One of the yamas, which is part of the 8 limbs of yoga, is Ahimsa. Ahimsa is non violence towards yourself, the earth and other living beings. There are many debates on rather serious devotees to the path of yoga should be vegetarian or vegan because, obviously, you have to kill animals to eat them.
My decision to eat a primarily vegan diet is a result of many different factors. One of those was that I wanted to lesson my impact on the suffering of animals in our modern day factory farming system and another one was for health.
I, like many others, have watched my loved ones go from vibrant to bed ridden in a matter of years due to bad health habits that caught up with them when they aged. We now live in a society where being old means being sick, popping pills and slowly losing mobility until your kids throw you in a nursing home.
We can't stay young forever, but if we take care of our bodies, we can stay independent and vibrant into our twilight years. My grandmother, who lived well into her nineties, is a testament to that . She was mobile and independent all the way up until she died. Literally, in about the span of a few weeks, she went from being alive and vibrant to passing away. She did not go through the slow drop from youth to sickness, to disease to death that many people find themselves in.
My grandmother and grandfather, who is still alive, lived on farms all their lives. So their food was accidentally organic and they lived simple lives. So by being kind to animals and limiting the intake of factory farmed meat, you are also being kind to yourself.
These videos below show the amazing benefits of a plant based diet on aging. Mimi Kirk, Jim Morris and Annette Larkins are all over 70 years old and are raw and or vegan.
Shanna - Love this post. I'm 64 years old and aspire to be very fit and healthy at age 100! Thanks for the vote of confidence! Nanmaste
Posted by: Lea Zengage | April 20, 2013 at 06:12 AM