I don’t think so, because both of them go hand-in-hand. It is true that many ancient yogis did not follow a plant-based diet. At that time, however, cattle was not treated the way it is treated today. Farm animals lived in their natural habitat, not in a tiny, dark cage. Calves were not taken from their mother cows after birth. Little chicken were not shredded into fish-food just because they were male. And meat was very rare and only eaten at special occasions. Humans were healthier and animals happier. A lot has changed ever since. Nowadays, for me, veganism and yoga go hand-in-hand. If you want to know more about all the reasons I changed my diet or just want to know more about veganism, I will provide a list of my top vegan documentaries down below.
My personal story.
I became vegan when I started my healing journey. At first, I was solely focusing on a “healthy” lifestyle. I misused my vegan diet as an excuse for not eating any “unhealthy” produce. I not only excluded all meat and dairy products, but also all the good fats and carbs as well. My diet wasn’t “balanced”.
Then I started practicing yoga. But without the sufficient nutrients, I could not advance my practice. I constantly felt weak and tired. I was stuck and disappointed. Until one day.
I was deep into my 300 hour yoga teacher training, when my body just could not handle the constant strain anymore. I decided that it was time for some radical change. And so my REAL healing journey began.
I quite the training and instead focused on what was most important at that time: my own health. Because without my health, I could not do what I always dreamed of. To help others create the best version of themselves. I needed to get well first, before preaching others to do the same.
I will spare you the details at this point. But I will tell you that this was THE BEST decision I have ever made in my life. The combination of practicing slow yoga and following THE RIGHT plant-based diet, I have gained back both mental and physical strength. Now I am finally ready to share my story. To not only pray what I preach, but actually execute it!
If you are struggling with a similar situation, I want you to know this: You are not alone! Feel free to get in contact with me, regardless of what you are struggling with. This is YOUR life. Be sure to make the best out of it. And never, never ever give up!
Always remember that all plants loose their leaves at some point, but ALWAYS keep the light in their roots!
Thank you so much for reading!
Xx Nila
Here is a pick of my top 11 vegan documentaries:
- Earthlings (2005) Earthlings.com
- Cowspiracy (2014) Cowspiracy.com
- Forks over Knives (2011) ForksOverKnives.com
- Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010) FatSickAndNearlyDead.com
- Speciesism: The Movie (2013)
- Peaceable Kingdom (2004) PeaceableKingdomfilm.org
- Live and Let Live (2013) LetLiveFilm.com
- Vegucated (2011) GetVegucated.com
- Carnage: Swallowing the Past (2017)
- What the health (2017) whatthehealthfilm.com
- Dominion (2018): An Australian documentary that was just released a few days ago. You can watch it for FREE here.
Thank you for your article. I feel like I Amat a similar stage for a healing journey. Your story is everything I have been thinking and experiencing this last three months. I would love to hear more details if you were able?
Kindest regards