Veggie Blog

Yoga, even as it furthers its storefront-by-storefront takeover of American leisure hours, remains a punchline, a shorthand summing-up of a certain way of life. One of the charms of Poser, Claire Dederer’s memoir of motherhood and marriage structured around her love affair with yoga, is that–as her title hints–she gets the joke, and tells it very well herself. She knows, to the molecule, the subculture she swims within–the “liberal enclave” of late ’90s North Seattle, with its self-policed, guilt-laced dictates about the proper ways to parent, work, play, and wed (and divorce)–and she’s well aware of every knee-jerk response you might bring to a story about yoga (she had them too). She’s sharp and funny, shifting expertly between earthy put-downs and the earnest openness that yoga leads her to. And she’s wisest, and most fascinating, when she’s plotting the differences between her mother’s generation, breaking out from the traditions of young marriage and motherhood in sloppy, self-invented ways, and her own, responding to the chaos of their parents’ marriages and their own youth with the anxiously seamless embrace of attachment parenting. Readers will inevitably be reminded of another witty, navel-gazing, West-meets-East memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, but Dederer’s more domestic journey is her very much her own.

Book: Yoga Poser by Claire Dederer
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A rejuvenating 5-day body detox plan

In today’s world, you can hardly spend a day without meeting some pollution. At work, you may not be completely sure about the cleanliness of the water you drink or the food you eat. Around other people, you can hardly avoid air pollution, be it from smokers, sprays or vehicle exhaust. This can affect health in one way or another, even when your body shows no obvious reaction.

For these reasons, many people turn to a detox plan as a way to support a healthy body, a clear mind and good relationships with others.

How the body cleans itself

Our body has its own system of healing and detoxifying: the liver, kidneys, lungs, gut and skin remove waste every day. There is no evidence that this system becomes ‘overloaded’ in healthy people, but it does work best when you eat well, drink enough water, sleep and avoid smoking and too much alcohol.

Short detox plans are not a medical treatment and cannot remove toxins faster than your organs already do. What a plan like the 5-day detox can do is give you a break from processed food and help you start healthier habits, which many people find refreshing.

What to eat on the 5-day plan

Detox food is the core of the 5-day detox plan. During the plan, certain foods are avoided. Your meals consist mainly of fresh fruit and green, young vegetables. Fried food, processed food and food additives are left out. Meat is also dropped for a day or two; this is a matter of choice, as meat is digested normally by a healthy body.

Good foods to include are garlic, broccoli, beets, and seeds or nuts. Fresh fruit juices can be taken as drinks; if you take medicines, ask your doctor about grapefruit juice, which interacts with many drugs. Drink plenty of water as well, around six to eight glasses a day. Water helps your kidneys do their work, and waste leaves the body mainly in urine and stool.

Although you eat less while on the plan, you should not go hungry. Because your intake is limited to healthy foods, many people find it gives them a lift, but eat enough to keep your energy up.

Safety tips

There is no need to repeat the plan on a fixed schedule; a healthy everyday diet matters more. To make sure a plan is safe for you, consult a dietitian or doctor first, especially if you are pregnant, have diabetes or another health condition, or take regular medication.

After a few days of eating mostly fruit and vegetables, many people say they feel lighter and more alert. These are personal reports; the plan does not flush toxins out or change how much oxygen reaches your body.

Taking care of yourself on the inside matters as much as how you look on the outside.

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Magazines and social media make it easy to believe that fitness means a certain body shape. The people you see are a small and selective sample, and what they show is a look, not a measure of health. Being fit means that your heart, lungs and muscles work well for what you want to do. Here is how to approach it in a way that fits a real life.

Where do you find the time?

Most of us are busy, but the guidelines are more modest than people think. Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, which is about 30 minutes on five days at the lower end, plus two days of muscle strengthening. You could walk for half of your lunch break, get off the bus a stop early or train for 30 minutes before the rest of the family wakes up. Even short sessions add up, and the first key message of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans is to move more and sit less. For ways to fit it in, see five easy ways to get moving and everyday activities that count as moderate exercise.

Why is the “perfect body” a poor goal?

If your reason for exercising is to look like someone on a poster, you are likely to feel disappointed, because genes, age and body type all influence how you look, whatever you do. Health benefits come from the activity itself. The Physical Activity Guidelines point out that regular activity can reduce anxiety and blood pressure and improve sleep and insulin sensitivity, and that it reduces the risk of excessive weight gain. A more useful goal is something you can measure by what you can do: walking farther, lifting a heavier weight or finishing a class without stopping. If thinking about your body causes you distress or leads you to restrict food or exercise compulsively, talk to a doctor or a mental health professional.

How can you tell that you are getting fitter?

Look at what your body can do. You may walk farther before you tire, climb stairs more easily, or lift a heavier weight than last month. Your resting heart rate is another clue. The American Heart Association says that a resting rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal for most adults, that a very active person may be as low as 40, and that studies link a higher resting heart rate with lower physical fitness, higher blood pressure and higher body weight. Check it in the morning, before you get up, and watch the trend over months, not days.

What should you eat?

There is no secret. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage a pattern built on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein foods and healthy oils, with limited added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. What you eat will show in your energy and recovery, not in a single muscle. Our guide to how carbs, fat and protein fit together shows how to balance a plate.

How do you stay positive and consistent?

Treat exercise as something you do for yourself. Pick activities you enjoy, because you will do them more often. Start small, track your progress by what you can do, rest when you need to and be kind to yourself on days when you miss a session. A friend or a class can make it easier; see group fitness classes.

What about becoming a fitness model?

Fitness modeling and competitions are a job, and the training and diet are often very strict and adapted to photo shoots and events. They are a very different thing from the fitness that keeps ordinary people healthy. If you want to try it, talk to a doctor and a qualified coach first, and do not copy extreme diets or training plans.

Body cleansing and detox for body and mind

What people mean by toxins

When we hear the word toxin, we often think of poison in a labeled bottle. Toxins can indeed be poisonous, but the substances we meet in everyday life, such as air pollution, tobacco smoke, alcohol and chemicals in food and household products, are not labeled that way, and we are exposed to many of them without noticing. This is the starting point of most detox plans.

So what happens when the body is loaded with pollutants? Many detox plans say that toxins block the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the body and brain, and that this makes your mind sluggish. There is no good evidence for that. If you feel exhausted after hard mental work, that is normal brain fatigue: the brain uses a lot of energy even when you are just sitting. Poor sleep, stress, dehydration and a poor diet are far more likely reasons for feeling sluggish than invisible toxins.

It is true that we do not always take good care of ourselves, and it makes sense to look after the body’s natural defenses. Your body already has its own system for getting rid of waste, which includes the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and digestive system. You do not need a special detox to switch it on. The best thing you can do is to help these organs work well by living healthily.

A healthy diet is the safest cleanse

The safest way to “detox” is a normal healthy diet. Cut back on junk, which means alcohol, too much caffeine, fatty processed food and foods with a lot of additives, and replace it with easy-to-digest fruit and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and give you energy, and the fiber in them supports your digestion. Fresh, cleanly prepared food is best.

Some detox plans include a short fast, with only fruit juice and herbal teas, usually under the supervision of a nutritionist or doctor. There is no good evidence that fasting removes toxins, and it can cause tiredness, headaches and low blood sugar. It is not suitable for everyone, for example during pregnancy or with diabetes, so speak to your doctor first. If you do not feel the need to fast, there is no reason to do it.

Some plans recommend supplements as well, for example fermented soy and algae powder. Fermented soy foods such as tempeh and miso can be part of a healthy diet, and algae powder may make you feel full, but there is no proof that either of them cleans the body of toxins. Supplements can also interact with medicines, so ask your doctor or pharmacist before you try them.

In the end, a healthy lifestyle is the real way to look after your body and mind: enough sleep, plenty of water, whole foods, regular exercise and little alcohol. If you feel tired or unwell for a long time, see a doctor rather than starting a detox.

The remarkable benefits of yoga, which include improved flexibility, balance, muscle tone, endurance, and vitality, only hint at the extraordinary power of this deeply spiritual practice. When adhered to and practiced mindfully, yoga can unlock readers’ full creative potential, their capacity for love and compassion, and ability to find success in all areas of their lives. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga brings spirituality back to yoga. It shows how the Seven Spiritual Laws play a crucial role in yoga’s path to enlightenment while providing readers with a wealth of meditation techniques, mantras, breathing exercises, and yoga poses. Whether a newcomer to yoga or an experienced practitioner, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga is a portal to yoga’s deeper spiritual dimension and a beautiful step to a happier, more harmonious, and more abundant life.

Do I need experience to use it?

The Amazon description says the book is for both “a newcomer to yoga or an experienced practitioner”.

What topics does it cover?

It says readers get a wealth of meditation techniques, mantras, breathing exercises and yoga poses.

Who wrote The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga?

The title credits Deepak Chopra as the author.

What kind of book is The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga?

The description presents the book as one that brings spirituality back to yoga, showing the part the Seven Spiritual Laws play on yoga’s path to enlightenment.

This summary is based on the book description on the Amazon page.

Is yoga a workout, a mindfulness practice, or both?

The NCCIH page on yoga describes yoga as typically combining three strands: physical postures, breathing techniques and meditation. It groups yoga with tai chi and qigong under the label “meditative movement”, because each mixes meditative and physical elements.

On the mindfulness side, the NIH meditation summary from NCCIH defines mindfulness as keeping attention on the present moment without judging it. That is a plain, testable description, and it works as a useful lens when a book talks about the deeper side of practice. Reading about philosophy and doing a gentle class are separate things, and many people do one without the other.

Anyone with an injury, high blood pressure or another condition should check with a doctor before starting an unfamiliar routine.

Related reading on this blog: What Is Yoga? and Where Did Yoga Come From? Its Meaning, Early Texts and What Scholars Can Say

Book: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga by Deepak Chopra
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