What is the relationship between yoga and transformation? How can what you eat affect how you live? I caught up with the co-founder of the Jivamukti Yoga Method, Sharon Gannon. With over 25 years of teaching and activism, she is credited for making yoga "cool and hip." Here's what she had to say about yoga, life and being vegan.
TERRI: From your perspective, what is yoga?
SHARON: Yoga means "union": the union of the individual soul with the absolute eternal reality... both the practice and the attainment of self-realization. Our true nature is ecstatic happiness, so when we connect to it we become it. The practices of yoga help us to realize who we really are by revealing to us where and how we are resisting happiness. Through the practices of yoga, one has the opportunity to look deeper into the potential causes of their own mental, emotional and or physical discomfort, and decide whether or not to let go. This type of self-examination can then lead to greater clarity about who we really are, and that in turn leads to lasting happiness -- yoga.
TERRI: What does "being yoga" mean?
SHARON: Being happy. Or at least engaged in practices of kindness and compassion toward others, which would eventually lead to happiness for oneself.
TERRI: How can yoga help the everyday person transform his/her life?
SHARON: Our thoughts are crucial -- they actually determine our reality... our inner reality and the health of our bodies. Our thoughts also create the atmosphere around us. Whatever yoga practices you engage in should help you resolve your obstacles to enlightenment -- in other words, should help you resolve your relationships with others and thus bring you to the state of yoga. How we treat others will determine how others treat us; how others treat us will determine how we see ourselves; and how we see ourselves will determine who we are. Enlightenment may be too big a goal for some people; they may just want to practice yoga to see if it will make them feel better. Okay, but then they should practice with the intention of transforming their present condition into a better one. To do that, they have to set that intention before they practice and continuously remind themselves of that intention as they are practicing, and they will reach their goal. Perhaps through continuous regular practice the concept of what a "better" life may mean can begin to expand, and we can learn something about our options.
TERRI: What is a "yoga wild child," as you call it?
SHARON: Our present world culture is a culture of slavery with a mission statement that could read: "The Earth Belongs to Us." We go into our relationships with others with a self-centered intention, considering only what we will get out of the endeavor for ourselves. With this cultural attitude we clear-cut forests, dam rivers, throw garbage and even nuclear waste into the ocean as well as enslave, torture and murder billions of other animals, and our excuse is that it is economically viable. Our culture has conditioned us not to question the ethics of our actions or the sustainability of life on planet Earth for all beings that may result from that kind of one-sided relationship. Yoga recognizes the interdependency of all of life -- no one exists alone, every action that anyone takes affects the whole. Yoga promotes other-centeredness rather than self-centeredness as a means to attain happiness. When we contribute to the happiness of others, our own happiness will be assured. When we live our lives so as to enhance the lives of others, we enhance our own lives. To live wild is to live in harmony with the natural world.
TERRI: How can what you eat affect how you live?
SHARON: Choosing food that promotes health and happiness for ourselves and the planet will lead to a better quality of life for ourselves and the planet. If our food choices cause suffering and disease to others and contribute to the destruction of the environment and ultimately to our own demise, then perhaps it is time to question what we are eating. Through my practice, I have discovered some profound ways that the yamas (yogic ethical code) relate to our treatment of other animals:
Bottom line: if you want to live a happy life, be vegan!
Photo credit: Guzman
This post is part of "Being Yoga," a series on using yoga to transform your life. Dr. Terri Kennedy interviews some of the most respected yoga teachers in the country. It starts with "7 Ways to Transform your Life... from 7 Expert Yogis."
Check out the entire series in video over the coming weeks:
Peter Sterios on "Going Within"
Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee on "Being Yoga"
Beryl Bender Birch on "Being Present"
Cyndi Lee on "Integrating your Self"
Reverend Jaganath Carrera on "Yoga and Spirituality"
Elena Brower on "The Art of Attention"
Masood Ali Khan and Sheela Bringi on "Music and the Spirit"
For more, read part two of the conversation with Sharon Gannon on "Yoga, Life and Being Vegan."
Learn more about Sharon Gannon and Jivamukti Yoga.
Dr. Kennedy is the founder of Ta Yoga, which operated one of the first yoga studios in Harlem. She also served six years on the Board of Yoga Alliance -- which sets the standards for yoga teaching in the U.S. Now, she applies the principles and techniques from yoga to the Power Living coaching process in order to help people have the clarity and energy to reach their highest potential. Check out her coaching services, private yoga training, inspirational products and/or speaking services.
For relaxation right now, try Dr. Kennedy's latest 1-Minute Mini-Escape. For inspiration for your transformation, listen to Watch the Gap. Also, read about Mindfulness as a Path to Sustainability and about The Power of Meditation.
For more by Dr. Terri Kennedy, click here.
For more on yoga, click here.
Follow Dr. Terri Kennedy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drterrikennedy
Alanna Kaivalya: Am I a Yogi If I'm Not a Vegetarian? A Closer Look at Ahimsa
Jill Lawson: Romancing the Om: A Look Into Yoga in America
Rob Schware: Yoga Therapy in Practice: Are You a Prisoner of Your Judgments?
Ronald Alexander, Ph.D.: Meditation In Action: Learning To Take A Sacred Pause
Becoming Vegan 17 years ago was , by far, the #1 single most important thing I've done with this gift of my life. If people could experience a sliver of the joy that it brings me on a daily basis, the feeling of connectedness with the animal kingdom, and all beings.... they would switch in a heartbeat.
But that's a fringe benefit, a side effect. Being Vegan is not about the Vegan, it's about the beings that will not be harmed for, or by the Vegan. It is a very nice way to live.
check out http://www.vegweb.com for a vast searchable index of your favorite foods and recipes 'Veganized' (not my site, no affiliation, but I point many there cause it's a great resource.
peace to you all,
-john
Firstly, it gives you a direct powerful tool to engage in daily practice - sadhana - and developing a habit that will change your world (because as thought determines action, action determines a habit, habit changes your lifestyle and so the world around you starts to change).
You become invincible by practicing ahimsa - this is in the Yoga Sutras :)
Secondly, it is a voice to a problem that in 100 years, I am sure, the world will look upon as we look upon the "question" on whether or not slavery of other humans should be legal (accepted and promoted) in the society or not... No life is less important than any other, and everyone has a capacity to appreciate it if we only allow our hearts to be open to this, and feel the pain we are causing.
For anyone interested in a deeper outline of the 5 Yamas of the Yoga Sutras and vegetarian diet, please check out:
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Vegetarianism-Greater-Happiness-ebook/dp/B004P1JESE/ref=kinw_tu_recs_2
"Freedom is not a philosophy, nor is it even an idea. It is a movement of consciousness that leads us, at certain moments, to utter one of two monosyllables: Yes or No. In their brevity, lasting but an instant, like a flash of lightning, the contradictory character of human nature stands revealed."
Octavio Paz
Sharon's vegan take goes against the core teachings of traditional Yoga. It's a distortion of the meaning of ahimsa and asteya. One only needs to read the classic texts, like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and others, to learn how real gurus feel about caring for our animal brethren and sharing their extra produce. (They produce unfertilized eggs that waste in the hen house if not collected and eaten and extra milk - just like a human wet nurse.) We can love and protect our animals in an organic environment. Vegetarianism is Yoga. Veganism is not.
Sharon's message is a message about evolving to make the world a better place. Traditional yoga also excluded women. The truth is...there is more suffering in milk and egg production than in meat production. Living vegan is easy and part of how we are evolving to move past traditions that are lacking in compassion and health. You don't need to eat or use any animals to be healthy or happy.
You certainly don't need to eat or to use any animal products to be healthy and happy. We agree on that for sure. I am also thrilled that Sharon is working to make the world a better place. I applaud her for that. But while it's true that modern industry and animal husbandry is awful, I can say from experience growing up on a farm that living with and loving cows and chickens and sharing their produce can be compassionate and also healthy. My issue is that Sharon distorts the teachings of Yoga for her own agenda. The gurus were clear about their diet and their view on ahimsa in relation to it.
I absolutely agree "Your food should come with love, not violence." Modern industrial farming is despicable, we can agree on that, too. But organically raised and nurtured cattle and chickens produce food with cooperation and love in a symbiotic relationship that has developed over thousands of years. I'm not talking about killing them, I'm addressing gathering their extra eggs and milk. The gurus of traditional Yoga clearly stated in the classic texts that eating meat and fish is prohibited, but that drinking milk and eating ghee are encouraged. The latter were deemed "not necessary" because they were often hard to come by. Hundreds of years ago, you couldn't go to the store and buy all the gallons of milk you wanted. You had to care for your cow, feed her, wait for her to have a calf every year, and then partake of her extra milk while it lasted. Any extra that could not be drunk fresh was made into yogurt or butter to be preserved awhile longer. There were limited quantities, and beyond abhorrent modern industrialized animal husbandry practices, the biggest difference between then and now has to do with the quantity of dairy products consumed. Three servings of dairy per day is way too much, but a little now and then is not bad for your health - and THAT is what is in line with Yoga's teachings - not veganism.