Do I need to fast to practice yoga?

As people in modern society pay more and more attention to their own maintenance, many friends have developed the habit of practicing yoga. Because practicing yoga can not only keep a person's mentality peaceful, but also better maintain the overall body proportions and improve one's temperament, yoga is loved and recognized by people. So do you need to be on an empty stomach when practicing yoga? In response to this question raised by everyone, please learn about it with me in the next period of time.

Generally, you are required to be on an empty stomach before and after practicing yoga. It is recommended to do it 2-4 hours after a meal, and avoid eating anything that is too greasy, spicy, or that can easily cause excessive stomach acid. You should also wait about 1 hour after the practice before eating. This is because when practicing yoga, the body's blood is concentrated on local muscles or organs to adapt to the needs of exercise. Therefore, the blood supplied to the digestive system is reduced, thus affecting the digestion and absorption of food. However, this requirement is not absolute. If you are not used to or cannot fast, such as those with low blood sugar, you can eat a small amount of easily digestible food one hour before practice: milk, yogurt, honey, juice, etc. You don't need to be on an empty stomach when doing shoulder exercises, neck exercises, foot exercises, and leg exercises. You can do them after a meal. In addition, the yoga practice of bandha mudra, which is specifically for cleansing the internal organs, does not require fasting.

Why do you need to fast when practicing yoga?

Yoga postures are centered on the human spine, stretching and squeezing forward and backward, left and right. Excessive burden on the stomach can cause practitioners to experience nausea, headache, chest tightness during practice, and in severe cases even vomiting. Moreover, yoga not only works on the body, but also on the energy. If there is food in the stomach, the energy cannot flow in a balanced way to every part of the body. Most of the energy will flow to the digestive system to digest food, and there will be no benefit from practicing. Therefore, the best time to practice yoga is in the morning on an empty stomach.

How long after a meal is considered fasting?

If you are a vegetarian, it is best to practice 2.5 to 3 hours before practicing yoga. If you are a meat eater, it is best to practice 3.5 to 4 hours before practicing. However, it is okay to eat some fruit or drink a glass of milk. Especially for practitioners with low blood sugar, they need to supplement some sugar before practicing. It is best to wait 30 minutes after exercise before eating.

I believe that through our learning above, most of our friends have already formed their own unique insights and more standard answers on whether it is necessary to practice yoga on an empty stomach. Of course, I would like to remind everyone that it is not easy to eat too much while practicing yoga, because there will be some inverted movements, which can easily cause vomiting, so people need to pay attention to it.