re: effects of vegan diet: a story

[Guest guest]

Hey Yogageek,<br><br>In retrospect I was starting

to feel a change within a few weeks of dropping

dairy and honey (the last non-vegan parts of my diet).

Be prepared for sort of a bumpy ride in the first

month as your body detoxifies- the skin on my hands

dried out, I was feeling particularly stressed and

weepy, and I forget what else... drink lots of water and

get lots of vitamins, especially B-complex, and ride

this out! <br><br>I actually STOPPED (you all gasp)

doing yoga for about a month. No real reason, just

hadn't really developed any kind of selfpractice after

six months of led Power Yoga (you all gasp again- but

it's the closest thing to ashtanga, to my knowledge,

short of Montreal which is 12 hours drive away) classes

and I just didn't find the time in my schedule to

unroll the mat every day. Finally I ordered David

Swenson's first series and short forms audiotapes, and

started practicing again to them. My first practice after

slacking off for so long was probably two months into

vegan. It was a little rough- the hamstrings weren't as

free as they used to be. I was pretty sore after the

first few days- but then I started being able to get

further and further into postures. I actually started

binding in ardha baddha padma, wrapping in Marich A

through C. I have once so far gone through the entire

series front to back, in some modification of the poses

I am yet unable to do- and felt great! Normally I

just go as far as navasana, and am feeling happier

about practicing without the tape and really listening

to my own breath instead of to the voice on the

stereo.<br><br>These days I can pick up my right foot and snug it

right up next my left hipbone and just sit there in

ardha padma as comfy as anything. This is as a matter

of fact an extremely useful posture, I discovered

today, for digging around in the pad of one of your toes

to try and get a splinter out, or looking closely at

a shoe you're trying on without taking it off your

foot first. <br><br>So, now four months into vegan,

even having not practiced at all for a large chunk of

that, my body is insistently getting more and more

flexible- and my brain is too! I used to not see myself

getting a hold on that damn foot in ardha baddha padma-

now I can see getting into second series in this

lifetime, if I can master these damn vinyasas! I don't

think it makes me a better yogini- obviously this is

not an effect of diligent practice- but I marvel at

my body's new flexibility in a sort of

amused-bystander way.<br><br>Vegan is

great!<br><br>Namaste,<br>bodysings wearing non-leather

super-comfy-walking-on-an-inch-of-cushioning bedroom slippers with tacky

holstein print

[Guest guest]

Hey, y'all:<br><br> Any thoughts on Ghee? I'm

vegan, too, for about 1 1/2 years, but I'm thinking

about experimenting with it... It supposedly helps

lubricate the connective tissues and joints of the body. It

has medicinal uses, too, as in Ayurveda. Of course,

for ethical reasons, I would only make it with butter

from happy, organic cows.<br><br> I've found that

since I've given up dairy, eggs, etc. that my overall

health has definitely improved. But at the same time I

have become somewhat attatched to the title/concept of

"vegan". Maybe using a little ghee would help me loosen up

physically, and keep me from basing my identity on my diet.

Anyway, can someone attest to the benefits of this

product?<br><br>thanks, <br>amrita<br><br>bodysings, congratulations on

being vegan. it takes a lot of self-discipline to live

a vegan lifestyle, but it's worth it!

[Guest guest]

Hey Bodysings<br><br>Many thanks for your great

post- I'm definitely in the bumpy ride phase - feeling

more blah than anything else. <br><br>One thing that

only occured to me a few weeks ago was that I drank

very little water compared to how much I needed this

winter- it was really cold and I never got to a nice

dripping sweaty stage with practice (i'm wierd, i like

that). Now thats its warming up, its easier to tank up-

but its good to be reminded to drink water,especially

when your body doesnt really remind you to do it -

that in itself makes me feel so much better.<br><br>I

also used the David Swenson audio tape- really helpful

eh? , from there I went to music and now Ive been

spending a lot of time with just the breath -which I never

thought Id have the tolerance for.<br><br>btw-you wrote

the hair post (tried to go back 1000 posts but that

was the limit) i thought of you yesterday when my

hair was all stuck in my feet and a total pain during

kurmasana -spelling? I think im gonna have to shave it

off to do that pose<br><br>best and thanks,<br><br>S