Years ago, I was a yoga teacher with a thriving group and corporate yoga business, when a serious injury left me unable to work. I was catapulted into a deep depression, grasping at tiny bits of pain relief that never came. I was suffering. I realize now that many of us affirm suffering only when it is our own. But after that experience, I could no longer be oblivious to the suffering of others. And as much as I thought I was practicing Ahimsa, I finally had to admit to myself that I really wasn’t – until I discovered veganism. I started the research. I watched the documentaries. I visited the farm animal sanctuaries, read the science and devoured the spiritual books. I finally understood the environmental studies and the actual threat to all life on earth. I used all the beauty and strength I had learned in my yoga practice and training — and redefined my interpretation of ahimsa to include every living being. I reveled in the amazing life-giving foods I would now be cooking and eating. I changed my wardrobe and the contents of my cabinets. I vowed never to support zoos, animal circuses, marine parks, rodeos or horse races. I changed. I am still a very flawed human, but I’ve become the most authentic version of myself. And I’m very clear about how veganism and yoga are interminably connected.
-Sande Nosonowitz
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