What do meditation practitioners eat at the advanced Isha Yoga meditation retreats called Samyama retreats?
Excerpts from Effects of an 8-day Advanced Meditation, Samyama on Physical, Psychological and Spiritual Wellbeing, and Associated Neural Mechanisms (IRB #1801728792, 2018) by Dr Senthilkumar Sadhasivam, which is a detailed narrative for this clinical trial proposal from 2018.
"Participants are required to prepare themselves for over sixty days prior to coming to the 8-day silence treat. Preparatory steps include dietary regulations such as (vegan diet, adding more greens to their food in a stepwise manner), postural (Hatha) yoga practices, and meditation practices. At the silence treat, participants practice one point concentration with guidance."
"The strict vegan diet and the preparatory steps along with the Samyama meditation program is hypothesized to reduce the gut inflammation and improve the gut microbiome."
Does anybody have personal experience with Samyama retreats to validate that the description in the document above is accurate with respect to diet?
Diet for beginners: What do beginners in Isha Yoga eat? They are not taught to be vegan. Meat is strictly forbidden; there is an emphasis on plant foods, especially in raw form. But milk, ghee and honey are part of their diet. The vegan regimen (as outlined in the clinical trial proposal above) is only for advanced retreats like Samyama Retreat.
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Raw foods: In the video Benefits of Raw Food over Cooked Food (4 mins, 2019) Jaggi Vasudev (founder of Isha Yoga) encourages raw foods & live foods.
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Milk & ghee: Food Body by Jaggi Vasudev mentions that milk is not needed as an adult; but encourages ghee consumption:
Milk: Only children below three years of age have the necessary enzymes to digest milk completely. Except in a few regions in the globe, milk is mostly indigestible for a majority of adults worldwide. The undigested milk is mucus-forming and causes lethargy. Milk is also traditionally believed to be a good source of calcium. But there are several other good sources of calcium, notably whole grains.
Ghee: The consumption of a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on a daily basis a few minutes before a meal does wonders for the digestive system. If you eat ghee with sugar, it is digested and turns into fat. But ghee without sugar can cleanse, heal and lubricate the alimentary canal. Additionally, the cleansing of the colon will manifest as a certain glow and aliveness in the skin.
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Plant-based diet: Plant-Based Diet: Benefits Mentions 'vegetarian' but not vegan. At the same time, there is no mention of milk or dairy products though. The entire article is about plant foods vs meat. Isha Yoga strictly forbids meat.