Required time gap between lunch and yoga

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi everyone!

Could someone tell me after how many hours from eating heavy lunch one should practice yoga postures and after finishing the postures, how many hours one has to wait to take dinner. I practice yoga in the evening for about 40 to 50 minutes.

Thanks & regards,
Johny

#2

Dear Johnny,

My recommendation is to wait 1 to 2 hours after taking a meal to practice asana. Meditation, too, can be affected by the digestive process. Primary concern is the distribution of energy in the body between the digestive and muscular system as regards asana - I wouldn’t want to do a forward fold after eating, for instance.

I do not find that I need to wait long after yoga practice to eat, however…my appetite and appreciation for the food are heightened following yogasana!

Namaste,
Chandra

#3

Hello,
about the gap between eating and practise…if it is a heavy lunch, I personally wait at least 4 hours. I have tried practising a couple of hours after lunch, and it did not work for me. I practise for an hour in the evening (7 pm) so sometimes I do not eat anything between lunch (1 to 2 pm) and yoga practise. I normally eat about 20 minutes after the class. I do not wait any longer. Anyway, it is probably different for everyone, you should “listen to your body”… better to eat a little than starve yourself and be distracted and suffering the whole class!

Best wishes,

Moonlight

#4

I had a student loos their meal after class. Apparently 30 minutes before class was NOT the right time to eat for this Yogi.

Schools of thought vary.
Light meals are one thing. Heavy meals obviously would warrant additional time. There’s some common sense involved.

You can try coming to your practice and moving into Eka Pada Supta Virasana to help the digetive process. Nine breaths on each side. Then move into your normal practice.

But honestly a heavy meal would seem to correlate to several hours between. After practice I typically have an appetite as well. Though I’ve also read some feel you shouldn’t eat for about 40 minutes after an asana practice.

#5

Hi!
I suppose that one hour is enough for practicing yoga before and after taking meal.

Thanks and regards…
kalai@yogasanalive.com