Yoga is a practice that makes a speciality of connecting the thoughts, frame, and spirit via a chain of bodily postures, breathing sports, and meditation. In order to fuel your frame and decorate your practice, it’s far crucial to keep in mind what you eat and drink earlier than, at some point of, and after your yoga consultation.
Making aware selections about your vitamins will let you preserve electricity stages, enhance awareness, and assist recovery. In this blog, we are able to discover the first-class ingredients and drinks to eat at every level of your yoga practice to optimize your performance and beautify your typical properly-being.
What to Eat or Drink Before, During and After Yoga?
Before Yoga.
It is not advisable to eat solid foods during the two hours before doing yoga. Since digestion takes time and uses a lot of energy. And in yoga, you are going to work with abdominal breathing, so if you have eaten a lot or have slow and heavy digestion, you will not be able to do the exercises correctly and you may feel bad if you have not yet finished digestion.
Before yoga, the best thing to do is to drink liquids, either water, coconut water or energizing natural infusions such as green, black, white tea, hydrating teas such as rooibos or digestive teas such as chamomile with anise, mint-pennyroyal, etc.
The goal is to arrive to yoga class well hydrated, without digestive discomfort and with energy.
Yogi Tea Recipe With Orange and Cinnamon (Hydrating).
Boil half a liter of water and when it boils, remove from heat and pour into a jug with two small teaspoons of black tea or rooibos tea (depending on whether you need stimulating caffeine or not) and a stick of cinnamon stick. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes before straining, add the juice of one orange and some grated zest and store in a glass jar to drink in small sips 2 hours before going to class.
During Yoga Practice.
Now is not the time to eat anything solid, as we all know, but we must stay hydrated.
It is advisable to bring a bottle of water to the yoga class, although if you have hydrated properly before and are not going to sweat, you can do the 90-120 minutes of yoga class without drinking anything.
If you do yoga in hot or humid conditions, it is essential that you bring a bottle of salt water or some type of saline solution or other natural liquid with salts to class. You will sweat, lose water and mineral salts, and in addition to becoming dehydrated, you may experience a drop in blood pressure. Drinking fluids and replenishing salts is essential.
Recipe for Ginger Infusion with Lemon (Remineralizing).
Boil half a liter of water with 3 slices of organic ginger root and a quarter of organic lemon peel in strips. Let it boil for 3-5 minutes, remove from the heat and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Pour into a glass container, you can strain it if you dislike the pieces, but it is not necessary. When it is no longer boiling, add the juice of one lemon, a pinch of baking soda and a pinch of herb salt. Stir well and take it to class to drink little by little, before you start sweating.
After Yoga.
It is normal that you are not hungry after class, especially if in reality you usually eat out of anxiety and stress, in that case you will notice that doing yoga calms and prevents snacking and that over time.
There is a connection between your mind and stomach that makes you crave more fresh and healthy foods such as seasonal fruits, vegetables and whole grains, nuts and foods associated with yoga, which can make you a vegetarian over time, vegan or Raw food, although don’t be scared if you like to eat meat, it is not mandatory to stop eating it to do yoga.
After yoga class, follow your desires, listen to your body now that you no longer feel stress or anxiety about eating. Hydrate yourself with water, coconut water, infusions, freshly made juices, smoothies or cold-pressed vegetable juices, etc. You can also drink vegetable milks made of almond, coconut, hazelnut, soy, etc.
And when it’s time to eat, try to eat solid foods in a balanced way , mixing carbohydrates from the plant world (rice and whole wheat bread, potatoes, carrots, fruits, vegetables like broccoli, etc.) fresh or lightly cooked, with proteins from nuts, legumes such as soy and quinoa, eggs, red meat, poultry, fish and seafood if you are not vegetarian.
You can also choose probiotic dairy products, with live microorganisms such as yogurt, kefir and cottage cheese, and healthier raw or first-press extra virgin fats from oils such as olive, avocado, coconut oil, without forgetting the fats from nuts such as almonds, walnuts and pine nuts without roasting or salting.
Banana and Cocoa Smoothie Recipe (Recovery and Anti-inflammatory).
In a bowl, mix a banana with organic unsweetened natural yogurt or a glass of non-dairy milk, a slice of turmeric root, a teaspoon of pure cocoa powder and a pinch of cinnamon powder. Blend well with the blender and drink slowly, but without letting it sit so that the banana does not ferment.
Bottom Line.
It is important to fuel your body with the right foods and beverages before, during, and after practicing yoga. Pre-yoga meals should be light and easily digestible, while staying hydrated is essential throughout the practice. Post-yoga, refueling with a balanced meal or snack rich in protein and carbohydrates can aid in muscle recovery and replenish energy stores. By paying attention to your body’s needs and making mindful choices about what you consume, you can optimize your yoga practice and overall well-being.
