How Yoga Helps My Food Sensitivities
In addition to publishing a recipe each week here at Willowtree, Tina and I have been writing what we call an Experience Post each week. These are posts that speak to our first-hand knowledge of living with food sensitivities our whole lives, whether it’s something we’ve learned, or someone we’ve met, or a store/restaurant/market that supports our food sensitivity diet, in hopes that our experiences help you, too. Until now, these Experience Posts have usually involved food in a direct way, but I wanted to make today’s post about something that, at least on the surface, has nothing to do with eating, or even cooking, but has helped my sensitivities with food in a huge way: yoga.
I’ve been practicing yoga for just about 6 months now, so not long at all, and even today just went to my first Anusara-inspired class at Hemma in Victoria (and loved it!). A friend (and amazing yoga teacher) was also there, and after class we were chatting about what yoga can mean to different people. For some it’s practiced purely for the physical health benefits. For some it’s the mental relief that they find beneficial. And for others, the element of spirituality is a huge component. This is where I started thinking what exactly it is about the last 6 months of yoga I’ve enjoyed so much, and was immediately inspired to write this post.
This is what I came up with: not only has yoga gotten me back into a regular exercise program (now that I’m not letting work take over my life… ugh, that was horrible!), it has also provided me with a solid outlet for stress. But it has also informed what I put into my body every day. Once I discovered my food sensitivities and how to work around them I felt fairly in-tune with my body and its systems, but yoga has taken that one step further for me. I was careful before to avoid the things I knew upset my stomach and digestive system, but now it’s so much easier to say ‘no, I’m not going to eat that’. It’s like the feeling of strength and clarity I get every time I practice yoga has flowed into my non-yoga practicing days, a very welcome feeling.
So experienced yogini I am certainly not, however I’m not shy about telling people how all-around fantastic it’s been for me. Maybe check out a yoga class at your local studio, or tell us how it’s helped you.
Namaste.
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