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Yoga & Veganism: The Diet of Enlightenment
In Yoga and Veganism, Sharon Gannon—co-creator of the renowned Jivamukti Yoga method—weaves together a compelling exploration of the intersection between the spiritual practice of yoga, physical health, care for the planet, and a peaceful coexistence with other animals and nature. Through clear and accessible language, Gannon unpacks the wisdom of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, one of the oldest and most revered texts focused on the philosophy of yoga, and draws a fascinating course to greater enlightenment for the contemporary practitioner.
With yama, or restraint, the Yoga Sutras outline the first step on the path to spiritual liberation through five ethical principles that help guide our relationships with the world around us: Ahimsa teaches us how to avoid personal suffering through not harming others, while satya reveals how telling the truth allows us to be better listened to. Through asteya, or nonstealing, we learn the secret of wealth. Brahmacharya reveals how refraining from sexual misconduct leads to health and vitality, and finally, aparigraha opens our eyes to the ways in which greed holds us back from true happiness and is destroying the planet.
Yoga and Veganism shines a light on these five guiding principles, demonstrating how the practice of yoga is tied to an ethical vegan lifestyle, which opens the path to both physical wellness and spiritual enlightenment. Featuring a selection of delicious recipes from the author along with personal essays from individuals whose lives have been transformed by veganism—including filmmaker Kip Andersen (Cowspiracy) and activist Ingrid Newkirk (president of PETA)— Yoga and Veganism provides a framework for yoga students and teachers looking to bring their asana practice into alignment with the philosophy at the heart of the discipline, as well as with the Earth around them and all of the beings within it.
With yama, or restraint, the Yoga Sutras outline the first step on the path to spiritual liberation through five ethical principles that help guide our relationships with the world around us: Ahimsa teaches us how to avoid personal suffering through not harming others, while satya reveals how telling the truth allows us to be better listened to. Through asteya, or nonstealing, we learn the secret of wealth. Brahmacharya reveals how refraining from sexual misconduct leads to health and vitality, and finally, aparigraha opens our eyes to the ways in which greed holds us back from true happiness and is destroying the planet.
Yoga and Veganism shines a light on these five guiding principles, demonstrating how the practice of yoga is tied to an ethical vegan lifestyle, which opens the path to both physical wellness and spiritual enlightenment. Featuring a selection of delicious recipes from the author along with personal essays from individuals whose lives have been transformed by veganism—including filmmaker Kip Andersen (Cowspiracy) and activist Ingrid Newkirk (president of PETA)— Yoga and Veganism provides a framework for yoga students and teachers looking to bring their asana practice into alignment with the philosophy at the heart of the discipline, as well as with the Earth around them and all of the beings within it.
- GenresVeganNonfiction
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 26, 2020
30 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 8, 2020
If Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer had a baby it would be this book!
Not a big fan of FAQs. The FAQ in this book could have been left out and replaced with an implementation plan or strategy for adopting a yogic/vegan lifestyle, which would have better served the reader.
Not a big fan of FAQs. The FAQ in this book could have been left out and replaced with an implementation plan or strategy for adopting a yogic/vegan lifestyle, which would have better served the reader.
January 14, 2021
Definitely a must read for anyone who takes yoga seriously and, somehow, has yet to become a vegan.
January 14, 2022
Very good book! A lot of good commentary and highlights some excellent points. Would recommend all to read.
March 19, 2025
Jippi! Big big thanks to this book.
July 19, 2025
Echt een eye opener over hoe we met dieren omgaan. Ook interessant om de yoga view hiervan te lezen die vooral neerkomt op non harming en kindness, maar ook allerlei andere perspectieven zoals het milieu. Ik ben eigenlijk al vegan maar ga dat nu ook zeker blijven!
January 30, 2022
I recommend for all doing yoga, for all those who are in the yogi path -- this book provides a compelling link between intention and action beyond the mat. "Not everyone can stand on his or head every day but everyone EATS. You can practice compassion three times a day when you sit down to eat. "
If we want compassion, we must give it and everyday, the book is saying, we are given the chance to practice it.
If we want compassion, we must give it and everyday, the book is saying, we are given the chance to practice it.
September 16, 2020
Amazing read! So informative on the consequences of the meat and dairy industry. Highlights how the principles or yoga and spirituality cannot exist without an individual becoming vegan. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend to any yogi.
July 11, 2020
Sharon Gannon is one of my favorite people on the planet and this book an update to Yoga and Vegetarianism is amazing!!
January 12, 2025
I stumbled across this book while searching for material on spirituality and social justice. For me, this was a perfect follow-up book after reading Tricia Hersey's "Rest is Resistance," which focuses on rest as a simple form of reclaiming power. Gannon's book asserts that "[y]oga reminds us that all of life is sacred, that all of life is connected, and that what we do to another we eventually do to ourselves." This book energized me.
Gannon frames the book around Patañjali’s "Yoga Sutras," which I read about a year ago. Yoga, as defined by Patañjali, is "the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff." In other words, it’s about calming (not necessarily clearing) the mind of its thoughts and emotions. Yoga and veganism are interconnected through five principles that align the practice of yoga with a vegan lifestyle At the forefront is ahimsa (non-harming), the foundation of both yoga and veganism. This is followed by satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (moderation or self-restraint), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness or greedlessness). Together, these principles embody a commitment to compassion, integrity, and mindful living.
A couple of chapters focusing on how we treat animals moved me to tears. They served as a powerful reminder and reinforced my decision to be vegan. Here’s an eye-opening statistic I came across today: "The scale of humanity’s meat consumption is enormous—360 million tons of meat every year." (https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-a...).
Chickens: 202,026,010
Pigs: 3,832,991
Cattle: 908,830
Sheep: 1,689,966
Goats: 1,371,307
Ducks: 11,800,1371
(https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-a...) Estimates of fish are from 0.97 to 2.7 trillion (https://www.fishcount.org.uk/publishe...)
Yet, these are just numbers and don't reflect how animals are treated. No one wants to see animal cruelty videos or read about it, including me. But I can’t turn away from from the issue. I need find my way to give voice to the voiceless which this book helped me do. As I wrote at the beginning of this review, I'm interested in spirituality and social justice, and I'm eager to learn more about and practice spiritual activism: "To think well of another and to want that person’s happiness, even though you do not agree with the person’s current thoughts and actions, is the key to spiritual activism"(https://jivamuktiyoga.com/fotm/spirit...). I’m going to look deeper into this.
As Gannon writes, 'What we see in the world around us is just a reflection of what is inside of us.' This principle resonates deeply with the themes of yoga, veganism, and spiritual activism.
This book challenged me to live with greater compassion and mindfulness. If you’re seeking a path that intertwines spirituality, social justice, and advocacy, I highly recommend giving it a read.
Quotes
“Yoga teaches us that we can have whatever we may want in life if we are willing to provide it for others first.”
“We create the world we live in. If we want to change what we don't like in the world, we must start by changing what we don't like about ourselves.”
“Our goal as yoga practitioners is to free ourselves from selfishness and strengthen our connection to this Self. Yoga is the joining of the separate self with the universal Self; it is a process of synthesis.”
"The Earth does not belong to us—we belong to the Earth. Let us celebrate our connection to life by not enslaving animals and exploiting the Earth, and attain freedom and happiness for ourselves in the process. For surely, the best way to uplift our own lives is to do all we can to uplift the lives of others. Go vegan!”
“Yoga reminds us that all of life is sacred, that all of life is connected, and that what we do to another we eventually do to ourselves."
Gannon frames the book around Patañjali’s "Yoga Sutras," which I read about a year ago. Yoga, as defined by Patañjali, is "the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff." In other words, it’s about calming (not necessarily clearing) the mind of its thoughts and emotions. Yoga and veganism are interconnected through five principles that align the practice of yoga with a vegan lifestyle At the forefront is ahimsa (non-harming), the foundation of both yoga and veganism. This is followed by satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (moderation or self-restraint), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness or greedlessness). Together, these principles embody a commitment to compassion, integrity, and mindful living.
A couple of chapters focusing on how we treat animals moved me to tears. They served as a powerful reminder and reinforced my decision to be vegan. Here’s an eye-opening statistic I came across today: "The scale of humanity’s meat consumption is enormous—360 million tons of meat every year." (https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-a...).
Chickens: 202,026,010
Pigs: 3,832,991
Cattle: 908,830
Sheep: 1,689,966
Goats: 1,371,307
Ducks: 11,800,1371
(https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-a...) Estimates of fish are from 0.97 to 2.7 trillion (https://www.fishcount.org.uk/publishe...)
Yet, these are just numbers and don't reflect how animals are treated. No one wants to see animal cruelty videos or read about it, including me. But I can’t turn away from from the issue. I need find my way to give voice to the voiceless which this book helped me do. As I wrote at the beginning of this review, I'm interested in spirituality and social justice, and I'm eager to learn more about and practice spiritual activism: "To think well of another and to want that person’s happiness, even though you do not agree with the person’s current thoughts and actions, is the key to spiritual activism"(https://jivamuktiyoga.com/fotm/spirit...). I’m going to look deeper into this.
As Gannon writes, 'What we see in the world around us is just a reflection of what is inside of us.' This principle resonates deeply with the themes of yoga, veganism, and spiritual activism.
This book challenged me to live with greater compassion and mindfulness. If you’re seeking a path that intertwines spirituality, social justice, and advocacy, I highly recommend giving it a read.
Quotes
“Yoga teaches us that we can have whatever we may want in life if we are willing to provide it for others first.”
“We create the world we live in. If we want to change what we don't like in the world, we must start by changing what we don't like about ourselves.”
“Our goal as yoga practitioners is to free ourselves from selfishness and strengthen our connection to this Self. Yoga is the joining of the separate self with the universal Self; it is a process of synthesis.”
"The Earth does not belong to us—we belong to the Earth. Let us celebrate our connection to life by not enslaving animals and exploiting the Earth, and attain freedom and happiness for ourselves in the process. For surely, the best way to uplift our own lives is to do all we can to uplift the lives of others. Go vegan!”
“Yoga reminds us that all of life is sacred, that all of life is connected, and that what we do to another we eventually do to ourselves."
March 14, 2024
This is a MUST READ for anyone on a yogic path or spiritual path of any kind.
As a spiritual vegan going on 6 years now, I am honestly so confused about why more spiritual people aren't going vegan.
We talk about awakening and "seeing the truth" while happily ignoring the suffering and killing of billions of sentient beings, the devastation animal agriculture has on our planet, the suffering, desensitisation of PTSD of slaughterhouse workers, the way in which our farmed animals in the west eat the food we could use to end world hunger and all the other reasons that eating animals just doesn't make sense.
If you are spiritual and vegan curious, this is a FANTASTIC book that will answer ALL YOUR QUESTIONS and help you make the transition to a happier, healthier and more enlightened life.
I had my spiritual awakening many years ago, but the vegan awakening was next level.
Please read this book. It will change your life.
As a spiritual vegan going on 6 years now, I am honestly so confused about why more spiritual people aren't going vegan.
We talk about awakening and "seeing the truth" while happily ignoring the suffering and killing of billions of sentient beings, the devastation animal agriculture has on our planet, the suffering, desensitisation of PTSD of slaughterhouse workers, the way in which our farmed animals in the west eat the food we could use to end world hunger and all the other reasons that eating animals just doesn't make sense.
If you are spiritual and vegan curious, this is a FANTASTIC book that will answer ALL YOUR QUESTIONS and help you make the transition to a happier, healthier and more enlightened life.
I had my spiritual awakening many years ago, but the vegan awakening was next level.
Please read this book. It will change your life.
November 7, 2024
It was part of the 75h TT, Sharon definitely wants everyone to read her books. I found the book a little too much. It’s a super important topic and she is incredibly passionate about it, as an activist in the space, but somehow it felt too much. She linked everything with animal consumption. Even though, I have been familiar with the problematic for years and agree with lots of things she says, it was too much in your face and in some parts it felt forced to make everything about this topic.
I totally understand how yoga is about Ahimsa and Ahimsa is also one of the five pillars of Jivamukti Yoga and that an “easy” way to live this in everyday life is by choosing the food we eat. I guess she definitely wants to bring that point across. Still, the book felt lengthy and the too-muchness made me have a hard time to finish it…
I totally understand how yoga is about Ahimsa and Ahimsa is also one of the five pillars of Jivamukti Yoga and that an “easy” way to live this in everyday life is by choosing the food we eat. I guess she definitely wants to bring that point across. Still, the book felt lengthy and the too-muchness made me have a hard time to finish it…
March 24, 2025
Had to read this book as a prep for my yoga teacher training. Being a vegetarian gpt over two years I have been annoyed with some parts that were simply repeating themselves from her other book „Jivamukti Yoga“, which I read just before. But overall, I’ve found some interesting aspects of veganism that I haven’t yet thought about and will definitely look closer in the next months.
August 23, 2020
A really good book for someone who practices yoga and wants a push to introduce a vegan dietary lifestyle into their life. I've been vegan for 3 years now but this book is a good reminder of why I should stick with it.
January 23, 2022
I truly enjoyed a book that takes yoga into a deeper reflexion and commitment for us practitioners who live yoga through life and not only as a physical activity as mainstream culture has popularised.
April 22, 2024
Gannon had a lot of good content. The only reason this isn't a 5 for me is because at times it felt repetitive.
January 27, 2025
Great book with insight between yoga and veganism
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews