Read an article a few weeks back, which made me think about something. I’ve meet many people on my ‘yoga’-journey. And many women and girls. I often meet people that have, after their meeting with yoga, become vegetarian, perhaps even vegan, or that have started to eliminate certain foods and products, or adding superfoods etc as part of their yogic transformation. The extreme focus on health is not to be overlooked in the yoga community. Yoga teachers that make proclamations about health interventions, or advise about students eating habits is not rare. And that is disturbing. Yoga as an educational field has many greyzones, and teachers have a tremedous responsability. I believe its an imperative that teachers strive to teach from their qualifications, be open and honest about what you can and what you can’t. Sharing about personal steps in your journey is interesting, but making your private steps into possible solutions for your students is something very different. 

As I’ve been working clinically with eating disorders for a while, this topic of course interests me. There’s a new issue evolving, called Orthorexia or Orthorexia Nervosa. It’s recognized by its extreme focus on health, suppliments/superfoods and on eating healthy, and seen in the spectrum of eatings disorders. It is the extreme focus on health, and how that influences the individual’s attention, behavior and everyday life (amongst other things), that places this in the disordered category. If the way you eat starts inflicting your social life, where you can or cannot eat, dominates your behavior and thoughts, or how you feel, then some bells should start ringing. There are people that are educated within nutrition or healthcare that can help guide in such topics.

As Patanjali referred to: yoga is not for those who eat too much and are too lazy, nor for those who eat to little and are too active. To enjoy the full value of yoga, we shouldn’t go to extremes, but seek balance.

Well, this is meant as a note of reflection. So, to keep it on a light note, check this out:

…… and this one:

Its always good to keep a dash of humour around our self-importance as teachers;)

Enjoy!