San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference!

There could not have been a better note to start off my blog than sharing my experience from the 8th annual Yoga Journal conference in San Francisco! As a new yogi, I decided to hit a city I had never experienced  leaving all of my doubts and fears in my hometown, Ohio.

Every workshop was an amazing experience, but the one teaching that pulled the whole weekend together for me was taught by Darshana Weill. It was titled "Yoga of Food" and she started off by asking us the question, "How do we use food for a study for our personal growth and transformation?"

Many people struggle to realize that food is medicine and we can all become our own medicine cabinents. You even get to choose the dosage!

The interesting fact that really pulled me in was that there are actually two categories of food: Primary and Secondary. The primary group is made up of all of the things in our lives that do not come from food.
1.)Relationships
2.)Movement
3.)Spirituality
4.)Career
The secondary group is then of course made up of food! Macro nutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins) and micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals).

It is no question that when we suffer in our relationships or career (primary food groups) we find disturbances in our eating habits (secondary food groups).

 Moving the attention to the practice of yoga, Darshana introduced the correlation of food to the Yamas and the Niyamas(which are part of the 8 limbs of yoga). Ahimsa for example happens to be the first of the Yamas and means non-violence. Relating this to food I have a strong belief in vegetarianism because it causes diliberate pain to harmless animals and our planet. But one could also relate this to non-vegetarianism because thier bodies need  or crave meat and avoiding it would actually do more harm for them by excluding it from there diet.

It was more apparent than ever that we need to listen to our journey, we are all different! Breathe. Relax. Feel. Watch. Allow. I invite you to incorporate these 5 steps into your daily activites, and most importantly, eating! The next time you go to eat something you know you will regret later try to listen to your body, what is it telling you? And most of all, appreciate that moment!