Victoria Dodge - The Yoga Plate: Bring Your Practice into the Kitchen with 108 Simple & Nourishing Vegan Recipes

contents our yoga journey Our story is relatable, unique, different, and common all at the same time. When we started dating in 2006, Tamal always suggested that we eat at a local plant-based restaurant. Halfway joking, Victoria finally asked, Are we ever going to eat anywhere else? This light comment triggered a potential deal breaker of a discussion as Tamal explained to Victoria his beliefs surrounding food and its importance in his life. It might sound like Tamal was being a bit rigid, but for him, eating has always been meaningful and intentional... probably more so than it is for the average American. Born into a family that ran a yoga ashram, Tamal was raised to view food and eating as an extension of a yogic, meditative lifestyle.

He was raised to abide by the concept of ahimsa to do no harm in all facets of his life. In fact, he has never in his entire life eaten meat, fish, or eggs, because all of these foods require inflicting harm. Life in the ashram was treated as a moving meditation: every single meal, task, and interaction was completed mindfully and with the intention to relink with God. In other words, everything was viewed as yoga, with the postures he practiced on his mat being the least essential element of all. A Wisconsin native, bred on cheese, meat, and potatoes and with a deer head proudly placed above the mantel in her childhood home, Victoria was taken aback. As luck would have it, right after this discussion she set off to join her parents in Florida for a family vacation.

One night, Victoria and her dad went out to get grouper for dinner, which they always loved eating together. When their meal arrived, she excitedly dug in only to find that the fish was rotten. Disgusted but not deterred, Victoria and her dad tried for a redo a few nights later. Once again, the grouper was bad. Is this a sign? she couldnt help but wonder. Okay, Im willing to try this plant-based thing, Victoria told Tamal a few days later.

Peering into her sparsely populated refrigerator, stocked only with milk, yogurt, and eggs, Tamal knew Victoria was in for a challenge. Today, life couldnt be more different. Gone are the days of a dairy-laden refrigerator and meat-based dinners. Instead, Victoria and Tamals entire family enjoys a delicious plant-based diet, jam-packed with greens and whole foods. Not only has Victorias diet changed, but so too has her philosophy about both food and life in general. It bears mentioning that before converting to a vegan lifestyle, she did lead a healthy life.

However, food was more of an afterthought, and Victoria didnt have a baseline from which to understand how much better she could feel physically, mentally, and spiritually. Ten years later, she relishes preparing and enjoying meals as part of a meditative lifestyle, geared toward both spiritual and physical wellness. She feels more vibrant, grounded, and connected to her own self, the world around her, and the Supreme Soul. So although we came to food in different ways and from different backgrounds, we found a common ground through yoga as it taught us the meaning of life and the path to helping others. We eat a whole-food, plant-based yoga diet that carries a deep spiritual undertone reflected by a specific lifestyle, which is what were sharing in this book. We have been living a yoga life since we met and have continued to do so as our family grew, developing our practices and sharing the profound translations of ancient writings with those around us along the way.

This cookbook is more than a collection of recipes. It is a lifestyle book about how to turn every day into a spiritually infused meditation. This book is like a map, one readers can follow to alter their perception of the world and those around them. We encourage you to adopt a positive and joy-filled existence and a calm demeanor. This will be reflected in your internal landscape. We have raised our children to explore yoga on a deeper level beyond yoga poses, to embrace yogic teachings, and to add these principles to their lives.

If our kids can see the immense benefits of yoga, then we are pretty sure that people all over the world can take a little wisdom from this ancient science and incorporate it into their lives as well. The recipes in The Yoga Plate are delicious and healthy, and they are grounded in yogas most pure and sacred teachings, supporting a harmonious and tranquil existence. In this book, youll find recipes and family tips that we accumulated and developed over the last ten years. This book is a labor of love for readers to enjoy. We hope you flourish in its lessons and take away a newfound path to living soulfully. Our little family is excited to share simple, easy, healthy dishes that are bound to become staples in your household.

We know how challenging it can be to cook something that nourishes the body, heals the mind, and fills the soul as well. So we have taken into consideration our busy lifestyles and the fact that many of us live in an urban landscape. When things are chaotic around us, it is refreshing to mindfully (but often quickly) make foods that will satisfy and energize. The Yoga Plate is a collection of recipes lovingly and thoughtfully handpicked to share. But it is also a guide to grounding oneself, whatever ones living situation might be. The message of this book is to take ancient traditions and use them in modern applications.

The results are a healthy body and peace of mind. the yoga kitchen If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it. BHAGAVAD GITA AS IT IS 9:26 off the mat, into the kitchen For humanity to evolve spiritually, this diet is essential. More than 36 million Americans today practice yoga. To be specific, more than 36 million people today practice the physical postures of yoga, known as asana. Talk to the vast majority of these asana practitioners, and theyll tell you that yoga has in some way bettered their lives, whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

But what so many of these 36 million Americans dont realize is that they are experiencing only the tip of the iceberg in their yoga practice. In fact, asana is just one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga as set forth by yogic master Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras circa 400 CE. However, in India, the birthplace of yoga, talk to the 99 percent of the countrys population who are yogis, and they will tell you that asana is the least essential of their yoga practices. There, far more attention is placed on the philosophy of yoga than on the physicality of it. Without embedding the philosophy of yoga into its physical practice, Western yogis are missing out on so much. Yoga is about far more than spending an hour on a rubber mat.

It is about creating a spiritual life by transforming our daily activities into actions infused with a higher consciousness. That said, yoga is not a religion; it is nonsectarian and nondenominational. The path of yoga is about taking our lifestyle and moving it into a realm that harmonizes our will with the highest source. The word yoga translates as yoke. By definition, the ultimate goal of yoga is to yoke together or create union between the soul and our higher By design, then, yoga is a prescription for a complete lifestyle that leads practitioners to a better, more whole and peaceful way of living. They are more connected to themselves; more connected to their bodies, to their minds, hearts, and souls; to other life on this planet; to the environment; and to the Supreme Soul.