DIET


great, you assume the role of GURU OF EVERYTHING in their eyes. So it’s not uncommon for people to ask you if they should leave that abusive man. Or try yoni steaming. Or go on a detox. Or try a ketogenic supplement. But unless you are willing to be liable


for any decision your student makes based on your advice, you shouldn’t tell them what to do. Instead, suggest they seek help from a counsellor, psychologist, or nutritionist, or whatever. Most yoga teachers I know would do just that. But not all.


IS IT ETHICAL? To put this into some yogi context, we need look no further than the yamas and niyamas. These are the first and


And essentially, the reasons why people do packaged juice cleanses, or attempt weight loss diets, or buy expensive ‘fat-burning’ products, or try crazy 12-week intensive exercise challenges, is that at their core they believe they aren’t good enough as they are right now. They aren’t thin, clean, fit or enlightened enough, and they will pay big money for the privilege of thinking they are, finally, ENOUGH – even for a fleeting moment. Violence isn’t just killing a person or


an animal. It may also arise in the harsh ways we treat ourselves and others, such as pushing into a potentially injurious pose to keep up or compete with other students. Or convincing someone that cruelty to animals knows


You are looked up to, and your advice may be taken seriously. The following represent actual yoga-


teacher-giving-terrible-nutrition-advice situations that I, or others close to me have been in: PLEASE do not tell students they


need to detoxify when they reveal to you in a moment of post-yoga vulnerability that they’re “desperate to lose weight”.Weight loss and fad diets (including cleanses and other common detox protocols) do not take people’s individual requirements into consideration and can result in a person feeling hungry, experiencing low moods, lacking in energy levels, and generally developing really poor health.


second limbs on the path of yoga, even before the asana (physical postures). They are ethical principles that can help guide how we relate to, and take care of, ourselves and other people. On first glance, the yamas and


niyamas can be glossed over as ‘basics’. “I tell the truth, and I’m not violent,” we justify to ourselves. But on reflection these principles can


be applied at a deeper level. Violence, stealing, and dishonesty have subtler manifestations. Practicing the yama of non-violence (ahimsa), for example, could be interpreted as being awake to the more subtle ways we harm ourselves and others through colluding with diet culture and body hatred, which thrive off the assumption that we aren’t enough as we are right now.


40 APRIL 2017


no bounds unless they go vegan (in the name of ahimsa, paradoxically) or to start a juice fast to help them ‘release old waste’ (read; lose weight).


PLEASE, JUST DON’T GO THERE The subset of the population who attends yoga classes significantly overlaps with the subset who develop disordered eating and eating disorders. In Australia 80% of yoga students are women between the ages of 25 and 54 (1). Approximately 15% of those women will experience a full-blown eating disorder at some point during their life (2), with younger women more susceptible. So fellow yoga teachers, I implore


you: please stop giving potentially harmful dietary advice to your students.


With research showing that 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (2,3), it’s impossible to advise someone to attempt any weight loss protocol on the premise that it will help them lose weight, and still stick to the yamas of ahimsa (non- harming), satya (truthfulness), and brahmacharya (maintenance of vitality). PLEASE do not encourage students


to go on a juice fast when they ask you how to increase their energy levels. Weight loss, however temporary, and the adrenaline rush of the starved state mistakenly interpreted as ‘increased energy’ are common results when you restrict calories in the short term. A juice fast is a diet, and 35% of ‘normal dieters’ progress to pathological dieting.


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