What Should You Eat Before Yoga?

Ideally, practise yoga on a fairly empty stomach. Yoga involves plenty of twisting, folding and compressing of the abdomen, and a full stomach quickly becomes uncomfortable during these movements, sometimes causing nausea, cramping or reflux. Traditionally yoga is done unfed for this reason, and most people also feel lighter and more focused that way.

As a rough guide, leave about two to three hours after a full meal, and one to two hours after something lighter. Larger, richer or fattier meals take longer to digest, so give them more time, while a small snack clears far more quickly.

If you are hungry before a morning or early-evening practice, a small, light, easily digested snack around 30 to 60 minutes beforehand is usually enough to take the edge off without weighing you down. A banana, a few nuts, a date, or a little fruit works well. Avoid heavy, greasy or very sugary foods right before you roll out the mat.

Do not forget hydration, which matters as much as food. Sip water in the couple of hours beforehand so you start well hydrated, but avoid gulping a large amount just before practice, as a sloshing stomach is its own kind of distraction. Everyone digests at their own pace, so treat these timings as a starting guide and adjust to what leaves you feeling comfortable and steady on the mat. In short, arrive light, a little fuelled if you need it, and ready to move.